Page 89 of Vows of Silence

I liked my odds.

It wasn’t a good plan. In fact, it barely qualified as a plan at all. But it was the first decision I’d made since starting this stupid game that actually made sense. That actually felt clever and not frantic and panicked.

And for the first time since the lights went out, I thought maybe—just maybe—I had a chance of winning.

Deciding to try my luck with the door just before the next corner, only to find it locked like all the others. I took my chance and ran behind one of the heavy velvet curtains covering the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Concealed from passing eyes, I took my opportunity to catch my breath and process what was happening. Pressing a hand over my chest and closing my eyes, I pulled in huge gulps of air, ignoring the searing burn in my lungs as they worked overtime.

“Your breathing gives you away every time, little ember,”I heard Luca whisper—a long ago memory when I had been sulking for one reason or another, and I’d been trying to hide from his cameras. I’d found a spot in one of the few blank spaces in the house, but I hadn’t been able to stop the angry puffs of breath or the fury-filled noises I’d growled.

But I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Not when the stakes were much higher than simply Luca finding where I was sulking.

I slowed my breathing down, taking a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth.

“Look for shadows, Belle. If someone is creeping up on you, you’re likely to see shadows before you see them.”

Silas wasn’t behind me. If he had followed me, he would be coming from directly ahead. But the lighting here, the way the overhead lights were positioned, and depending on which oneshe had turned off, there was a chance I would see his shadow rounding the corner.

Scooting backwards, I sank to the floor, pressing my back against the wall as tightly as I could, I opened the curtain the tiniest fraction, just enough to see the corner at the end of the hallway.

And then I waited.

Long seconds passed by, and then, something moving across the floor growing larger and larger. A monster formed from the shadows.

The shadow spread across the floor until it was too large to contain, spilling up the wall… and then his shoe as he rounded the corner. His silver mask as he stared down the corridor.

I tightened my lips and shrank back further, forcing every part of my body to remain still.

His footsteps echoed as he walked toward me. Slowly. Methodically. With all the time in the world. He never looked anywhere but straight ahead, so certain in his choices. So confident he would find me.

The lights turned off, and all I could see was his silhouette reflected in the moonlight on the odd occasion he passed through a stream of light from a window before he was gone again.

I closed my eyes, hearing him walk closer and closer, and when I dared open them, he was right there, on the opposite side of the curtain.

I waited for him to stop. Waited for him to reach through the curtain and drag me out.

I held my breath, déjà vu washing over me, remembering the office, remembering how he knew exactly where I was. I pictured the silver mask peeping around the curtain, zeroing in on me, pinning me to the spot with one look before he seized me.

But none of that happened.

Instead, his footsteps kept walking. He was moving further down the corridor, taking one of the corners to the right.

Away from me!

I held my breath a few seconds longer, and then I was gone, scrambling out from the curtains and flying down the hallway Silas had just vacated, retracing my steps.

I could have sworn I heard his laughter echo behind me. I could have sworn I heard footsteps walking back towards me. I didn’t look back. It didn’t matter. I would not focus on where Silas was. I needed all my attention on my own movements.

Still running down the hallways, I took a turn left, a sharp turn right, pivoting around the corners without any thought. I figured this would lead me back to my bedroom eventually, and I had nothing else to trust other than my gut.

But somewhere along the way, something inside me changed. My heart started skipping a beat for entirely different reasons. I replayed that laugh in my head, and it didn’t seem scary. It didn’t seem intimidating.

It sounded fuckingthrilling.

It stopped feeling like I was running from danger, and was instead running towards something. I couldn’t escape the thought that I wasn’t heading to my bedroom for safety, but ratherleadingSilas there. As though there were an end to this game waiting for us there, an ending we both knew was inevitable.

Somewhere along the line, I had stopped seeing this as something to be feared. I was being hunted, and that appealed to me. I wanted him to chase me. I wanted to be his prey.