Chapter 5 A Dangerous Bargain
A Dangerous Bargain
While I was trying to recover from the shock of running into my second Crestwood brother of the night, he continued to stare down at me expectantly, and I suddenly remembered he’d asked me a question.
“Yes, I—” I began, then cut myself off. There was still a chance I’d just dropped my phone somewhere, but if that wasn’t the case, then there’d only been two people who’d been close enough to me tonight to steal my phone out of my bag—the woman in the crimson gown, and George’s own brother Octavian.
What if that was why Octavian kissed me? I wondered, my face going all hot again. What if he was just trying to distract me while he took my cell?
Of course, the burning question was still why? Until I knew that, I wasn’t going to make any accusations to George.
“I was just thinking it was time for another drink,” I said cheerfully. “And maybe a visit to the buffet table.”
I extricated myself from his arms, and though he didn’t attempt to hold me, he continued to block my way.
“You were dancing with my brother.” His voice was smooth and rich as honey—but with a dangerous edge to it.
“He asked me to dance,” I pointed out. “I just agreed. And I didn’t even know who he was at the time.
He refused to tell me his name, and I didn’t know about the masks.
” I found myself looking more closely at George’s now, taking in the sharp, silver teeth along the wolf jaw.
While Octavian’s mask had been regal and proud, George’s suggested something wild and unpredictable.
His eyes did, too, as did the twisted, mischievous smile on his lips.
As with Octavian, it was obvious he was attractive beneath the mask, but I saw none of his brother’s warm charm.
Instead, there was a wickedness to George, and I suspected that even without the mask he would have looked positively wolfish.
I got the distinct impression that I would be devoured if I wasn’t careful.
“If I’ve offended you in some way, it wasn’t intentional,” I told him. “I didn’t come here to lay claim to your brother or anything.” Despite Esmer’s best efforts. “I don’t even know why you guys invited me in the first place. No one’s bothered to explain that to me yet.”
That mischievous gleam in his eye intensified, and his smile went a little crooked. He looked like he was on the edge of madness—but at the same time, like a stealthy, deadly predator in absolute control of himself and the situation around him.
“Would you have preferred we didn’t invite you at all?” he asked.
“I never said that,” I answered automatically. “I just think it’s rude to insult one of your guests when all I did was answer an invitation and agree to dance with someone who asked me.” I crossed my arms. “If you didn’t want me here, then you should have left me off the guest list.”
“Who said they didn’t want you here?” That twisted smile became a hint more devilish.
“I…” It was obvious that George was playing with me, and I suspected I wasn’t clever enough to hold my ground, let alone outwit him. “What kind of name is George, anyway?”
That question seemed to startle him, the wicked amusement in his face disappearing behind a frown.
“What’s wrong with my name?” he demanded.
“It just seems so…” My mind scrambled for the right word and couldn’t find it, so I tried again. “Your brothers are named Alastor and Octavian. Those are such unusual, regal names. George just sounds a little out of place next to them.”
“A number of kings have been named George,” he countered, sounding legitimately offended. “It’s plenty regal. And I’d hardly call it out of place in this world.”
“I don’t mean the whole world,” I said, wondering why he’d even assume that.
“I mean in your family. And…well, just look at you. You don’t look like a George.
You look like a…” I stared up into his silver mask with its sharp wolf-teeth, and then at the intense, wicked eyes behind it.
“I don’t know what you look like. But the name George isn’t nearly dangerous enough. ”
A little of that devilish humor was back in his face, and he took a step closer. “Are you calling me dangerous?”
Once again, my tongue had run away with me, and I quickly shook my head. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then how did you mean it?” Another step closer, and now he was as close as he’d been when I’d run into him and was pressed against his chest. There was only an inch of space between us, and he was near enough that when I looked up into his eyes I could see a dark ring around the outer edge of his forest green irises. It was suddenly very hard to breathe.
“I just meant that the name doesn’t suit you.
That’s all.” My voice sounded slightly strained.
“But I don’t even know you. We’ve just met.
Maybe once I get to know you a little better I’ll change my mind.
I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.
” Something tugged at the back of my mind—a reminder that my phone was missing, and that it was really important I find it again—but I was distracted by the man looming over me.
The corner of George’s mouth twitched, like he was fighting the urge to smile. For a long moment, he didn’t respond, just continued staring down at me with an amused, hungry look that made me feel like a rabbit cornered by an actual wolf.
And then, suddenly, he said, “You’re right, of course.”
“I’m right?” In my surprise I forgot to be wary. “About what, exactly?”
He leaned closer, dropping his voice. He wasn’t nearly as tall as Octavian, but he still had to stoop to put his lips at my ear. “George isn’t my real name.”
I wasn’t prepared for that revelation, and my head jerked up, knocking into his.
Once again, his arms came up to catch me, and his hands gripped me just below the shoulders.
This time, though, I didn’t immediately pull away.
That shivery-ness had returned, emanating from the place where his hands wrapped around my skin.
Unlike his brother, he wasn’t wearing gloves.
“Then what is your name?” I asked. I’d only just met this man, and I didn’t know a thing about him other than the fact that he was insanely rich and quite different from his brother, but my curiosity was like a living thing, starving for more information about this place and these people.
He didn’t fight his smile this time, and he dipped his head closer again so that no one would overhear us. His voice, still smooth and thick as molasses, danced across my ear.
“What will you give me if I tell you?”
I went very still. In that moment, it was impossible not to think about the fairy stories I’d read as a child, where some foolish mortal had entered into a bargain with one of the fae. Sometimes they got what they wanted, but it always came at a heavy price.
But those stories weren’t real, I reminded myself.
Magic doesn’t exist. And George—or whatever his real name is—isn’t a fairy or a sprite or whatever.
He’s just an eccentric rich guy who’s teasing me.
He obviously got a very different sort of pleasure out of these parties than his brother Octavian.
The question was, did I play along or not?
“I’m afraid I don’t have anything you would want,” I said finally.
“I’m not picky,” he replied. “In fact, I’d share my true name in exchange for a secret.”
“A secret,” I repeated, both confused and intrigued.
“Why not?” He was still so close that his breath stirred my hair. “One secret for another. I consider that a fair trade, don’t you?”
“I…guess it is.” But I still wasn’t sure what I had to offer him.
“I don’t have any big, juicy secrets, though.
At least not the kind that would interest you.
” One of the side effects of living a relatively sheltered, uneventful life was that you didn’t have much to hide.
And I rarely lied about anything because I had nothing to lie about.
“Everyone has secrets, butterfly,” he countered.
“And sometimes the small ones are much more delectable than the big ones.” He pulled back just enough to look down into my face.
“Some secrets we choose to keep, but others just happen. You wake up one morning and realize there’s something about you that you’ve never told a soul, not because you intended to keep it hidden but simply because it didn’t seem to matter…
until the day it suddenly does. Those sorts of secrets can sneak up on you. ”
My cheeks got very warm all at once, and he must have been waiting and watching for such a reaction because his crooked smile widened.
“That,” he said. “Whatever it is that just crossed your mind, that’s the secret I want.”
“I don’t want to know your name that badly,” I blurted.
His eyes glinted. “That must be a very good secret you’re hiding, then.”
In spite of my best efforts, my cheeks were still getting hotter and hotter with every passing second. “Maybe I just don’t want to play this game.”
“Oh, I doubt that. I can see it in your eyes.” That forest green gaze bored into me. “You’re more than just curious. There’s a hunger in you, a yearning you don’t quite understand about me, and my brothers, and why you’re here.”
“Maybe because no one is telling me anything.” If there was ever a moment to roll my eyes, that would have been it, but I resisted the urge.
“No, I think it goes beyond that.” The corner of his mouth twitched.
“I can always tell. Some people are only concerned with the surface level of things. But others…they’re drawn in by the complexities of life, by the secrets that run beneath, by the underbelly where the truth—sometimes beautiful and sometimes terrible—waits to be discovered.
Those are the only people who truly live, don’t you think?
The ones in search of that deeper, twisted truth. ”
I wanted to deny it, if for no other reason that I didn’t want him to think that he’d analyzed me accurately in a matter of moments, but I had to admit that I was drawn in by his words, that this idea of uncovering the beautiful, terrible truths of life had its strange appeal.
I’d come here to discover the truth, hadn’t I?
I’d ignored Isaac’s warnings and even the fears that held me back in my normal life because I’d been handed a mystery too intriguing to resist, and even though I recognized there were risks, something kept drawing me deeper.
“Let’s say I am one of those people,” I said finally. “That doesn’t mean I like to be manipulated with these sorts of games.”
“There’s no manipulation at all. You are free to walk away if you wish. I only ask you give me something in exchange for sharing my true name with you. Would you consider such a bargain unjust?”
“No,” I was forced to admit.
“And do you not wish to know my name?” He must have been able to read the indecision in my eyes, because he leaned closer again and murmured, “Only five other people in this world know what I’m truly called.”
This time it was my turn to study him, to see if I could detect any sort of deception in his eyes. “How do I know you aren’t lying?”
“The same way I know if you are. Your body always knows, even when your head wants you to believe otherwise.”
I’d never thought of it that way, but that explanation felt true, and I realized with a start that that was the only confirmation I needed.
“All right,” I said. “I agree to your bargain.” I wasn’t happy with the idea of spilling any secrets to this man, but I wasn’t hiding anything truly appalling.
My secret was embarrassing to me, and not something I preferred to have spread around, but given the fact that I’d probably never see this man again, I was willing to take a chance.
Yes, it turned out I was every bit as curious and hungry as he’d claimed.
“You first, butterfly,” he said.
I knew this was coming, but it still took a moment to pull myself together. My cheeks were still blazing hot, and I knew I was probably the color of a tomato, but I hoped my mask hid the worst of it.
Here goes nothing.
“I…” I swallowed than started again, blurting it all out at once. “I’m twenty-three and I’ve never had sex.”
I didn’t look at him. But I was suddenly aware that he was still holding me by the arms, and the air around us now felt thick and warm.
And, no surprise, I couldn’t bear the silence.
“It wasn’t on purpose,” I said. “But it wasn’t really an accident either, you know?
I’m not planning to wait until I’m married or anything, but I was hoping to at least wait until I found someone special, and I guess that just never really happened.
” Not even Isaac and Esmer knew. Even though I knew they wouldn’t judge me, I was afraid that confessing it to them like it was some sort of big thing would only make it feel like one, and this current situation had definitely confirmed that fear.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a big thing. It’ll happen when it happens, I know.
But now I’m old enough that I feel like any guy I meet is going to wonder what’s wrong with me, or think it’s weird, or… ” I let that thought trail off.
“Some men may find it appealing.”
The hunger in his voice was undeniable. I didn’t think my face could get any hotter—frankly, I was surprised my head hadn’t exploded, considering how much flushing I’d done tonight—but I was wrong.
“I don’t want to be someone’s fetish, either.
” He started to say something, but I cut him off. “Your turn.”
He chuckled, and once again the sound reminded me of something beastlike and primal.
“Very well,” he said. “You gave me a very delicious secret, so I will uphold my end of the bargain.”
His head dipped low again, his lips coming close to my ear but not touching. His warm breath stirred my hair.
“My true name,” he murmured, “is Radven.”
His name was like the song of a river dancing over rocks, with a grace note of an almost-third-syllable right in the middle.
“Radven,” I repeated, and it sounded just as beautiful on my tongue. I said it again just for good measure, and then a third time—
He drew back abruptly, his eyes instantly sharp and serious again, and his grip tightened on my arms.
“You must never utter that name to anyone else,” he told me.
“Why would you hide a name like that?” I asked. “It’s beautiful.”
“Promise me.” His fingers dug into my arms and his eyes flashed with something terrifying.
“Of course,” I sputtered. “But why—”
My voice cut off as the room fell suddenly dark around us.