Page 181 of Pareidolia

Until now.

It’s almost intoxicating to realize he’s doing this for me. It feels powerful to know that a monster is willing to play at being a man because he wants to stay by my side.

I never thought I’d walk hand in hand with someone and feel like I actually meant it, like it wasn’t just an act.

It’s not an act with Nox… and by the time I’m done and we’re at the front of the store for checkout, I’m starting to wonder if I can have this.

If I can have all the things I thought impossible.

And then I feel it—a wave of snarling, angry hate beside me. Nox’s dark eyes flash red as he looks forward.

Forward at Noah, who stands at the front of the store looking at a display of drinks like he’s a little confused.

And like he can feel death coming for him, he looks up. His handsome face is slightly pale, cheeks riddled with a day’s worth of stubble.

He definitely looks like he’s had better days.

“Hey Noah,” I say carefully, and Nox’s hand in mine squeezes enough to send a small warning streak of pain along my arm. It doesn’t matter, though. I need to know what he remembers. I need to know if he’s a danger to Nox, because somewhere along the way that apparently became important to me. He’s been so careful not to come into town, not to be noticed. It’d be a fucking shame if I was the reason that suddenly happened.

Noah looks at me, and as soon as our eyes connect, his gaze drops.

“Aspen,” he mutters, taking a few steps back like the name makes him need distance. “Nox.”

“Everything okay, Noah?” I knew Nox did something to him, but knowing it and seeing it are two different things. I can feel the fear warring with his confusion just beneath his skin.

“Fine.” He still won’t look at me, but his fingers clench and unclench as he speaks. “Are you?”

Those two words are enough to draw a low rumble from Nox’s chest, a soft little warning in a voice deeper than any human should have. “Careful, Noah.”

Noah’s hands shake and he tenses, then nods once.

Twice.

His eyes flick up for just a moment to look at me before dropping back to the floor, and then he turns without saying anything else and leaves.

Beside me, Nox laughs.

“What the fuck did you do to him, Nox?” I watch Noah retreat, whatever he came in to buy abandoned. Beside me, Nox shrugs.

“Taught him not to look at things that don’t belong to him.”

I’m not sure if I should be irritated or aroused.

I know one thing, though… Noah’s fear spiked deep into my chest, to a place where things squirm, a place only Nox can touch. I don’t have to say it as we leave the store. Nox leans in close and whispers it in my ear.

“Are you hungry?”

When my eyes meet his, the black is glowing a faint red—he already knows my answer.

“Starving.”

CHAPTER 33

NOX

It feels good to step back into the forest after spending so long trapped in the walls of Aspen’s house. It feels better when he steps up beside me, his eyes twisting to the fire tower in the distance.

There’s a light shining through the windows.