Page 1 of Denied

CHAPTER 1

A N ENDLESS ABYSS of utter darkness swallowed Kayla Rowe alive. She couldn’t see or move or breathe. But as she fell deeper into the bottomless void, she let go of her terrified panic and took refuge in her memories.

There she found Ryan Sheridan, the Fae warrior with whom she’d fallen in love. He towered over everything else like a beacon of hope. She saw his glittering white-blonde hair, and the tenderness in his jewel-blue eyes. Since she’d come to work as a groom at Forever Faire, Ryan’s traveling Renaissance Faire, he had shown her secret magick, hidden marvels, and passionate, life-changing pleasures. Being with him these last weeks had changed her from a frightened stalking victim to a confident, strong woman. If she died happy, it was only because of him.

This is my home, inside you, he told her in his rich, deep voice. I’m going to fill it with pleasure and lust and love, and me. As much of me as you will have.

Yet as the blackness wrapped around her, Ryan’s image dissolved into a thin, gray-eyed teenager watching her from the shadows. The fragile spill of moonlight hair on her narrow shoulders made Kayla reach out, but the girl turned and ran away.

Her baby sister, Tara. She was so afraid.

You don’t love me. You only think you do.

Kayla didn’t understand the words, or the cold voice that had uttered them. She couldn’t remember what had happened before she’d dropped into the abyss. Had they been separated again? Was it her fault? She felt almost sure that it was. But how could she have left her sister behind?

She’d looked after Tara since childhood, when their mother had abandoned them. Her baby sister had been so small and helpless, and Kayla’s father had crawled into a whiskey bottle. Some would say she’d had no choice, but Kayla had chosen to be sister, mother and father to that innocent infant.

Kayla hadn’t minded. She’d never tired of holding that chubby hand and listening to her birdlike chattering on the way to and from school. Teaching Tara how to dress and tie her sneakers by herself had been little victories for them both. If their father hadn’t given up the bottle, Kayla would have gone on being everything to Tara anyway.

Tara had been Kayla’s entire world. She could never abandon her.

Even when her sister had begun suffering from terrible depressions, Kayla hadn’t stopped loving her. She’d checked out self-help books from the library, and when those hadn’t worked she’d nagged her father until he’d taken Tara to a therapist.

You think I was actually depressed all that time? I faked it so you’d leave me alone.

No, that had to be wrong. All of this was wrong. When her father had died, Kayla had promised Tara she would never leave her alone—and she’d kept that promise. She’d never once turned her back on her little sister. Tara would never hurt her, either. She loved her just as much.

I don’t feel love, Kayla.

I hated you and Dad.

Kayla’s head began to spin as she clutched at what she thought she knew. Tara was the only family she had left. She loved her. Her sister would never–

I’m a Blackstone, and you’re my enemy.

A body dropped on top of Kayla, and knocked them both out of the darkness into some kind of empty dressing room. As soon as she could breathe she wrapped her arms around her sister and held onto her tightly.

“You came after me,” she said, sobbing out the words. “Oh, sweetie, I had no idea, I’m so sorry–”

“I’m not,” Christine said. She sat up and looked all around them. Her soft Tennessee drawl went flinty. “So. This is really fucking bad.”

Kayla swallowed against the lump in her throat. Why had she thought Christine was Tara? It made no sense. But instead of her sister, her friend had come after her. The final gap in her memory filled in as she remembered the last moments before she had fallen into darkness. Tara had traded Kayla for her own freedom by betraying her to the Blackstones—by sending her to them.

Tara had shoved her into the abyss.

The dancer said in a low voice, “We’re at the strip club where I used to dance. Where all the Blackstones are, remember?” She listened for a long moment. One of the overhead lights made her green eyes flash, as hard and cold as jade. “I don’t think they know we’re here yet. That’s good. We might just make it out of here alive.”

The lump in Kayla’s throat swelled until she thought she might strangle. “Tara–”

“I know, I was there. I heard all that shit she said. We’ll talk about it later.” Christine helped Kayla to her feet and went to a curtain to peek through it. She came back and started undressing. “Strip.”

The order made Kayla wonder if Christine had gone crazy, too. “I’m sorry?”

“Take off your clothes,” the dancer repeated with thin patience, “or we’re going to die.”

Like a robot Kayla jerked off her shirt and jeans, and then her underwear as Christine raided a nearby rack of what looked like skimpy, sparkling bikinis. She handed Kayla a bra and thong made of lime green satin with hot pink sequins. When she put the costume on it barely covered her breasts and mons, and almost completely exposed her bottom.

“Good girl,” Christine said. The dancer retrieved two wigs made of tinsel from a drawer and fitted one over Kayla’s dark hair. She used the other to cover her golden-brown waves. “Show how you would look if you were completely stoned.”