Page 34 of The Puppet Master
“Relax,” I whisper to Luna. Unlocking from her arm, I reach around her shoulder and pull her into me. “Most of the people here are more afraid of you than you are of them.”
I don’t know if she buys that, but she leans into me as if I’m the lesser of two evils. It’s a start.
Wilcox roars, beating his chest like an ape, riling up the crowd even more. Meanwhile, Thorne stands tall and still with his clenched fists at his side. All business. Waiting for something—or someone—to tell him what to do next. Such agood boy.
“Ready for the show?”
The curl in my lip releases as I turn to Zephyr. She bumps my hip and settles in close—reallyclose. She gathers her hair over one shoulder. Pulls her lips into a flirtatious smile. Gives me a wink.
To say there’s potential here would be a massive understatement. There is literally nothing in this world as easily enjoyable as a gullible blonde with abad boykink.
“Yeah,” I drawl. As though watching two men behave like rabid animals fighting over a half-chewed rabbit is anything more than barbaric. “You?”
My attention cracks as Luna leans even harder against me, not quite clutching me but close. I don’t catch Zephyr’s response.
My throat clears as I turn toward Luna and whisper into her ear. “We’ll leave as soon as this is over. I promise.”
She doesn’t respond. She’s too busy looking around like she’s searching for an escape route. At some point—when her fear has thinned and her adrenaline picks up—she’ll try to run. Everyone does.
But now is not the time.
Pinching Luna’s chin, I turn her to look at me. Her irises toggle between fire and ice as the sun glints off her crystal eyes, red flickering with the lightest shade of blue. For the first time, my mind doesn’t stumble.
“As long as you’re with me, no one will hurt you.” I say, arching my thumb along her chin.
Her jaw clenches, not with anger but with nerves, the hollow of her throat betraying her swallow. And there’s… nothing I can do. I see the faces of a hundred different girls I’ve eased through discomfort not unlike this, but it’s different when I have no real control.
Zephyr pulls my attention back to her when her delicate fingers reach into my collar and tug at the leather permanently tied around my neck.
“What’s this?”
I pull the necklace from my shirt and hold up the single shell—a memento from my island. Among a thousand grooved chunks of calcium carbonate, this is the one that caught Annie’s eye. Dull, cracked, objectively ugly.
“Hmm,” Zephyr’s lips pucker and twist to one side “You can look good in anything, can’t you?”
“Zephyr!”
Aurelius’s voice tugs my ear in a half turn. Zephyr doesn’t budge. She waits for him to force his way through the crowd and stand behind us, his mouth dipping between our shoulders.
“Give me the news,” he orders.
The shell thumps against my chest as she releases it. Her cheerful face smooths into a blank mask. “Boy.”
Aurelius’s heavy sigh warms the curve of my ear. I angle to listen close but neither of the pair say another word.
Stepping around us, Aurelius goes to the center of the ring and silences the crowd with a sweep of his hands—a composer cutting off an orchestra. He announces the participants and begins a speech that my mind muffles, eyes locked on Zephyr.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper.
Her eyes flick to me. She flips her hair off her shoulder, as if suddenly disgusted with each silky strand. “Nothing… All is as it’s supposed to be.”
“What was he asking you?”
Instead of responding, she leans the slightest bit forward to eye the girl. Then she straightens her spine and cups her wrist.
“In short, my brothers, sisters, new friends,” Aurelius says, voice raising higher as he claps his hands together. His sweeping eyes find me and pause. “Let us welcome our newest initiate into our home. Let us celebrate his courage. Let us embrace him for his honor.”
“For his honor,” the crowd chants in unison—cheerfully creepy. Goosebumps pebble the arm still wrapped around Luna.
