Page 25 of Petrify

I straighten my spine, my clasped hands growing clammy. “I will do my best.”

“I know.”

Leo glances around again. Does he feel the staring eyes too? The ghost observing this very moment?

At least I feel like I am not facing Leoentirelyalone.

“Did Mariane tell you about our New Year’s banquet?”

“No, she didn’t.”

He smiles at me again. His jaw is strong, shadowed with stubble, and I know he’s used to charming people with that carefree smile that makes you think he likes you, like he cares about what you have to say. “Must have slipped her mind. There’s a lot going on around here, isn’t there? Every year, we host New Year’s. A few hundred people, nothing too crazy. We wanted Henri to play. Show off everything he’s learned.”

“Oh.”

“Better than hiring a band for the night. Is that a problem?”

“Of course not. I’ll pick something out that we can prepare.”

Never mind that we only have a few weeks until the holidays.

His grin widens. “I knew I could count on you.”

He’s still standing; I’m still sitting. He looks down at me with that curve to his lips, a hint of his age showing at the corners of his eyes, and he leans a palm on the arm of the couch.

He is dissecting me, a scalpel straight to my sternum. Peeling back my skin and bones, finding the small, scared girl underneath: the girl I used to be, the girl I’m trying to hide away. She’s mine, and no one else’s.

But I swear he can see her, and that is no good.

I stand. “If that is all?—”

“Mallary.” He says my name again. Too familiar.

I swallow around the lump in my throat. And though I force my voice not to shake, it’s too soft, too timid. “Miss Doyle, please.”

“Miss Doyle.” His smile doesn’t waver.

He stares at me just as Jason used to.

And look how that turned out for him.

Chapter 14

The Ghost

Leo Beauchene triesmy fucking patience. He knew I was there.

That smug fucking look on his face while talking to her.

Goading me.

Rubbing it in my fucking face that he can be with her in the daylight, whileI can’t.

Not even trying to hide how interested he was in her. And it’s partly my fault. BecauseI’minterested, and he knows it.

She’s unharmed. A couple weeks in, and she’s still alive and whole. I’ve been taking my time. Stalling, if I’m honest.

I think all things considered, I’ve beenverypatient.