Page 9 of Mistress Mayhem

“It’s quite alright. No one can be perfect all the time. Now, you better get going. You’re not going to want to miss the fun.”

He laughs at that, his grin a bit manic. “I certainly don’t. Thank you, Mistress. Enjoy the party.”

“You, too,” I call out quietly as I watch him walk away. Hopefully, he means what he says, and he won’t cause any further problems for me.

With a sigh, I turn my attention back to the ballroom where my guests are currently gathered, waiting to meet the mysterious Sage.

I straighten my shoulders, nodding at the two men who are manning the door. They throw it open, and I step into the ballroom.

This isn’t the entrance that the guests used to enter the room. This is the back entrance that comes out on the landing to a set of stairs. It puts me above the guests and will act as a stage. Before I fully step into the room, one of my female employees, Alice, holds up the tablet to show me the microphone holopad is already set up with a smile.

“You’re going to kill it, Mistress.” She giggles. “Literally.”

I return the smile before stepping onto the landing, taking a moment to take in the room.

We went all out with the decorations, reams of material flow from the walls, creating private alcoves for the guests to do what they’d like within them. Currently, the lights are shining down brightly on the crowd, but once we’ve finished dinner, they’ll go down, and the room will be more intimate.

Not everyone notices me right away, and I’m okay with that. I step onto the holopad that will amplify my voice with a smile. “Welcome, guests. My name is Sage Davenport, and I want to thank each of you for joining me for my Mayhem party. I’m sure you’ve all been curious about the woman who moved into the old Bass mansion, and here I am. I’m hoping to get to meet as many of you as possible tonight. But tonight isn’t just about me—it’s about all of you. I have many surprises in store for you, and I believe that you’ll all enjoy them immensely. But first, we’ll enjoy a meal put together by the amazing chef I hired. If you can each find your names at the tables and have a seat, dinner will be served shortly.”

Stepping off the holopad, I stand at the top of the stairs and run my eyes along the crowd. I smile when I find Lawrence first. He looks so old now, even though it’s only been ten years. His hair is fully gray, and he has a bald spot that wasn’t there the last time I saw him. Neither was the paunchy stomach he’s sporting. A blond woman is wrapped around him, and I have to fight a sneer because that certainly isn’t Mrs. DuPont. It’s also not his daughter who is older than me, while this girl might not even be eighteen. I wonder how he convinced his wife to stay home. It doesn’t matter though. She doesn’t need to be here for him to meet his end.

I find William next. Because of the extensive research I’ve done on all four of these men, I know William is nearly sixty, but he doesn’t look like it. He’s still fit with a headful of jet-black hair. The only sign of his age is the silver in his otherwise black beard. His wife is on his arm, though it’s not the woman he was married to ten years ago. No, he’s on his fourth wife now, and they just keep getting younger and younger. Oh, to be an old, rich, white man.

Howard and Cary are standing together talking while their wives do the same. Cary is only fifty and still married to the woman he married straight from high school. Howard is in his mid-fifties, and it’s starting to show. My eyes narrow when their eyes sweep up the stairs to take me in before sweeping away. Well, at least it doesn’t seem like any of them recognize me. That’s good. I’d hate to ruin the surprise I have planned.

Of course, it’s been ten years, and I’m no longer the young girl they’d kidnapped and abused. A part of me has been worried that they would recognize me even with how different my appearance is. They know I’m alive because my parents made a bit of a fuss over me coming home—even if I wouldn’t tell them what happened.

But from what I can tell, they never looked for me. I’m sure they think someone killed me when I disappeared, or maybe they think they’re just so untouchable that they didn’t think anyone would believe me if I told them what happened to me. I can’t know for sure without asking them, and I’m not sure that I want to know.

I guess in some ways they are untouchable since they were able to kidnap girls from affluent families and no one knew it. Until they took me and Charlotte, there was no mention of any other girls going missing. It seems impossible, but it happened. Which is why I think they’ve probably continued doing the same thing over the years.

I draw my eyes away from the two men and their wives as I start down the stairs—I don’t want to draw attention to the fact that I’m watching them, after all. My eyes continue to scan the crowd, a small smile on my lips as I nod my head when someone catches my eye.

I’m about halfway down when I find a face in the crowd that I wasn’t expecting, causing me to stumble before catching myself. I freeze for a moment, blinking because there’s no way he’s here, right?

There’s no way that it’s him.

Chapter Six

Sage

AsmuchasItry to deny what I’m seeing, I know it’s him.

Fox Wainwright. My neighbor. My first friend. My first crush.

What the hell is he doing here?

Shaking my head, I force myself to continue down the stairs. Hopefully, no one noticed my momentary slip. I force myself to look away from Fox, afraid that he’ll recognize me. Because if anyone will, it’ll be him.

I’m curious, though, how he snuck in. His name certainly wasn’t on the list. I might not have a photographic memory, but I would’ve recognized his name at the very least. Which means he must be here under a fake name. Interesting.

I push away my questions for now, knowing I won’t be able to get any answers right now.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I pause there for a moment and allow myself to get lost in the crowd.

If Fox is here, does that mean the other two are here as well? I’ve been unable to forget the three of them over the years. They always seem to find a way into my thoughts, into my dreams, no matter how hard I try to push them away.

Cooper Waldorf, my first and only boyfriend. Austin Dupree, Charlotte’s older brother, who I’ve had a crush on since I was a kid.

---