Page 2 of Grave Devil
He nuzzles my neck with his soft lips. “It will be our little secret.”
I nod and laugh but can’t help feeling a twinge of guilt at his words, remembering what Lucy warned me about. There are bad omens that follow that girl. I cannot see them, but I feel a dark presence surrounding her.
Enzo whirls me around to face him. My heart skips a beat when I gaze up into his brown eyes. “Yes, my love?”
“Give me a kiss goodnight, mi amor. It’s been a long day of work, and I’m afraid I can’t keep my eyes open much longer.”
I kiss him longingly on the lips, aching to taste all of him this instant. “I’ll come with you, my love.”
He shakes his head. “No, Willa. You are having fun with your new friends. Stay and enjoy the festivities a little while longer. I’ll keep the cot warm for us.”
I giggle again and almost lose my footing. He’s right. I do love the night, the music, the full moon glistening over the shadows of the flames. I concede, but I kiss him a little while longer before letting him retire to our cottage.
Lucy and I sing songs and dance together while Imogen and her horsemen keep to themselves. But they watch us. They’re always observing. I don’t pay it any mind tonight though. I feel free, fancy, and full of joy.
I can’t remember how many more cups of mead I drank, or why I wandered into the forest without an escort. All I know is I’m not alone. Something is here with me in the dark. And I can feel with every fiber of my soul that it is dangerous.
The ground is covered in white petals. I never thought to ask Astrid how a flower could bloom without the coaxing of spring. But lo and behold, I am surrounded by the flowers she calls baneberry. Perhaps it’s witchcraft or magic. I certainly feel like I’ve been placed under some sort of spell. My head is pounding, my vision blurry, and my skin alight with fire, crackling like the very flames we danced around.
Enzo is going to be furious with me for wandering into the forest alone. But I don’t remember how I got here. There is a presence. Something or someone. Its energy prickles my skin. And yet no one replies when I call out into the darkness.
I need to get back to the village square. To my Enzo.
I lift a heavy leg and almost trip over the skirts of my pleated gown. The dirt on the hem makes me want to cry. This is my best dress. “Damn,” I mutter aloud.
“I could give you a hundred dresses. Right here. Right now.”
I shriek and spin toward the man’s voice. But I see no one. “Who… who’s there?” My heart is thudding in my chest, racing so fast I fear it may explode.
“Over here, dark one,” he commands as well as he explains.
I squint my eyes in the dark, desperate to make out the shapes and shadows that play tricks on me. And from behind a great tree, a large figure emerges. I gasp at the sight of him. He is muscular and tall with thick black hair knotted on his head. His eyes are as brown as my Enzo’s but devoid of any of his same warmth. No. His gaze is fiery. Hungry. Full of unspeakable things. Sinful things.
I stagger back, careful not to trip again. “I-I wandered too far, sir. Please forgive me. I’ll be on my way now.”
The man steps forward and moves into the path of the moonlight. His eyes glow like amber resin, beautiful and seductive. “Then I must convince you to stay. Come closer. Let me show you what you’ve been missing, dark one.”
I should run, but I cannot tear myself away. “Why do you call me that?”
He licks his lips, and for a moment, it looks as if his tongue is split in two. No. Impossible. It must be my eyes playing tricks again. Or the effects of the baneberry mead thrumming through my bloodstream.
“Because you are not all sunbeams and silvery halos like the others.” He pulls me forward with an invisible string. I cannot stop myself from taking another step.
“You think about darker things. You are curious. And your needs have not been met. I can smell your unquenched arousal from here,” he rasps.
And I inch closer. “You don’t know me.”
He doesn’t move from the tree but instead allows me to come to him. And I have no idea how he’s doing it. “I know everything. Iseeeverything.” His gaze flits to my middle.
I feel a blush sweep across my cheeks. Impossible. How could he know? But yet I feel in my bones he has visions of me touching myself long after Enzo has fallen asleep. Why can’t I make myself run away?
“Please let me go,” I whisper.
He scrapes the bark of the tree with his razored fingertips. “I’m not keeping you here, Willa. You are. Stay with me forever, and you will have plenty of dresses and mead andpleasure.”
Oh, dear gods.
I am at the tree now, mere inches away from the predator who is making the wet spot between my thighs ache with need. It happens faster than I can comprehend. My back is against the bark, and he is towering over me.
