Chapter Four: Living in the Dark
1299 Words
The silence after Draco’s real voice was more deafening than the threat over the intercom. It was a vibration that seemed to pull the air out of the room. Rose froze, her body stiff against his chest. For a second she didn't move. The gravity of that voice had short-circuited her mind.
“You " she breathed.
“Eyes closed Rose " Draco repeated. His command was absolute. The "Elias" mask was still there. He had fully shifted. The protector was gone; the predator had taken over.
He didn't wait for her. He swept her up. Moved. In the studio, Draco didn't need light. He had memorized every inch of the building before he bought it. He moved silently his boots barely touching the floor.
The Moreno family thought they were hunting a girl and a guard. They didn't realize they were in a room with Draco himself.
A tactical boot hit the studio doors echoing through the hall. Draco tucked Rose behind a pillar. He pressed his finger to his lips. He didn't need the tablet. The game had changed.
“Elias?" she hissed. "Who’s coming? What’s happening?”
“Stay " he whispered.
He stepped into the hall as the doors burst open. Three men in gear rushed in their flashlights cutting through the dark. They found Draco of the "swan."
Draco didn't use a gun. A gunshot would give away his position. He moved like a shadow. He took down the man with a swift strike. He used the man’s momentum to spin him around using him as a shield.
The muffled sound of silenced rounds hitting the man’s vest was the only noise. Draco pulled a combat knife. Launched it at the second man hitting him in the shoulder. The third man panicked his flashlight beam dancing wildly.
Draco was on him in a heartbeat. He pinned the man against the wall crushing his windpipe.
“Who sent you?" Draco asked. "Moreno doesn't have the spine for this.”
The man choked out a name: "Skyler… she… she gave the coordinates.”
Draco’s eyes went cold. It wasn't a Moreno hit. It was a Moreno hit funded and guided by his fiancée, Skyler. She had come to mark the target.
He dropped the man. Turned back to the pillar. Rose was curled in a ball her hands over her ears. She was shaking violently.
He scooped her up again. This time she didn't fight. She clung to his neck.
“We’re leaving " he said.
“The screaming " she whispered. "I heard the screaming.”
“It’s over " he said.
He headed for the basement. He knew the Morenos would have the perimeter surrounded. They expected him to try to run for the SUV.
Draco didn't run. He repositioned.
They reached an iron door marked *High Voltage*. Draco punched a code into a keypad and a hidden hydraulic lift opened. This was his exit.
As they descended into the sub-basement the silence was heavy. Rose finally pulled her face away from his shoulder. In the red light, she looked at the mask. The silicone was torn at the jaw.
“You’re hurt " she said.
“It’s not my blood " he said.
The lift opened into an underground garage. A silver sedan sat waiting.
He placed her in the passenger seat. Moved to the driver's side. As the engine roared to life he saw the Moreno hit-squad’s vans circling the building.
He drove through tunnels that connected the elite buildings.
“Where are you taking me?" Rose asked. She wasn't crying anymore. Her voice sounded hollow.
“I am the thing standing between you and a shallow grave Rose. Skyler wants you dead because she thinks you are a threat. The Moreno family wants you dead because they think you are a leverage point. Both are right " Draco said.
“A threat? I’m a dancer! I don't know anything about your wars!”
“You are a threat because I chose you " Draco said. "In my world what the King chooses the Kingdom fears.. What the Kingdom fears it tries to destroy.”
He pulled the car into the hidden entrance of the Obsidian Tower.
“I want to go " she whispered.
“Your home was a death trap " Draco said. He reached out to help her. She pulled away.
He led her to an elevator.
They ascended to the floor—the penthouse. It was a glass-walled expanse of luxury.
“This is your home " Draco said, peeling the Elias mask from his face.
The transition was jarring. His true face was devastatingly handsome and terrifyingly cold.
Rose backed away her eyes wide. "Draco Zuckerberg.”
“In the flesh " he said.
“You killed my father " she said.
Draco walked toward her. "Your father was a man who traded in lives Rose. He died because he tried to sell a girl to the Morenos. A girl he called his daughter.”
Rose’s breath hitched. "No. He loved me.”
“He loved the price you would bring " Draco said. "I didn't kill him to take his throne. I killed him because I saw you in that office ten years ago hiding under the desk. I decided then that no one would ever touch you.”
He reached out his hand hovering near her cheek.
“You’ve been mine for ten years Rose Maxwell. You just didn't know it.”
The elevator chimed.
Draco spun around his hand flying to the gun at his back.
The doors slid open to reveal Skyler Vane. She was in a leather jumpsuit a smear of blood, across her cheek and a submachine gun slung over her shoulder. Behind her stood Silas his hands raised in surrender.
“Found you " Skyler sang, her voice echoing in the penthouse. She looked at Draco at Rose her eyes narrowing into slits of venom.
“You actually brought her here Draco? To our home?" Skyler walked into the room her boots making a clicking sound on the marble floor. "I thought I’d have to wait for the Morenos to get the job done. They were always so useless. So I decided to take care of things myself.”
She pointed the gun at Rose’s chest.
“Draco, sweetheart " Skyler said with a smile. It looked really scary and twisted. "Put down the gun.. Rose dies right now. And then we can talk about why our wedding plans got a lot simpler.”
Draco did not put down the gun. He stood in front of Rose using his body to protect her.
“Skyler " Draco said in a calm voice. "If you shoot the last thing you see will not be my face. It will be the end of your family. I have a team at your father’s house now. One word from me. He dies. Then your brothers. Then you.”
The situation was really tense and scary.
Rose, who was behind Draco felt the metal of his belt against her hand. Her fingers touched something—a button to press in case of emergency.
She looked at the two people in front of her. The woman who wanted her dead. The man who had made her life feel trapped.
She did not know which was worse.
She pressed the button.
A loud alarm started blaring and the penthouse’s emergency shutters began to close trapping them all inside.
“What did you do?!" Skyler shouted over the sirens.
Draco turned his head a little looking back, at Rose with an expression.
“She locked us in " Draco whispered, a smile appearing on his face. "Welcome to the trap Skyler. Let’s see who survives the night.”
- Writer
