Page 55 of Temptation
“Easy there,” a deep, male voice spoke out, and I narrowed my eyes at the cold undertone. I shivered as I stood up, my eyes connecting with the amber ones. But it wasn’t the kind of shiver that went through me every time Ash touched me. It wasn’t like the chill I felt that night in the catacombs.
This was different.
This was pure fear.
I took a step back, creating some distance between the two of us, and for the first time in my life, I felt like prey. Like a lamb standing in front of the lion, waiting to be devoured.
Full lips pulled into a smile, and the stranger leaned down toward me, showcasing his pearly whites, but there was nothing friendly in the way he looked at me, or in the way his eyes flickered over my body.
“Hmm,” he murmured, continuing his blatant staring, while I fidgeted in the spot, wishing to be anywhere else but here.
His dark hair was longer on the top and shorter on the sides, styled carefully, a pure contrast to his porcelain white skin. But those eyes, framed by dark lashes… They were unnerving.
“It seems that I’ve scared you.” He grinned, and I had a feeling that he didn’t mind the notion. He wanted to scare me. He wanted me shivering while I stood in front of him.
“My name is Zero.” He extended his hand toward me. “And you are?”
There was nothing harmful in the way he talked, but there was something wrong in the way he looked at me, in the way he smiled and in the way he carried himself. He reminded me of Ash on that first day. But while something pushed me toward Ash, that something was telling me to run away from this guy.
Run as far as I could.
Darkness often represented itself in the form of a hot guy, looking like everything you ever wanted. This guy was dangerous. I knew enough dangerous people to know that he wasn’t the one I wanted to cross.
“Skylar,” I murmured, placing my hand in his, fighting against all my instincts. I jumped when his cold hand connected with mine. My palm tingled where it touched his, and with the grip stronger than I expected, he enveloped my hand in his larger one, pulling me closer to him.
His other hand wrapped around my neck and his nose dove, inhaling me, scenting me.
“Mhm, nice to meet you, Skylar.”
But there was nothing nice about this whole encounter. My back snapped with tension, my shoulders cramping, and the constantrun, run, runthought in my mind was pushing me to wrench myself free of him.
“N-Nice to meet you too,” I stumbled. “Are you new?”
“Oh no.” He pulled back, letting me go. I finally felt like I could breathe with a little bit of distance between us. “I mean, yes and no. I used to live in Winworth, a long, long time ago. I’ve decided that it would be fun to visit it again.”
“Fun. Right.”
“Oh, before you go.” He pulled out a pamphlet from his back pocket and placed it in my hand. “Carnival is back in town.” That wicked smile appeared again. “You should bring your friends. It’s something else.”
“A carnival?”
“Yeah. Have you ever been?” he asked as I looked down at the pamphlet.
“Infernum?” I frowned. “But I thought—”
“That it was closed? Oh yes, it was. My grandfather used to run it, and after he died, my family unfortunately let it crumble. But I’m back, and I decided to reopen it.”
“How old are you?” I suddenly blurted out. He seemed to be around my age, but there was something about the way he talked, the way he stared at me, that made me think he was much older.
He approached me, his feet eating the distance in milliseconds, and that fear I thought I’d extinguished reappeared again.
“As old as you need me to be, little mouse.”
I gulped, my lungs squeezing in my chest, and without another word, he passed me and stood at the exit. “You really should come. And bring your friends. We’re reopening next week.”
“I, uh—”
“The House of Mirrors is something you don’t want to miss.”
