Page 26 of The Villain We Tempt

morallygraygirlie:

Hands off, bitches. @The_Ghost_Prince is my boo <3 <3 <3

PTAandPaperbacks:

@The_Ghost_Prince I would crawl over broken glass to suck your soul out of your D in front of my husband LMAO

amanda_r:

OMG @The_Ghost_Prince are you two a couple for real?!?!?

My pulse begins to hammer in my ears. A prickle creeps over my skin.

Then, finally, I spot the source of this insanity, and my heart skips a beat.

The_Ghost_Prince:

loved watching you dance for me in person the other night, baby @VelvetVillainess

My whole reality glitches.

What. The.Fuck.

I read the comment on my video again, swallowing heavily as my eyes track every word.

At first, I want to feel thoroughly creeped out, maybe even violated. Not only did Friday night happen, now he’sfollowing meon social media.

And that taps at something else that’s been smoldering in the back of my head since the other night.

He knows who I am. Like, my real identity. It’s partly why I’ve been keeping to myself, barely leaving The Atheneum, making up an excuse why I couldn’t talk to Papa and Dad.

I’ve been scared.

Scared that he’s going to use that knowledge to track me down.

To be there when I step into the shower, or lurking under my bed waiting for me to fall asleep. But he hasn’t chosen to come at the real me as his first shot across the bow.

He’s gone after the online me.

Villainess me.

And in a weird way, that’s created an even more complicated problem.

Velvet Villainess, slightly slutty minx that she is, would have screenshotted and reposted this already. ButI, Galina Nikitin, sitting in the front row of Professor McGrath’s Social Psychology of Deception class with my heart climbing into my throat, am unsettled by it. I’m making a responsible,real-worlddecision to recognize this as terrifying.

And yet, I keep rereading it.

“Loved watching you dance for me in person the other night, baby.”

It’s creepy, I tell myself.It’s creepy as fuck. Given what I do in my free time, I’ve had iffy interactions with fans before.Trust me. And because of that, I’ve read almost everything out there on parasocial dynamics.

I read the comment four more times.

That’s when I realize something that sends a heated ripple through my core.

He might be making the comment on Velvet Villainess’s video and tagging her in his comment. But he’s notactuallytalking to Velvet Villainess.

He’s talking tome.