Chapter 19
AURORA
When the lights switch back on, I stare down at his dead body.
It doesn’t feel like a game anymore. Blood pools around him, his marble-white mask flecked with red, his eyes already drained off life. Tears sting my eyes and slide down my cheeks as I gaze at him. I shudder as if a panic attack is about to grip me.
The deal flies out of my head. I just want him to be okay, just want this not to have happened.
“Who did this?” a woman screams, falling to her knees at his side. “Who did this?”
“Aurora?”
I turn at the sound of his voice in shock, then throw myself into his arms and let out a shaky gasp. He holds me tightly, stroking his hand through my hair.
“Whoa–it’s okay.”
“Look, Raiden.”
“I know,” he says darkly. “But you’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“No.” My voice breaks. “Look.”
A pause, then he says, “You thought it was me.”
“Yuh-yes.”
“I’m here. I’m right here with you.”
The storm crashes outside. I hold onto him tightly as if to confirm it’s him, to convince myself he’s here, alive, safe.
He kisses me gently, then whispers, “I need to take control here. Stick close.”
He lets me go and walks into the gathered circle, his hands raised. “This is now a crime scene,” he says loudly. “Everyone needs to leave this room. Touch nothing. Leave everything as it is. The police will need to examine this.”
The woman at his side weeps, her face buried in his hands. “Who… would… do… this?” She lets out a scream that sounds like it tears a hole in her chest. I’ve never heard pain like it.
I never felt this way except when I learned what happened to my parents..
“He had no enemies.” She lowers her hands, looks up at Raiden. A beat too late, Raiden moves to take off his mask. “No enemies,” she whispers, staring at him. Then back at the dead man. “He had no enemies.”
The woman springs up and rushes at Raiden. Raiden looks like he’s going to let her slap him, so I quickly jump between them, my hands raised. “This isn’t his fault. He wasn’t even in the same room!”
“Move,” the woman hisses.
“You’re not thinking clearly. But whatever else is going on here, Raiden is not to blame. If you want to take out your grief on him, you’ll have to get through me first!”
“Move. Now.”
“No,” I hiss. “I won’t.”
There’s a long, tense standoff, then she finally stumbles away.
Two women walk up beside her, each taking an arm, holding her gently.
“Everyone needs to listen to my grandson,” Evangeline says, walking over to the group. “Leave the room, touch nothing. We’re going to contact the authorities. There’s a killer among us.”
A gasp tears through the group.
Raiden approaches his grandmother. “I’m not sure you needed to add that last part.” He takes out his cell phone. “No service.”
“None here either,” One guest says.
“The damn storm,” Raiden grunts.
“The landline doesn’t have a dial tone,” someone calls from the hallway.
“Someone cut it,” Raiden growls.
“We don’t know anything yet,” I say, taking his hand and holding it tightly.
“Everyone needs to leave in an orderly fashion,” Raiden says loudly. “Go to your rooms. Lock the doors. And if this knife was meant for me and the killer is in here, next time you better come for the right goddamn man!”
Evangeline paces the room, her mask off, her mood far less jovial than it was this morning. “His wife thinks it was meant for you.” She wrings her hands together. “She thinks someone tried to kill my grandson, my blood, at our Retreat.”
“Do you have any idea who would’ve wanted to hurt you?” I ask Raiden. “Who would go that far?”
“Victor doesn’t have any love lost for me, and Julian has shown his true colors. I’d like to say neither of them would go that far. But hell, who knows? Maybe they would. Perhaps I don’t know a goddamn thing.”
I touch his hand. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“A man is dead because of me,” Raiden says darkly. “He was a good man. His wife wasn’t lying when she said he doesn’t have any enemies.”
“Max Rogan,” Evangeline mutters. “One of the few human beings walking this planet who seems–seemed–like a genuinely uncomplicatedly good person, God help him. We might be wrong. He might not be the angel we think he is.”
Raiden groans and runs his hand through his hair. “We won’t be able to call the police until we get some sort of signal for our cells. And even then, they won’t be able to come to the island until the weather conditions settle down.”
“The room is sealed, and the security is watching it.”
“Security?” I ask. “I’ve seen butlers and waiters and—”
“They’re all security,” Evangeline cuts in. “Every member of staff is a trained soldier. They serve multiple purposes.”
“That makes sense.”
“Speaking of security,” Raiden says. “Grandmother, would you mind if Aurora stayed with you until this is over?”
“Of course not,” Evangeline says.
“Wait a second. What about what Aurora wants?” I fold my arms, which, even now, causes his gaze to flit undeniably to my body. It’s like an instinct he can’t control.
He snaps out of the trance, frowning at me. “I don’t understand.”
“Why don’t you want me to stay with you?”
“If this sick bastard really was targeting me and he comes back to finish the job, I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”
“You’ll be safe here,” Evangeline says.
“No,” I say flatly.
“No?” Raiden says in a dark tone. “No?”
I want to tell him he’s not the boss of me when it comes to this. I want to tell him he’s not my sir when his life is on the line, but I can’t in front of his grandmother.
“We’re a team, Raiden. I’m going to be there for you. Anyway, you said we’d have security.”
“We will,” he snaps. “But I still might be a target.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Whatever you decide, I’ll support you both,” Evangeline says. “We should try to get some rest. It’s late.”
Raiden stares at me for a long time, then sighs. “If this is your final decision, then I’ll accept it. It would be safer if you stayed here, though.”
“It’s my final decision. Accept it.”
His lip twitches into that near smile, pride etching his features with more detail than any mask ever could.
“It looks like I’ve been thoroughly told,” he says, turning to his grandmother.
Evangeline smiles warmly. “It would seem that way.”
“Instruct the security to monitor the cameras,” Raiden says.
“The power failure means we’ve missed the bastard in the act, and apparently he must be a ninja because he snuck through a roomful of people to kill Max and no one saw or heard a thing until it was too late.
But if someone sneaks in tonight, we need to know about it. ”
“You’re right,” Evangeline says. “I will. Tomorrow, the storm will clear, and the police will arrive.”
She says the last bit more like a wish, like this is what she hopes and prays happens, not with any degree of certainty.
Raiden hugs his grandmother, then she quickly approaches and throws her arms around me. “Thank you,” she whispers in my ear. “He’s too proud to admit it, but he needs you at his side.”
In the hallway, Raiden and I walk side by side, his hand in mine. “What did she say back there?” he asks.
“She said you need me at your side.”
He stops walking and looks down at me. Passion etches his every feature. “She’s not wrong,” he says huskily. “Even if that’ll hurt you to hear.”
“It doesn’t hurt me, Raiden,” I say.
It scares me. If I feel the same, this is going to get far more complicated. Perhaps that’s why I ask a low, cruel question. “How are we going to arrange payment if this ends early?”
His tone turns cold. “You’ll be paid in full regardless of the outcome.”