“Take a wild guess.”
Olivier placed his fingers gently beneath Emilio’s chin, angling his face toward him.
“I want to hear you say it out loud.”
He hadn’t meant for his voice to come out so low and rough, but being this close to Emilio, and with the memory of their kiss still lingering on his lips, Olivier found that he’d seemingly lost control over his vocal cords.
Emilio cleared his throat. His cheeks burned from pink to a deep red. His lips parted, gently, eyes trailing up, higher and higher—
“Olivier!” Masika’s voice called from the other room. “You’d better come in here.”
Olivier shut his eyes, wincing. He dropped his hand from Emilio’s chin, eyes fluttering back open to meet Emilio’s startled gaze. The other boy was still flushed, a slightly dazed look in hiseyes.
“Hold that thought,” Olivier whispered through a shaky breath. Reluctantly, he turned away from Emilio and walked into the next room, eyes scanning the group until they landed on Masika.
“I swear,” he muttered. “You have theworsttiming.”
Masika made an exasperated gesture with her hands. “What didIdo?”
Olivier waved her off. “Nothing.”
Olivier snapped his gaze to the next door.
Ah.
That explained the impatience.
Olivier Dupont…what are you most afraid of?
Well, he supposed it was inevitable that it would be his turn next. All the others had been forced to speak their truth out loud—why would he be any different? But now that the question had been presented to him, Olivier found the words lodged in the back of his throat, a trembling fear building in the pit of his stomach.
He knew what he was most afraid of.
And he couldn’t say it out loud.
Notnow. Not right after his kiss with Emilio. He’d thought he’d have more time…a chance to properly explain it to Emilio.
His eyes anxiously flitted to Emilio. The other boy stared at him, a soft, encouraging smile on his lips. Maybe there was a way around the test…a loophole. There were other things, after all, that Olivier was afraid of. Who was he to say what he wasmostafraid of?
Maybe—if he was lucky—there could be more than one truth.
“I’m most afraid of”—Olivier inhaled a sharp breath—“the unknown.”
There was a breath of silence.Please, Olivier begged silently.Please be enough.He waited…and waited. But the door remained stubbornly closed. Dread pooled in Olivier’s stomach.
Catherine shot him a puzzled look. “Did you lie?”
“I…I didn’t—” But his words caught in his throat when a deep rumble echoed from somewhere beneath them. The room began to shake. The walls trembled.An earthquake?But then it occurred to Olivier that the walls weren’t just trembling—butmoving. Constricting slowly. Shifting toward them, inch by inch.
The room was closing in on them.
“What’s happening?!” Dina shouted over the thunderous roar.
“The walls…” Analisa whispered, tucking Benji closer to her chest, panic whirling behind her eyes. “They’re moving.”
“Olivier!” Masika bellowed. “You have to tell the truth!”
Terror twined around Olivier’s chest. “I am!”
