Chapter 8
The Flame
I remained under the sofa, my blood roaring in my ears.
Every breath felt painful, my heart hammering so hard it was difficult to know when one beat ended and the next began.
I could hardly believe what had just happened.
Whenever I tried to work up the courage to leave, that silver mask came back to my mind, the way it had lowered, the way it had cocked to the side, and I’d remain cowering under here.
Already I was reimagining it, picturing the mask smiling at me, the sinister grin curling up and up, the mouth impossibly wide, the eyes flashing red, the jaw slacking as it moved towards me, teeth growing larger…
Isabelle, stop it!
The sofa seemed to shrink around me, folding me into suffocating darkness.
My entire body was shaking, I was choking on the adrenaline, and I was soaked in sweat. Dizziness blurred my vision, my brain foggy, and I knew if I didn’t get this under control I was going to tumble straight into a debilitating panic attack right here under the sofa.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, forcing the image away from my mind with sheer will and a little bit of begging.
I was being ridiculous, and I knew it. But the way Silas had silently moved, the way he had been so aware, the way he conveyed so much without speaking a word.
The man fucking terrified me. And the fact that he had been here, in my house, clearly so familiar with the layout, terrified me even more.
And why was he always fucking looking at me?
Luca: Belle, talk to me.
A small sob escaped me at the reminder of Luca’s presence, and I snatched my phone with shaky hands, blinking past the tears to reply.
Isabelle: Are they gone? Please tell me they’re gone.
Luca: They’re leaving. They’re in the main lobby talking. You’ll be fine to crawl out now. I promise.
I wanted to believe him. I had never doubted him before. And yet…
Isabelle: Where did you go, Luca? Why did you leave me?
Luca: I was right here. I couldn’t text you because they would have seen or heard. But I was right here. I never left you for a second. I was watching you the entire time.
Isabelle: Before that. When I was searching the office. You left.
I sounded like a child. I knew it. He knew it. I was almost twenty-one, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t need a babysitter. I certainly shouldn’t want some man watching me around the clock on cameras that shouldn’t even be installed in this house… but I did. And he wasn’t there!
Luca: I was watching. Both you and them. I was making sure you had time. Come out, little ember. You don’t need to keep hiding.
I took a deep breath, my fingers curling into the floor for a brief moment, and then I pushed myself out, sliding along my stomach until I was free, away from the confines of the sofa, out of the darkness, and hauled myself to my feet.
Luca: The door is unlocked. Silas is still in the house. Trust me and do exactly as I say.
Silas was still in the house…
Silas was still in the fucking house!
I immediately tensed back up, scanning the room, even though Luca had reassured me he was gone, even though I had watched him leave, I still couldn’t be sure. I still expected him to emerge from somewhere, walking towards me, staring at me—always fucking staring at me!
Isabelle: Where is he? Tell me exactly, Luca. I need to know.
Luca: His grandfather left, but he’s around. I can’t find him on the cameras. But I didn’t see him leave.
My heart started hammering again.
Isabelle: Where’s my dad?
The typing bubble came and disappeared again.
Isabelle: Luca?? Where is my dad??
Luca: He left.
Oh, God… Oh, God!
My mother would be long asleep by now, and my brother rarely spent the night at home. He had been given a penthouse in the city for his twenty-first birthday years ago, and I’d read enough gossip magazines to get the perfect picture of what happened there.
Which meant it was just me and Silas. Alone. In the dark.
Oh, God.
The house creaked, and logically I knew it was just the old house settling.
Pipes groaning. I knew that. And yet I couldn’t help the irrational thought that it was Silas, slowly pacing up and down outside the hallway.
I couldn’t help but think that he may even be in the walls, following me around endlessly, always able to see me even though I could never see him.
Isabelle: Talk to me, Luca. Where is he?
Isabelle: Luca??
He had fucking cameras everywhere. How could he not know where Silas was?
A nagging question knocked at the back of my mind, latching onto the thoughts of the cameras.
If Silas had known exactly where I was, and was so familiar with this place, how had he not known where the cameras were?
Or did he? Had he looked at Luca the same way he’d looked at me? Had his mere presence intimidated Luca the way it had terrified and intimidated me?
Is that the real reason Luca had disappeared? He was clearly connected to Silas in some way. They knew each other. Just like Luca knew Adrien, my father, Rafael, and everyone else tangled in this evil web. I just didn’t know the how or the whys.
My phone buzzed in my hand, and I breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“Luca, thank God…”
I looked down and almost blacked out.
Not Luca.
Unknown: Come out, come out, wherever you are.