Page 28 of Forbidden Knots

"Don't tell me you’re still mad," she said, taking off her mask. "It was just a joke."

"Tristan," she shouted as I opened the front door, "You will fucking regret this."

"Get out," I said firmly, holding the door open for her to leave the house.

Chiara lifted her dress, brushing past me angrily, leaving her toxic scent lingering in the air. A car was waiting for her outside, and one of her friends was behind the wheel. As they drove off, dust kicked up, and she gave me a middle finger through the window. I closed the door behind her, the echo of her anger still resonating in the hallway.

I arrived at the castle, fastening the mask to my face just before entering. In the passageway, countless unknown faces were hidden behind black and white porcelain masks. Loud music and violins echoed from inside, and as I stepped through the stone entrance, the black walls and red carpet beneath my feet created a surreal atmosphere. Neon lights flashed, casting eerieshadows, but the sight didn't scare me; it felt like I belonged here.

Rumor had it that this castle once belonged to a director of psychiatry who was also of blue blood. After his death, the city claimed the castle, turning it into a place for the deranged. The inside was filled with old pictures, cobwebs hanging from them, and a grand staircase where couples were already making out, preparing for a passionate night. Stories abounded of rooms with trapdoors leading to bottomless pits and mirrored chambers that drove people mad. There were tales of ghosts and sailors' widows who had taken their lives for forbidden love.

This place reeked of sweat, blood, and an insatiable thirst for passion. Cursed from stone to stone, it was dark but special.

Lights flickered from all sides, just enough to reveal the beauty before me. My Storm. Like a category five hurricane, she spun with Sophie until their masks slipped off. To the side, Chiara rolled her eyes and cursed their every move. Every step I took closer to them made me want her more. My Storm. My peace. Only mine and mine alone.

She saw me and stopped as if she recognized the Shadow in me. My hand slipped into my jacket pocket, pulling out a small branch with a white oleander flower. She left Sophie and walked closer and closer to me.

"Poison for poison," I said, offering her the flower.

Her lips curved into a smile, teeth biting her lower lip as she took the flower and held it close to her chest.

"Isn't poison the sweetest drink?" she whispered, stepping back.

"I'm willing to try if you are," I said, stepping closer.

"We shouldn't," she smiled, "I don't want to be part of a tragic tale."

I took another step, my chest touching hers. My hand slid to her waist, pulling her close, while my other hand reached out.She placed her palm gently in mine, and I spun her around. The oleander fell to the ground as she gasped for breath.

I could see her chest heaving, her heart beating so fast it was almost visible through my mask. A smile spread across my face as I pulled her closer, then dipped her low, my mask brushing against her chest.

"We should stop," she said, trying to move away. But I spun her back to me, her back now pressed against my chest.

She gasped again, my breath hot on her neck.

"They are watching us," she whispered, gasping once more.

"I don't see anyone but you, Storm," I laughed, turning her to face me.

But as I did, I saw Chiara and Sophie together, both glaring at me, knowing exactly what I was doing. Yet Thalia didn't see Tristan tonight; she saw her Shadow, and they didn't understand that.

I knew this was forbidden, but she tasted so sweet. Maybe it's true that the heart desires most what it cannot have.

I spun her further into the crowd, her mask slipping just enough to reveal her eyes, which locked onto mine. I realized with a start that I had forgotten to put in my lenses, leaving my distinct green and blue eyes exposed. In the dim light, I hoped they would blend in enough to escape her notice.

"Why do you call me Storm?" she asked, stopping abruptly. Standing in front of me, she began to untie her mask. "Why?"

I laughed, and for a moment I forgot why. But when her eyebrows meshed together and her eyes, like thunder, sliced through my soul, I remembered. She came to me like rain but turned into a storm. She reminded me that my quietest screams were the loudest when I was around her. Even if I wanted to tame her, the one thing I would never be able to calm was the storm within her.

"Because I needed rain," I confessed, "and you gave me a storm."

SIXTEEN

Storm

Istood in front of him, feeling like my entire world was spinning beneath my feet, and he was there, steadying me. I felt like a broken doll, finding solace in this demon of darkness. He was the shadowy cloud that loomed over me, and all my emotions and feelings mixed within, creating the storm he had caused.

He wantedrain, but he had given me countlesstears. He brought thestorm, but he also created astrange peacein the eye of it.

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