AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, they won’t.”
I quirked a brow. He sounded rather sure about that, but I knew them far better than he did, obviously. Even cleaned up, this was not the look of someone that went to see a movie. I could already picture their faces as I tried to explain what did happen. We already weren’t on the best terms.
“Do you happen to have my shoes?”
“On the dresser.”
I turned away from him and went to retrieve my heels.
With every step, I silently cursed this whole evening. This was going to hurt like a sonofabitch in the morning.
“You never wondered why you were raised to be so accepting of violence and death?” Ciaran questioned, sounding genuinely curious.
“If you asked me this earlier, I would’ve said for the same reason you were, but that obviously isn’t the case.”
I grabbed my heels and cringed at the idea of having to wear them again. My feet felt like I’d walked over hot coals.
Ciaran laughed softly, alerting me he wasn’t as far away as he’d been just a few seconds ago. I glanced over my shoulder and blinked in surprise. He was nearly right behind me. I hadn’t even heard him move. I slowly turned around, placing myself between him and the dresser.
“Why are you trying to run away from me so fast?”
“I’m not running. I can’t waste any more time here, but if I did run could you blame me?”
I looked down as he closed the space between us, watching his shoes align with my polished black toes. Two fingers came to a point just beneath my chin, lifting my gaze back to his. “Don’t even think about trying to do something that stupid.”
My eyes widened with awe at his brazenness and audacity. I brought my hands to his chest to shove him away from me, scowling when he covered them with his.
“You can relax. Your parents were called away to an emergency meeting. By the time they get home, their precious little demon will be tucked into her own bed.”
I ignored his demon goad and wondered how he pulled off maneuvering my parents. I knew Ciaran had far more power than I ever would, which was impressive because not only was he young, but he’d had to of earned every bit of it. We didn’t get handed our privilege because mommy and daddy were loaded, not in the way most imagined.
Him having enough sway over someone that my parents could be lured away from home made him even more formidable. Maybe it was better not to know too much more.
“I’m not even going to ask. Whatever you did or plan on doing, it won’t fool the security system on my house. It logs every time someone goes in and out. Thanks, though. I think?”
“That’s handled too.”
I managed to keep my expression impassive when all I really wanted to was gawk at him. My parents were never one for showing emotion beyond the privacy of our home. They always said that would be like flashing a winning hand.
I’d been taught to follow after them and had a pretty impressive poker face under most circumstances.
This was not most circumstances.
“Anything else?” I half-joked.
He smirked. “Your phones are in your middle console along with the fob to the car. There are extra movie tickets too in case you misplaced yours.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d lost my phone. As for the tickets, those were the least of my concerns. “How did you get my fob?”
His smirk lifted into a grin. “My swine brought it to me.”
My mind flashed back to the man in the pig costume that had bumped into me. For someone that prided themselves on being aware of their surroundings, it was utterly embarrassing not to have known I’d been pickpocketed.
“I was wondering why someone decided to celebrate Halloween a few months early.”
“It’s their chosen method to keep their identity a secret,” he explained dismissively. “Your friends are safe and being tended to. Anything else?” he threw my words back at me when I didn’t respond.
There was a ton of anything else. I had questions upon questions, but for the sake of my sanity, I shook my head no. I needed time to clearly process what had happened and what he’d already divulged. Then I could begin trying to figure out why I didn’t know about any of this.
After regarding me for a few silent seconds, he stepped away and gestured to the door. I made the short trek across the room, carrying my heels, slowing when he reached for me again. I let him hold onto my other hand, ignoring his warmth as much as I could, following him out into the hall.
The party was still going strong, maybe even stronger than it had been before we entered the bedroom together.
I wondered who here knew what happened on the side of the woods and how many were none the wiser, outsiders aside. I stared at the back of Ciaran’s head as we made our way toward the stairs. He had such a good handle on what was happening. It brought more questions to mind.
