Chapter 17 #2
“Do you think I’m scared of our brother?” She snorts a laugh. “Nah, fuck that. I’ll talk to him. If you’re done for the night, then you’re done. He’ll have to get over it.”
“I’m done,” I say.
“You got it.” Iris points toward the exit. “I say we go home, we eat our weight in snacks, and we ignore society’s bullshit for the rest of the night.”
“That sounds amazing, actually.”
She glances across the ballroom. “Stay here, okay? I’m going to find Heath and tell him. Then we can go.”
“Is Killian or Xavier waiting outside?”
“Nope.” She hooks a thumb toward herself. “I drove myself here.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Wait. You drove? How?”
Most Upper Side Omegas don’t even bother getting their driver licenses. It’s a rare thing to see, especially in Sabine.
“Damn right.” A grin spreads across her face. “Perks of working for the Council. They paid for my lessons and gave me a permit, so now they let me use one of the work cars.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
Wiping my wet eyes, I look at her. Really look at her. “But wait, isn’t a permit supposed to mean you have to drive with somebody else?’
“You’re somebody else, aren’t you?” She laughs, and I follow right along.
You can count on Iris to find a way to get around the rules.
After giving my hand a reassuring squeeze, she disappears into the crowd to find our older brother. The moment she’s gone, I sink into one of the chairs lining the wall.
For several minutes, I simply stare at nothing. My thoughts keep circling around to Reece. To his face when I took off the mask. To the shame in his eyes.
A crater has opened between us. A massive, ugly thing I don’t know how to cross. The more I think about it, the more I’m not sure if I can forgive him.
I don’t know if I want to.
With a frustrated sigh, I reach into my purse and pull out my sketchbook. It’s instinct at this point. Whenever I’m upset, I draw. Whenever I’m confused, I draw. Whenever I don’t know what to do next, I draw.
So my fingers start to flip through the pages, itching for a blank page and to sketch out my feelings. But I come to an abrupt stop at the picture I drew days ago. The one of me and Reece, smiling and inches away from pressing our lips together and kissing.
My breathing speeds up. I flip farther back to the other sketch I’d done while talking to Reece about No One.
Wait a minute.
Switching back and forth between the two pages, I can hardly believe what I’m seeing.
No One, in the white mask and the tuxedo. And Reece with his glasses and in his servant uniform. They both have the same slight tilt of the head, the same posture, the same dark hair, and the same half smile.
The similarities are suddenly impossible to ignore.
I stare down at the pages in disbelief.
Shit.
How did I not see it? I must have, on some level. I drew the same man twice, and just hadn’t realized it. No One and Reece, right here on paper—they’re the same person. They always were.
“Mari?”
I look up.
Iris stands nearby with a set of keys dangling from one finger.
“Ready?”
Without another glance at the ballroom, I snap the sketchbook closed and stand.
My heart still hurts, and I’m still angry and confused. But I know one thing with absolute certainty.
“Yeah,” I say. Then I look toward the exit. “Get me out of here.”
I spend most of the trip back staring out the passenger window while Iris drives with one hand resting on the steering wheel and the other drumming occasionally against the door.
The farther we get from Highbridge Hall, the easier it is to breathe. And by the time we pull in front of the townhouse, most of the lights inside are off and everything is still.
Iris parks the dark blue sedan beside the front steps and kills the engine. She glances at me.
“You sure you’re okay?”
I hesitate for a second but then sigh. “No.”
I stare through the windshield toward the house. Everything feels different now, even though I’m looking at the same stone facade, the same windows, the same side garden and wooden fence. But somehow, it’s not the same at all.
“Does this happen to have something to do with your Alpha?”
I groan and sink lower in my seat.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Iris says.
I shoot her a look.
She ignores it and pulls out a mini tablet from the side pocket of her seat. Typing in a password, she scrolls for a bit and then turns the screen my way. There is a list of names with little pictures next to them.
“This was my work-around for not being able to give you the list. I figured if you pointed him out at the ball, I could give you his name, in a way,” she says.
She’s kidding, right? She’s got to be kidding. “How would that even work? Were we going to play charades?”
“If we needed to,” she says with a smile. She’s really proud of this one, I can tell. “My instructions were to keep this list private, but if you guess his name, I’m not breaking any rules, am I?”
I shake my head vigorously. “It doesn’t matter. I know who he is now.”
Eyes widening, she slowly puts the tablet away. “Oh… And that’s a bad thing…?”
I slam my head back onto the seat and look up at the tan ceiling. “Yes! Ugh, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before! I’m so stupid.”
“Hey, now. No, you’re not stupid,” Iris snaps. “You’ve just had a lot going on.”
I swing my head her way again. “I’m glad you’re here, Iris.” Tears start to prick my eyes again but I blink them away. “I’m glad you’re here with me right now.”
She smiles. “Me too.” She steps out of the car and slams the door shut behind her. A second later she appears at mine and yanks it open. “Come on.”
Together, we walk around the side of the house instead of going through the front. The garden is quieter than usual. Most of the decorative lights are still glowing softly among the flowerbeds, and the fountain burbles somewhere in the darkness.
I stare at the shed. The light is off. No surprise there. Reece is probably still at the ball.
“You know, if we’re sneaking around, we should at least steal cookies. Hopefully Rita’s sleeping already and can’t chase us out of the kitchen.”
I laugh. “That’s your solution to everything.”
“And yet my success rate speaks for itself.”
We reach the gazebo and climb the steps. As I drop onto one of the benches, Iris sprawls across the one opposite me.
Again, my gaze drifts to the shed, and I sigh.
Iris turns her head to follow my line of sight. “So… Is Reece working late tonight?”
I look away and snort. “You could say that.”
“What does that mean?”
I cross my arms. “He’s working, but not in the way you’re thinking.”
It takes Iris a beat to understand my meaning, the darkness in my tone.
“Are we talking about the same Delta?” she asks, brows knitted in confusion. “Tall, skinny, glasses, nerdy Reece?”
“Yeah. That one.”
“Wow.” Iris mocks surprise. “Never thought he would be a ‘Delta of the night,’ working corners and charging by the hour. You think you know a guy.”
“What? No! Not that.”
“Then what, Mari? Come on, now. What is going on? Reece really can’t be what’s ruining your night. Right?”
I pick at an imaginary loose thread on my skirt. “Actually, he is.”
Sitting up straighter, she stares at me. I have her full attention now. “Wait, what?”
“He lied to me.”
“Go on.”
I pause, wondering if I should unload all this on her. I should probably just tell her pieces, just enough for her to get the gist of Reece’s betrayal, but…
“Reece is the Alpha in White.”
Her eyes nearly bug out of her head. “The one everyone is talking about?”
I nod.
“How…? How is that even possible?” she asks, her eyes still bugging.
“I have no idea,” I confess. “He was wearing a white tuxedo, and a mask to cover most of his face. He even used a device to disguise his voice, and—”
She waves her hands in front of herself to stop me. “Wait, wait, wait. Did you say a white tuxedo?”
“Yeah, why?”
Her face pinches in anger, but again, she just waves it off. “We’ll circle back around to that. Keep going.”
For a moment, I search her face, but when she encourages me to go on once more, I do.
“He lied to me and told me he was from the mainland, and I was dumb enough to believe him. He…” I stop myself but decide I’m done keeping secrets to myself, and sigh.
“He even kissed me at the ball. He refused to tell me his name, though, so I have been calling him No One and hoping I’d see him again at another ball. ”
“That’s why you asked me about the program and getting you the list,” she adds.