Page 25 of The Devil of Hollywood

I let out a deep breath, watching as Susan holstered her gun under the front of her shirt. I turned up the earpiece, taking a few moments to soak in the details the team was relaying. I turned to Susan, nodding.

“It’s time. Let’s do this.”

Marian

Icouldn’t remember ever shaking so much. My hands constantly trembled. My pulse was off the charts. Deep breaths kept coming. I felt like I couldn’t quite get enough oxygen. I was a nervous wreck, and I had every right to be. I’d fucked up beyond what was forgivable. I was scum. The worst human being alive. I’d been a coward. The more I thought about it since I’d talked to Drayton on the phone, the more I couldn’t understand how he was taking this so well. The damage I’d done by not trying harder to get the truth out was irreparable. There was no fixing the past. There was no apologizing or making the pain I caused ever go away. Just thinking about facing Drayton again left me mortified. If it wasn’t for me facing my sins, maybe I would have run. But that wasn’t me. It never had been. My parents shipped me away. They cut off communication with those we were close to. I was blacklisted, filtered, blocked. Calls and emails didn’t help when they weren’t delivered on either side. The truth had been silenced one way or another, and eventually, I stopped. For so long, I tried to tell anyone who would listen, but they either didn’t believe me or didn’t want to. It was discouraging, and eventually I gave up. Life moved on. But did it really? Not for me. Not in my heart.

“I don’t like how quiet you are, Marian. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I forced a smile, nodding. “Of course. Let’s go check on Jenn. Her assistant was struggling with the large crowd when we passed. We already hit up all the tables. Let’s go see if they need help.”

Penny’s smile was automatic. She’d finished Slade at some point in the middle of the night and was already obsessing to move to the next book.

“Do you think he’ll come?”

I almost paused in my steps as we headed across the large, crowded room. The buzz of voices was loud, but not loud enough for me to pretend I didn’t hear.

“I don’t know. The signing has already been going on for a while. Drayton’s never been one to be late. He probably came to his senses and already headed home.”

“Maybe he can’t get in. You saw Bastian outside when we walked up.” Penny’s brow drew in with concern. “You should have seen all his guards. I don’t see how Drayton would make it up here, Marian.”

My heart fell to my stomach. “Drayton said there were a lot, but he has my number now, and he’s able to actually call it. If he can’t make it inside, I’m sure he’ll let me know. If not…”

I couldn’t continue. All I could do was shrug as Penny gave me a sympathetic look. She went to turn forward but jolted to a stop as the color drained from her face. I looked over to the side, not sure what caught her attention.

“Penny? What is it?” Her feet were planted, and her fingers clutched my forearm in a death grip. “Penelope?”

The forcefulness of my voice had her head shaking back and forth and her eyes searching the room in a wild panic.

“He’s—I saw—I think—” She pulled me two steps forward with a power I didn’t know she possessed.

“He, who?”

My neck craned, even though my adrenaline was already soaring. And it only increased even more as pieces began to quickly fit together. She was too afraid for this to be about Drayton or Bastian.

“I saw—I think—” She gave her head a hard shake. “There was a mask. Behind that big logo— ” She pointed a few tables over and jumped as a figure stepped around the author’s banner, swooping in to grab a reader. They squealed, and Penny stepped in, clutching to me as the taller one spun the blonde-haired girl around in a circle. It was clear from the dark, long curls that were peeking out from the back that it was a woman who was wearing the movie-themed mask.

“Oh, Penny, that mask is from a horror movie⁠—

“I know but…I…I…”

I fixed my arm to wrap around her. “Is that what he wore?”

She nodded, quickly pulling free and smoothing down her dress as if she were suddenly embarrassed.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” I rushed out, giving her a reassuring grin. “I should have warned you. There was a mask or two at the last convention. I completely forgot to prepare you.”

We started to walk again but only got a few more steps before Penny stepped right into me, reaching back for my hand. A large mask-wearing man in a suit across the room was headed our way. As I began to look around, the room was suddenly full of people wearing the same mask.

“Marian—”

The panic in her voice had me spinning us for the main doors.

“Let’s just go grab a snack. I was getting hungry anyway.”

Penny quickly nodded, barely able to control her fast breathing as she kept looking over her shoulder. She was beginning to panic. Seeing the masks after what she had been through was too much. She was practically running, pulling me along.