Catalyst

Cassie's heart pounded in her chest, as she walked to her Pairing. Two guards accompanied her, one trailing behind to make sure she didn't try to run away. Cassie was somber, watching her bare feet fall one in front of the other, as she followed the guard in front down the long hall. Each of the girls was taken out one at a time. Alice was escorted away first. She was beautiful, but the sullen expression in her eyes made Cassie's heart break. There was no way to stop the Pairing.

As they walked down the long hall, two maids entered and started to pull the long drapes closed to keep out the night chill. Cassie watched them do it as the last rays of light spilled through the floor to ceiling glass. This was the last time the sunlight would touch her face. After tonight, she'd be a different person. There was no way she could go through with this and remained unchanged. Lowering her gaze to the carpet, Cassie knew Cole was neck-deep in his escape plan by now. She hoped that sacrificing herself gave him the chance he needed to get away undetected. No one was watching for him this evening. He wasn't Paired with anyone.

As they neared the room where Brent was waiting, Cassie's stomach turned to lead. She shivered, even though the palace was warm. Her steps became smaller, resulting in slower movements. The guard at her back pressed a hand to her shoulder and shoved. "Hurry up."

Cassie stumbled forward. She hurried, not wanting the vamp to touch her again. His hand felt like a rotten apple. The outside was still smooth, but the muscle beneath was soft. Her stomach twisted, threating to heave. Cassie steeled herself and kept walking. She ignored the tension in her throat that was choking her, ignored the rising bile, ignored her trembling hands, and held her head high. She chose this path. It was her life and this was what she decided to do. It was best for her and Cole.

"No regrets," she whispered to herself when they stopped in front of a large wooden door. The dark wood was carved with cherubs and swags of flowers that existed when the world was warm. Blinking, she stared at it for a moment. Before the guard had a chance to open the door, Cassie reached for the handle and twisted. "No regrets," she said more firmly and walked inside.

Her chest felt so tight that Cassie could hardly breathe. Stepping further into the room, she looked around. The ceiling was made of black glass. It was smoked, tinting the panes gray, so that it didn't draw attention to the row of windows that lined the ceiling of the room. Cassie swallowed hard. A poster bed with a slatted headboard was in the center of the room, the windows directly above. There were a few vampires looking down at her. She could make out their shapes through the glass. Cassie ignored them and walked toward the bed. She didn't see Brent. For some reason, he wasn't here yet. That was odd. Cassie always thought that they brought the girl in second. There were things that the vampires told the males they had to do to make sure they did their job right. That included the location of rope, amongst other things to make their encounter more successful.

Cassie stopped when she reached the bed. Turning slowly, she looked around the room. The walls were perfectly bare, nothing but black paint. A lamp flickered on a nightstand next to the bed. When examined more closely, she could see that the flame was contained within a safety housing. It was a safe-lamp, made from glass that wouldn't shatter and oil that wouldn't burn if the lamp was damaged. Cassie bent over to watch the flame dance, wondering how they lit the thing in the first place.

At that moment, the door behind her creaked open, and Brent said, "Stay just like that and things will go well for you." His voice dripped down her spine like ice. Cassie straightened and turned quickly, her hands flying up to cover things that she didn't want to reveal. Brent laughed, "The vamps took a little extra time with me. They think you and I are a good pairing, Cassie. And I told them I'd do whatever it takes to make this happen. So what's it going to be? The easy way?" He grinned wolfishly and Cassie's pulse shot into heart attack territory. A piece of rope appeared in his hands. He snapped it, and it made a loud cracking noise as he moved toward her. "Honestly, I prefer the rope."

Cassie's spine straightened. Her heart pounded relentlessly against her ribs, telling her to run, but she didn't. Cassie forced her arms to her sides and held Brent's gaze. She moved toward him slowly, gracefully. The only thing she didn't plan for was her voice, but when she spoke she didn't recognize it, "Honestly, I'll let you do whatever you want as long as this Pairing is successful. The girls told me that there are certain things you need to do to make sure it is."

Brent stopped in his tracks, his jaw fell open. Cassie grinned in response. "You're going to let me?" he asked, baffled.

Cassie folded her arms over her chest, forcing her cleavage higher, before throwing her hip out. Brianna had done it so many times. It made her figure look curvy. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Your brother, he said - " Brent stammered.

Cassie cut him off, "Cole's not here. Do you seriously want me talking about another guy? Or would you like to get on with things?"

"Get on with things," he said obediently. For once, Cassie was glad she listened to the girls gossiping. They said a powerful woman was attractive, that a man couldn't resist a girl who knew what she wanted. Cassie played the part to the extreme. She walked up to Brent and yanked the rope from his hands.

"Save this for later. Right now, I want you on the bed." When he only managed to stare at her, she barked, "Now!"

Brent ran to the bed and jumped on. He was beaming, suddenly compliant. Cassie felt sick. She didn't know how far to push things. Walking slowly toward the bed, she held her shoulders back, forcing her chest out. Swaying her hips as she walked, Cassie stole a peek at the windows above. One figure stood at the glass watching them. The pit of her stomach fell as she looked away. Looking up was stupid. It made her lose her nerve, and if anything she needed more guts right now, not less.

Cassie's lips pulled into a smile. It felt fake, but Brent beamed back at her. Lifting one leg, Cassie climbed up onto the bed and crawled toward Brent, moving slowly, letting him watch her.

"Cassie, I had no idea - "

"Shut up. If you talk again, I'll gag you." Brent's smile widened and he shook his head vigorously. The stories that were going to circulate about her tomorrow would make her face burn for a year. There was no way to hide something like this. Pushing away the thought, Cassie did what she had to. She crawled to Brent, where he lay in the center of the bed with his back against the pillows. He was looking up at her with excitement clearly strewn across his face. Cassie smiled lazily as she leaned closer to him, making him breathless. Her dark long hair fell over her shoulders; her dress gaped giving him a good view of her slender form. "You are never going to forget tonight, Brent. Ever." Before he could grin any harder, Cassie leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Revulsion shot through her, but Cassie didn't pull away. As the kiss deepened, Brent's hands lifted and slid down her sides, cupping her butt and pulling her closer. Cassie wanted to punch him in the face, but she didn't. Instead she managed a moan, like she liked his man-paws crushing her. As she kissed him, one of her hands tangled in his hair, while the other reached down the front of her bodice.

When his hands came up to remove the dress, Cassie whispered in his ear, "Allow me." Brent's body was so tense. If he didn't let her, she knew she was screwed.

"Damn, Cassie. Do it. Strip." Brent's voice was husky, and he grinned at her as he said it. He had no clue.

Cassie moved her leg, as if she was going to climb on top of Brent, but her hand reached down her bodice, and gripped her improvised weapon. Cassie used the fashion tape to secure the tiny pair of scissors Miriam had in her sewing kit. It was the only place the guards didn't check. The metal was cold and sharp as knives. One flick with these and Brent would bleed out. Cassie slowly slid one leg over Brent and leaned in close to him. She pressed the cold metal under his chin, knowing her long dark hair blocked the shears from the windows. No one could see what she was doing to him. No one would interfere.

Brent sucked in a startled gasp, "What the - ?"

"Shhh," Cassie leaned down and whispered in his ear, "We're doing things my way. If you don't I'll shove these scissors into your guts and you'll bleed out before they realize what's happened." Cassie's eyes lifted to the windows when she said it. The vamps could only watch what they could see, and despite their precautions, Cassie got a weapon into the room. No one suspected her. Poor weak Cassie. She played to that assumption. Weak didn't mean stupid.

"What do you want me to do?"

As Cassie opened her mouth to tell him, the ceiling above them shattered. Brent screamed and covered his face with his hands. Shards of glass fell like rain. Cassie rolled off of Brent and onto the floor, yanking the blanket at the foot of the bed over her bare skin. The scissors went flying. Before she could peek out, a strong hand was on her, wrapped around her arm, pulling her to her feet.

"Are you all right? Cassie, talk to me!" Cole said urgently, shaking her.

Cassie's eyes were wide. "Are you insane?"

Cole shook his head, "Not today." The way he said it made her heart clench. He was being serious. Cole looked at Brent, ready to do something vicious.

"Cole! Stop!" Cassie grabbed his arm as Cole spun towards Brent.

When Cole dropped from the ceiling, Brent sat there, too afraid to move - to speak. "I didn't touch her," he said lifting his hands.

"You would have,"

"She wanted it," Brent said, certain that Cassie did want him.

Cole's fist flew, but before it could connect with Brent's face, Cassie grabbed Cole's arm. Yanking it back by the elbow wasn't enough. Cole was too strong, so she dropped to her knees and used her body weight to pull Cole backward. He looked down at her like she was crazy.

"Stop," she scolded, hanging from his arm like a rag doll. "I had this under control. I was going to make it look like we did something, but he didn't touch me. Whatever you're doing kind of screwed that up. So clue me in or get out." Cassie held her hands on her hips as she scolded him. Cole's eyes didn't drift off her face.

"What I'm doing?" Cole said, shaking her off. Cassie stumbled, but managed to get to her feet. "I'm saving you!"

"No! You messed up my plan!" Cassie yelled and pointed to the windows above, "They're gonna notice that, if they haven't already. They wouldn't have noticed what I was doing at all. Damn it, Cole! Why couldn't you just listen to me for once?"

Cole grumbled, "They didn't notice anything." Glancing at the shattered panes above, he smiled and looked back at Cassie, "There's a staffing issue in this wing tonight."

Cassie's face fell. She looked over Cole's white microfiber suit, but there was no trace of what he'd done. "Cole, you didn't?"

His face pinched together, offended, "You act like it's a bad thing."

"It is! You can't kill them all!"

Brent blanched, and his eyes widened. "Whoa, wait a second. You killed everyone in the control booth?"

Cole nodded once, his gaze still hostile. "And their backup, so let's get out of here before someone notices."

Cassie closed her eyes and pressed the heel of her hand against them hard, "I told you that I'm not coming." She spoke calmly, but fury was building inside of her, ready to erupt.

"It's not an option." Cole threw a white suit at her. It hit the back of her hands, before it fell to the floor. She didn't pick it up. "Get dressed. We're leaving. Now."

Brent managed to get to his feet. He was still wearing sleep cloths, silky red pajamas. "What about me?"

"What about you?" Cole snapped, not bothering to look at him.

Brent recoiled, and backed away. "Come on, Cole. You're not going to leave me here, are you?" Cole's eyes said everything. He planned on leaving Brent behind.

Cassie suddenly asked, "Where are the others?"

Cole averted his gaze for a moment. Cassie had her back to them and was slipping the suit under that flimsy gown. He didn't turn until he saw her back covered in the white fabric. By then, she'd pulled the suit on and was trying to get her hair out of the neck. She didn't look like herself. Her curls were tamed into silky smooth waves, and her face was... he didn't want to think about it. Cole answered, "Secure. You know we can't talk here. Let's go."

"We can't leave him," Cassie protested looking at Brent.

"He's not coming."

"Cole."

"Cassie," Cole retorted sounding cold and firm.

Cassie knew fighting for Brent was a lost cause. Guilt gnawed at her. She tried one more time, "Please. Cole, we can't leave him behind. They'll kill him."

Cole's eyes were hard. He stared down at Cassie, unblinking. Without warning, he turned and grabbed Brent by the neck, dragging the guy to his face he said, "She saved your life twice tonight."

"Twice?" Brent choked out.

"Twice, you ass. If she wasn't blocking your heart when I came through the ceiling, I would have killed you. That was my original plan. She saved your worthless life and if you do a single thing that pisses me off, I'll break my promise to Cassie. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Brent choked and Cole dropped him to the floor.