As I try to get my thoughts in order, Amelia answers for me. “You really still should. He definitely is super hot. And if you’re into masks, well, he also has one, so really…” She trails off, her thoughts going so deep into the gutter I definitely do not want to follow.
We make our way back to the platform seating where we watched the Voracious Maw show earlier and sit down, chatting idly as more and more people fill in around us. Simon, Shaun, Benny, and—unfortunately—Pisces, have taken seats behind us. Simon waves at me and whisper yells a greeting to us just as the stage lights flare on and the crowd starts cheering.
I take one last look around me, noticing Wrath isn’t there.
At least not in his costume. The lights around the stands get darker and the stage gets brighter. I can’t make out the people sitting around us enough to determine whether one of them is the one who healed me.
As the Phantoms conclude their show with a huge finish, lights flashing on stage, and all the fans screaming for an encore, Amelia, Reese, and I stand up, starting to make our way off the platform. If the Phantoms do another song, we’ll catch it fromthe backstage area, but I want to be ready to greet Grim when he comes off stage.
I’m not at all aware that Pisces and the other Voracious Maw crew members plus Evan have followed us, chatting with Taser, Tubbs, and Blake. I certainly don’t check over my shoulder multiple times to see Pisces lingering apart from the group, not really interacting much with anyone.
We all collectively listen in as the Phantoms play one last song to their adoring fans. I bounce back and forth on the balls of my feet, continuing to feel the urge to look around for Pisces.
Why do my eyes keep searching him out? It has to be a stress response or something. If I can avoid him, he can’t be mean to me. And I can’t avoid him if I don’t know where he is. That’s all it is. Survival instinct.
“Bliss,” comes Pisces’ deep voice from behind me. It has a softer quality this time, almost a question.
I turn around and find him standing at my right shoulder, looking down at me with his head cocked to the side.
“Can we talk?” he asks, his deep gorgeous blue eyes boring into mine.
Nope.
I want to turn around and ignore him.
He is such a dick.
And yet I can’t help but feel like I should at least hear him out.
Things were going okay between us while we were hiding during the game. Until I brought up Wrath. Maybe that’s a sore spot for him. How many fans have probably attempted to hit on him, flirt with him—date him even—just to get a glimpse of one of the Voracious Maw boys?
And I’m not much better. Though I have my reasons.
I let out a sigh. “Fine.”
He leads me out from the backstage area and heads out into the throng of people, making sure to stay by my side, probably knowing my strides could never match his.
He towers over me as we walk, his height and lean muscular build causing the crowd to part for us.
A particularly rowdy group of drunk men comes barreling towards us and he switches to my left side, shielding me from them as they’re forced at the last minute to go around him.
We wander through the festival grounds until we’re close to the maze. My eyes zero in on the entrance.
Pisces tugs on my sleeve. “We could sit over there?” he asks, pointing to a picnic table. When I don’t respond, he must follow my gaze, spotting the maze.
“Shit, Bliss, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring you back here.” That snags my attention and I stare at him. The question must be plain on my face because he frowns. “Simon told me what happened. How Wrath and Eerie found you.”
“Right,” I say, but I find myself looking to the maze again. The entrance of the maze, roped off with a single strip of caution tape and a small sign saying the maze is closed, almost dares me to face it.
I take a few steps towards it and feel Pisces at my back.
“Bliss, where are you going?”
“I need to see it, where I was attacked.”
Pisces overtakes me and puts his hands on my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. “Maybe you should wait. Give it a few days,” he says softly, in that deep voice of his. His hands drop to his sides.
I shake my head, darting around him, and duck inside the entrance, going under the tape. I come to a stop where the path splits in opposite directions.
