Page 9 of Finding Redemption

I felt eyes on me, and I peeked from under my hood again, scanning the large number of partygoers.When my gaze locked on a pair of hazel eyes glowing with hunger, I quickly looked away.Heat filled my face, spreading across my entire body.Paxton Foster was intoxicatingly intense.I could have gotten drunk off simply watching him.

Too bad he was such an a-hole.

Ignoring him, I gently nudged Bella-Rey forward.“It’s very crowded in there.I think you should clear a path for me.To make your job of protecting me easier.”

She straightened her shoulders and gave me a firm nod.“Make way!”she announced, drawing everyone’s attention.She cleared her throat and called louder, “Clear a path for Princess Brooke!”

Whispers and more giggles rose up, but not nearly as many in the mean-girl pitch this time.Bella-Rey walked forward, and I could sense people hastily moving aside for her as I followed a few steps behind until she reached the center of the room.When she stopped, her head moving swiftly left and right to assess for danger but much too fast to see anything, I pushed back the hood of my cloak and pulled my thick braid over my shoulder.

Little girls gasped, and a few sharp hisses from the parents filled the room.Fitting.I imagined many of the mothers in the room were treacherous snakes.Their rich and glamorous lifestyles might have been a foreign concept to me, something I had only been allowed to see from afar in small, teasing increments when I was younger, but I was all too familiar with the types of mothers who raised their children to be mean-spirited little brats.

Keeping my face stoic, I glanced around dispassionately and fell into the role I had improvised for myself for this party.

“Thank you, Bella-Rey.The journey here has been long and full of dangers, but you have served me well.”I winked down at her, earning me a dimpled grin before we both quickly returned to the seriousness of our roles.“There has never been a Jedi wiser, braver, nor more loyal than you.”

“It’s my honor to serve you, Princess.”One small hand on the lightsaber attached to her hip, she gazed around at the others without blinking.

While she continued her duty of protecting me, I glanced at all the little princesses who were moving closer.Which ones had been mean to Bella?It was hard to determine the hierarchy with a simple pass-over of the crowd, but a closer look at the way some of them rolled their eyes at Bella and me was enough to give me a guess.

A loud commotion behind me had me turning, but before I could see what the cause was, Bella-Rey pushed me aside.In her excitement, she was a bit too forceful, and I stumbled.Hard arms wrapped around me, keeping my backside from slamming into the floor.Instinctively, I knew who had rescued me before I looked up into a pair of hazel eyes.

Startled squeals and excited chatter quickly had me finding Bella-Rey in the crowd.She stood, feet braced apart, her lightsaber on and at the ready, as someone dressed as Kylo Ren stormed forward, his own red lightsaber in hand.

They weren’t dressed in a cheap costume, like my princess dress and cloak or the Rey outfit I’d found at the toy store on the way to the party.This Kylo looked like he’d stepped off the set of a Star Wars movie and straight into the great room.Everything about his outfit looked custom-made, possibly even from the film itself.It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true.

Not expecting that particular twist, I glanced around until I saw Sariah slipping into the room.Sticking to the wall, she circled around, while watching the show.She had a hint of a smile on her face as she watched the scene unfolding in the center of the room.When she caught sight of me, I began to grin, sure that she had secretly set this up.

But she quickly looked away, and for some niggling reason, I suddenly felt like she was keeping something from me.

“You’ll never take Princess Brooke!”Bella-Rey shouted, causing me to shake away the lingering feeling.She was my fierce protector, so adorably beautiful with her lightsaber in hand, less than half the size of the villain before her.

Wordlessly, Kylo stepped forward, accepting her challenge.

“Be careful, Bella-Rey,” I implored.

She turned her head to smirk at me.“Don’t worry about me, Princess.I’m a Jedi.”

Kylo was almost to her.“Behind you!”I cried.Blue and red lightsabers clashed, the sound of the metallic hiss-hum as the force fields collided drowning out the soft Disney princess theme songs in the background.

Whoever was in the Kylo costume moved with a kind of gracefulness I wouldn’t have expected from someone so tall and wide in the shoulders.It seemed almost choreographed, but since all of this had been improvised, I knew that wasn’t possible.Yet Bella-Rey and Kylo fought like this wasn’t their first time battling.

A deep laugh snared my attention.Tilting my head back, I looked up at Paxton, my breath rushing from my lungs.This close, I could see a multitude of different shades of brown and green that swirled together to make the hazel of his irises.His nose was only a little crooked, and I had the sudden urge to trace my finger down the bridge.And then there was his mouth.

I’d never noticed a man’s lips before, other than to take note of their emotions.Yet there I was, entranced by the shape of his top lip, the wide V in the center, the fuller bottom one, and how utterly beautiful he was when those lips tipped upward into a smile that made my knees weak.

Paxton Foster was a man who was potentially lethal to a girl’s heart.

“I don’t know if I was more worried Bella would be bored at this damned thing or if I would,” he muttered so low that it was meant for my ears only.The warmth of his breath mixed with the scent of whatever alcohol he must have been drinking went straight to my head.“Yet it’s already a hundred times better than any party I’ve ever been to.”

“I doubt that,” I chided with a light snort.

Hazel shifted into a beautiful moss color, with what seemed like warm honey swirling around their depths.I heard his sharp inhale at the same time as his hand contracted on my waist, and only then did I realize he was still holding on to me.

A voice in the back of my mind started shouting to get far, far away because this man was danger personified, but my body refused to respond.His heat was soaking into me, and just as his intense gaze had intoxicated me only minutes before, his nearness made me unsteady.

Collective surprised “Oh!”s thankfully forced my attention back to Bella-Rey, who had Kylo on the floor, the blue light of her weapon at Kylo’s throat.Breathing hard, she glared down at her foe.“Pledge fealty to Princess Brooke, and I will let you live.”

Disappointed that I’d missed the entire fight, I pushed Paxton’s hand away and strolled forward, reclaiming the role I’d undertaken.Stopping behind my brave Jedi, I gave the man on the floor a displeased glower.“What will it be, Kylo?We demand your answer.”

---