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Jonathan and Jasmine approach us as Damien and I stand by a pillar watching the party unfold around us.
“Hey guys, why do you look like you both have been bitten by a bug each?” Jonathan intones. “It’s a party and Mike has locked down this house like a bloody fortress, so relax and enjoy, will you?”
Damien scowls at him before commenting, “I doubt I can relax until we catch whoever is targeting us, Jonathan.”
Jonathan immediately sobers up. “Did anything happen?”
“No, and that’s exactly why I am worried,” Damien replies.
I take the first sip of my wine and for a second, my head spins. But then everything settles back and I ignore that feeling. I’ve been stressed and overworked ever since we announced this ball, and planning this alongside redecorating the ballroom has taken a toll on me.
But when the next sip I take repeats the dizziness, I gasp out aloud.
“Hey, Aaliya, are you okay?” Jonathan asks.
Immediately, Damien clutches my elbow. “What happened?”
“Yeah, fine. I’m just tired actually. In fact, I can’t wait for this party to wind up and then I’m going to sleep for a week, I think. And I’m not drinking any more wine. It’s just going straight to my head.”
Jasmine laughs. “I will see that to actually believe it. Knowing you, you will be back on your feet tomorrow, ready to take on a new assignment.”
“I agree. You just can’t sit still, can you?” Damien scolds, sounding worried. “It has been less than two months since your shooting and you’ve been tiring yourself out with organizing this event. I should never have allowed you to convince me to hold this party. From tomorrow on, you are taking it easy and please no arguing about it.”
“Actually, Damien, I was going to suggest something,” Jonathan looks at Jasmine before continuing. “Why don’t we all celebrate Christmas together? It’s less than two weeks away. We can celebrate at my Scottish estate and everyone can take a break and relax for a few days together. Let’s forget all our woes and just be ourselves.”
Damien’s gaze clashes with mine. He raises a brow and I answer his unvoiced question with a nod. And this, exactly this sort of silent communication is what we once shared and is now our normal again.
“That’s a great idea, Jonathan,” Damien accepts, “but let’s get together at Heaven’s Gate instead. It’s safer for us to be there than at your estate given the situation.”
Heaven’s Gate. We haven’t visited there since my shooting and although I love that estate, it still feels scary to go there—the place where it could all have ended.
Again, attuned to my thoughts, Damien puts an arm around me. “Don’t worry, Aaliya, Mike has been working to heighten the security measures. He can show them to you and only once you’re convinced will we go there, else we go to Jonathan’s, okay?”
I give him a smile, grateful to him for recognizing my fear and understanding it.
“Jas, honey,” Jonathan drawls, yanking Jasmine close to him. “See these two, that looks like our future. Me doing everything to make you happy, but only if you make me happy too.” He winks at her. “And I get very happy when you...”
Jasmine blushes to the tips of her ears and slaps his mouth shut.
“Stop it, Jonathan, or I promise you will regret it,” she admonishes.
A wicked gleam lights his eyes before he kisses her palm and moves it from his mouth. “Are you threatening me, babe? I like this even more.”
“Stop teasing me, Jonathan, and tell them what you learnt,” she demands, deflecting the attention from her.
Before he can speak, Gabe too joins us. “What’s happening here? Is everything okay? Has the killer...?”
“No,” Damien answers. “Everything is okay so far. There is nothing to report on that front. It’s all silent.”
“Oh.” Gabe breathes out. “I don’t know whether to be glad or worried.”
“Yeah, me too,” Damien concurs. “This wait is grating my nerves. Anyway, Jonathan found out something. Let’s hear him out.”
“Oh yes. I have news,” Jonathan declares, speaking softly. “I spoke to Samantha and some of Celia’s other friends and they all finally decided to speak to me tonight. Guess being here and drinking some of your expensive alcohol has loosened their tongues. They really are a troop of bitches, let me tell you that first,” he spits out. “Anyway, they all admitted that Celia had been sounding distant and worried a few days before she was killed. And Samantha also confirmed that she believed Celia was scared about something. She was refusing to meet her friends and had closed herself in her house. So, our theory that Celia’s killer and the person targeting you are one and the same holds true, not that we expected any different though.”
“Well, this just confirms what we suspected all along,” I put forth. “Celia was speaking the truth that night when she had called Damien in India.”
Without thinking, I take a sip of wine from the glass still in my hand and this time my vision blackens.
“Damien,” I catch his arm, when the dizziness subsides. “I’m not feeling too good.”
His panicked eyes meet mine and suddenly, I’m assaulted a by a strong wave of nausea. My vision blackens again and I begin to sway.
“Aaliya,” Jasmine’s harsh whisper reaches through the fog in my mind. “What’s wrong?”
Immediately Damien grips my waist and pulls me to his chest.
“Gabe, Jonathan, stay here with Jasmine and look after the guests. I don’t want anyone to know what’s going on,” Damien orders in a hushed tone, while he starts rushing me out of the party through a side door.
With my vision floundering, I barely note that Mike is following us out of the ballroom, when one thought rises above all—this better not be the end. I’ve finally begun to live the life that fate had intended for me and it cannot end this way.
