Page 31 of Facade

His body went rigid, eyes snapping open. Something raw and unguarded flashed across his face. Gone before I could name it.

He released me, and I quickly put distance between us, turning for the safety of the door, throwing an incredulous look at him.

“I have to go, but we’ll meet again soon, Evanee.”

I stumbled at the sound of my name. But when I turned around, he was gone. My pulse roared in my ears.

How did he know my name?

Questions tumbled through my mind, the surrounding sounds dull and distant, while the sound of my name from his lips—his voice—clanged through my head like a bell. Intrigue clashed with anticipation and caution. I wanted to know how he knew my name—if he knew me from before—

“Evanee!”

I jumped, scraping my hand on jagged stone.

“What are you doing out here?” Aiden demanded, his gaze wild as he stormed up the steps.

“I-I… My markings started burning, and I had to make it stop.” I scanned behind him, but the white-haired male was nowhere to be seen. “I assumed I’d be safe within the fencing.”

Aiden cursed, glancing toward those marks.

“You’re bleeding. Did something happen? Did anything attack you?” Concern seemed to be in his gaze as he looked me over.

“I’m fine. I just hit my hand when you snuck up on me. And there was this—” I started to mention the stranger, but stopped.

Evanee.

My name was a caress when he said it. As if his touch were everywhere—even though it was only in my head. It may be foolish, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell Aiden about him. I wanted to know how that being knew my name. If he meant what he said, that he’d be seeing me again soon, then I couldn’t risk exposing him.

“Yes?” Aiden prodded, eyes searching mine. My gaze went to his fangs and hands—the talons I knew to be constantly lurking beneath. Could he and that stranger be the same sort of predator?

“Uh, nothing.” Excuses slammed into my head. “There was a wolf. An extremely large wolf. It killed a skur.” My attention flicked past him to the second corpse that the stranger had dispatched. “Two skurs.”

“Ah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I could’ve mentioned we had a Werewolf traveling with us. I’ll introduce you when he gets back.” His attention returned to my arm. “May I?” He stepped closer, holding his hand out. Brackish liquid covered him. My nose wrinkled as a putrid smell reached me.

“Is that skur blood?” I asked, extending my arm out for his inspection, and covering my nose with the other. Sweat fell from his brow, and his eyebrows knit together as he turned my arm over.

“Yeah. Nasty stuff. Blocks off the sense of smell completely.”

Blocks off the senses completely? Then how had I not noticed that when the stranger stood so close?

He dropped my arm. “Do you understand how dangerous this could have been for you? I wouldn’t have been able to get to you in time if anything had gotten around us or if there had been a separate attack."

“I know. But it’s a little hard to hide within the walls when I have a proximity spell on me, and you run off.”

He winced.

“What does it feel like?” he asked quietly, nodding toward the exposed ink on my ankles.

“As if my bones will melt,” I responded bluntly.

He looked away, jaw working. But our moment was interrupted when the other males returned. Well, the males and a wolf…

“Aiden, that was something else!” Thaddeus shouted, the same brackish liquid coating him. The other guards were recounting their individual victories, and the wolf jumped up and down, as if trying to tell his side. I fell back a step, eyes wide as the monstrous beast stood almost at eye level with Aiden.

Teeth like daggers were an understatement.

“That’s Dimitri.” He nodded toward the wolf that now had his tongue lolling out. “He keeps to himself, but a good fight always perks him up,” Aiden said, forcing a smile in their direction. His attempt at moving past whatever keeps putting him in a bad mood, I supposed.