Chapter 69
BELLA
Rose of Thorns Masquerade Ball - Wexley University
The dressing room glows with soft golden light, but the air feels sharp, electric. My hands tremble slightly as I tighten the silk ribbon at the back of Ellie’s gown. She’s quiet. Unnervingly quiet, not the usual stream of sass and sparkle I’m used to.
“You okay?” I ask, smoothing the satin over her shoulders.
She glances at me in the mirror. Her bright blue eyes wider than usual.
“Yeah. Just… Sabine keeps looking at me like she’s picturing my autopsy.”
I glance over. Sabine stands perfectly still in the corner. Her red gown clinging to her like blood on bone. She hasn’t said a word since we walked in. Just watching. Observing like a damn hawk in bright red lipstick.
“She’s weird,” Haley mutters from behind me while adjusting her emerald earrings. “Hot. But definitely weird.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say softly, turning back to the mirror. “We’ve got eyes on us already.”
Our gowns shimmer in the candlelight. Ellie in golden-pink tulle, Haley in rich emerald velvet, and me in blood red. Floor-length, with off-the-shoulder sleeves and a low back. A crimson satin mask rests beside me on the vanity, waiting. Unarmed and exposed, but stunning nonetheless.
“I hate not being able to carry,” I mutter.
Tex’s voice crackles in my comm, low and steady. “Front perimeter is locked. Kenji just checked in. Everyone’s in position. You’re clear to go when Javi gives the signal.”
Nate follows a second later. “Copy that. Ballroom is full. Roman’s still on his way from Italy.
Rez and Khoza have the VIP section on their radar.
O’Malley’s got the roof. Daniel and his men are covering the exits.
Laing’s got the main floor. Briggs just took the upper balcony and Jack’s got the lobby on lockdown. ”
“It’s time,” Sabine says handing me my mask.
We file out of the dressing room, masks in place, heels clicking down the corridor like the beginning of a march.
Cade’s voice hums in my comm, soft and calm. “Breathe, sweetheart.”
Lex follows, lower. Darker. “No one’s getting near you, baby. Not tonight.”
The strings swell as we glide in, the hem of my gown sweeping the marble like smoke. Ellie spins past me, her dress blooming like a sunflower, a flash of golden silk and pink rhinestones catching the light. Haley follows, her emerald skirt flickering like a flame, all sharp turns and clean lines.
Josh, Drake, and Sam meet us at the center, crisp in their black suits and matching masks. Hands join. Steps align. The dance turns formal for a beat, a beautiful waltz of poise and precision that holds the room captive.
We spin in pairs, then break apart—only to reform in new lines, new shapes. The floor becomes a chessboard and we’re the queens. Floating. Commanding. Beautiful and deadly.
The violins hit a crescendo. Josh lifts me into a half spin and for a moment, I’m flying, one hand reaching, one heart pounding, the whole world suspended in awe.
And then we descend into the final sequence. Our hands linked, gowns sweeping, and heads high. A single turn. A final beat. Silence.
The ballroom erupts into applause. We bow. Not too long, just enough to show grace and not surrender. Enough to let them know we own this room.
Let the night begin.
The lights dim lower. A bass-line hums through the floor as Knox transitions from orchestral elegance to a darker, sultrier beat. Strobe lights pulse to life overhead, washing the ballroom in flashes of violet and gold. The masquerade becomes a club in seconds—glittering, throbbing, alive.
Lex finds me first, peeling me out of the crowd with one strong hand on my waist. He doesn’t speak, just pulls me into his chest and starts to move with me. The tempo doesn’t matter. I follow him instinctively, heart hammering against the bones of my corset.
Cade joins from behind, brushing my hair off my shoulder, lips ghosting over the shell of my ear. “You killed it, sweetheart.”
They move with me like I’m their axis. Lex leading with sharp and grounded confidence, Cade swirling behind me with heat and care. Their hands trail down my arms, across my hips, up to my neck. I almost forget where we are.
“Tell me you wore this corset for me,” Cade whispers, voice low and teasing against my neck.
“I wore it so our Hollow King would cry,” I shoot back.
Lex lets out a short laugh. “That’s the spirit, baby.”
Over the comms, Nate’s voice crackles through. “North corridor clear.”
“Rooftop’s all good, no bogeys up here,” O’Malley chimes in, his Irish accent curling around the words like a pint at the end of a long night. “Quiet enough to hear a bloody pin drop.”
“Lobby’s clean,” Jack says, clipped and calm.
A beat of silence, then Sabine purrs through the channel, “Perhaps his soul caught wind of what’s waiting here and decided to stay dead. Even shadows fear fire, no?”
Lex snorts. Cade shakes his head. I exhale a laugh as some of the tension finally bleeds off me. Maybe she’s right. Maybe Luca chickened out. Maybe we finally got ahead of him.
“Second sweep of VIP. All secure this side,” Khoza says over the comms, voice smooth and low. “No eyes, no movement. We’re good. Sawa?” A pause. Then quieter, but firm, “You see anything shift, even a shadow and you call it in. Hatuchezi tonight.”
Laing crackles in over the line, dry as ever. “Good God, man. English, please. Some of us barely passed high school.”
“Means we don’t play, mate. So, keep your eyes sharp… or stay out of my fucking way.”
Lex spins me again, pulling me close so I’m flush against his chest and leans down until his lips are right at my ear. “You know,” he says, slow and dangerous. “If he doesn’t show, we should celebrate.”
Cade steps in behind me, hands at my waist. “Oh, we’re celebrating either way. You’re ours tonight, sweetheart. All night long.”
I close my eyes for just a second, letting myself sink into the warmth of them, the safety. The rhythm. Their touch.
Laing cuts in over comms, “Don’t suppose I get a dance after that performance? Maybe a kiss? Come on, Iz, I wore the nice suit.”
Lex snarls immediately, “Back the fuck off Mortal Kombat.”
Tex deadpans, “Laing, don’t make me shoot you from here.”
Ellie laughs softly in the background. “I’m starting to like him.”
“He’s too reckless for you, baby girl,” Sabine replies flatly.
I glance up toward the balcony, then to the VIP and the main entrance—Jack, Briggs, Daniel, even Kenji and Khoza are posted everywhere, eyes sweeping the crowd like lions in tuxedos.
I lean into Lex and whisper, “Still feel like we have the upper hand?”
His eyes flick down to mine. “We have everything we need.”
Lex spins me, catches me, and dips me low with a cocky grin. “You know, we never actually told you.”
“Told me what?”
“How much we love you.”
My chest tightens. “I know you do.”
Lex tilts his head. “No, you don’t, baby. You think you know, but you haven’t even scratched the surface.”
I bite my lip, trying not to cry, trying not to crack open under the weight of the emotion in his voice.
There’s a sudden sharp crackle in my ear. Static. Interference. Followed by a voice. Smug. Drawled.
“Hey, Iz. Laing again,” he says over the comms, tone lazy like he’s lounging poolside with a drink. “Real touching moment out there. Had me reaching for tissues and all that shit.”
Lex groans but Laing just laughs. “Easy, champ. Still sore from the last time you turned me into street art? Good hit, by the way. Real poetic. Let’s run it back sometime. You know, for old time’s sake.”
“Laing,” Nate snaps, “shut the hell up and keep the damn line clear before I throw your ass into the Hudson.”
A sharp feedback blares through the main speakers. The lights freeze mid-strobe. Then his voice fills the air. Low. Rhythmic. Filthy with glee.
“Izzy…
Such a pretty little puppet, dressed up just right,
You twirled in your chains under chandelier light.
Mask on your face, but I know what’s beneath,
A smile full of lies and a mouth full of teeth.”
I stop breathing. Cade’s hand clamps at my waist. Lex goes rigid, scanning.
“Shame your brother wasn’t there to see,
Zeke always loved a good tragedy.
Might’ve clapped ‘til his hands turned red,
If he weren’t so busy being dead.”
“What the fuck,” Cade growls, tucking me behind him like I’m still that fifteen-year-old girl he used to drive across state lines for.
Lex shoves someone aside, barking into his mic, “Knox. Shut it down. Now.”
“I’m locked out!” Knox snaps back through the comms.
“You’re searching for me now, aren’t you?
Lexie’s eyes cut the room in two.
Whitmore’s poised, so tense, so brave,
But heroes don’t dance on the edge of a grave.
No, no, no… don’t look below,
I’m not the dark you think you know.
I am the stage, the silent scream,
The puppet master in your dream.”
Rez snaps, “Who the fuck is that, Lex?”
Briggs growls, “Who’s watching the girls?”
O’Malley shouts, “I’m heading back to the roof! Keep your eyes peeled, yeah?”
“I said I’d dance, and dance I will.
The room goes on, the air goes still.
You twirled in silk with eyes shut tight,
While something darker kissed the night.”
“Dressing room’s clear, bébé. Haley and Ellie are both safe. For now,” Sabine says.
Jack snaps, “Lock the doors. No one in or out until we catch this bastard.”
“But you looked so beautiful. Haunting. Divine.
Like death dressed up in something fine.
I almost felt it—something cruel,
Till you smiled at him like I’m the fool.”
Lex is circling me like a shield. Cade’s back is pressed to mine.
Laing growls, “Oh, this motherfucker’s gonna die slow.”
“Shame your brother missed the scene,
He always knew what shadows mean.
Maybe he watches. Maybe he hides.
Maybe he waits on darker tides.”
My vision tunnels and my knees go weak.
“Because not everything is what it seems,
Not every grave holds silent screams.
And not every ghost you thought had died,
Stayed in the dark where secrets hide.”
Knox curses, fingers flying. “I’m still locked out you guys.”
“We’re getting her out. Now,” Lex rasps, grabbing my wrist.
But the voice isn’t done, and I can’t move.
“Takes one to raise one, that much is true.
He trained the monster that now lives in you.
But Eden’s not built with fire and bone.
It starts with a whisper when you’re all alone.”
My throat tightens. My heart shatters.
Tex scans the area, “Does anyone have a fucking visual?”
“Zeke taught you to run. I taught him to crawl.
He wept like a dog at the edge of it all.
But death is a tale for the ones who grieve.
Your ghost still listens. He just won’t leave.”
Cade leans into me, “Bella, sweetheart, breathe. Look at me. Breathe.”
“You flinch from my flame, but it’s always been yours.
Etched into blood, behind hidden doors.
Your brother now bears it, deep in his bone.
And soon, little Izzy, he won’t be alone.
A collar of fire, a whisper, a code.
He walks where I lead, down every dark road.
Tick… tick… like a bomb in his head.
Your brother is breathing, but better off dead.”
Nate whispers, “That’s not possible.”
“But enough about him. Let’s talk about you.
About the lies you wear and the games you do.
You let them touch you, pretend they belong.
But that’s not love, sweetheart. That’s playing along.
Lexie and Whitmore? So noble, so blind.
Thinking they’ve tamed what already is mine.
But wolves don’t keep angels. They break their wings.
And I’ve clipped enough to know these things.”
Lex snarls before the last word even fades. His mask is off now—literally, figuratively—jaw clenched, fury carved into every line of his face. “I’m gonna kill him,” he growls. “I don’t care who he is, I’ll tear him apart.”
Cade’s hands are shaking. He turns toward Knox’s booth and shouts into the comms. “Kill the feed! Knox, shut it off!”
“No signal override,” Knox responds, tight and tense. “I’ve fucking unplugged everything up here and it’s no use. He’s hijacked the entire system.”
Lex’s eyes snap to the crowd, then to every balcony, every shadow. “Then where the fuck is he?”
“You screamed for them, now didn’t you, pet?
While Lexie bit and Whitmore sweat.
You arched for them, a perfect prize.
Did they see me in your hungry eyes?
You moaned so sweet, you begged so loud,
Pressed to the glass, so fucking proud.
But right before you fell apart,
You whispered my name. From the dark.
Every thrust they gave, I kept the score.
Every bruise, every cry, I wanted more.
They worship your body and kiss every scar.
But only I know who you really are.
This isn’t revenge. This is divine.
A holy reset. A sacred sign.
I gave you mercy. I gave you years.
Now I’ll take back what bled through tears.”
“Lex, Cade get her the fuck out of here.” Tex screams.
Lex pulls on my arm, but my feet won’t move.
“So go check the table, wrapped in red,
Something borrowed. Something bled.
No ribbons, no card, no soft disguise.
Just truth we carved and severed ties.”
The voice cuts out. Silence crashes over the room like a wave.
And then I run.
“Malyshka, no!”
Lex’s voice booms behind me, but I don’t stop. My heels echo against the marble as I race toward the gift table, one long rectangle draped in white satin, buried under towers of champagne flutes and ribboned boxes.
Except one.
Wrapped in blood-red paper. No name. No bow. I reach for it with shaking fingers. I know I shouldn’t. But I already know it’s for me. I rip the paper. The box opens and I scream. The sound tears from my throat, raw and feral, as I stumble backward.
“Oh my God…” Cade breathes behind me, voice strangled.
Lex is there in an instant. “Malyshka, come here!” he barks, yanking me into his arms just as my knees give out. He spins me away from the table, shielding my body with his own. My fists slam into his chest, desperate to claw my way back, to see it again, to unsee it.
But it’s too late.
I saw it.
“JACK!” Lex shouts over the stunned silence, voice slicing through the ballroom like a gunshot. “TEX! WE NEED YOU! NOW!”
My breath won’t come, it sticks like glass.
A jagged burn I can’t surpass.
I try to breathe, but every try,
Feels like a scream I cannot cry.
The ballroom blurs, too loud, too bright.
Then fades to black and steals the light.
The people vanish. The music dies.
I’m drowning in my own disguise.
Lex is talking. I see his face.
But all I hear is empty space.
His voice, a hum inside his chest.
A lullaby I once possessed.
Cade’s hands, steady, hold my own.
But I’m not here. I’m skin and bone.
I’m glass. I’m smoke. A haunted hum.
I’m all the things I can’t outrun.
Slipping under, gone from sight,
Bury the day, embrace the night.
Where mercy rots, the heart turns black,
And madness grows, there’s no way back.