Page 60 of Mortis

I looked up into the face of a stranger. He looked genuinely apologetic. Or at least, his expression did. There was something oddly hollow about his eyes that made me question whether he truly meant it. They were striking too. One was the warm amber of whisky. The other was an icy grey so pale it almost disappeared into the white of his eye.

He held out a hand. After a brief hesitation, I accepted it. His skin was impossibly soft against mine, and his fingernails were neatly trimmed and immaculately clean. Definitely not someone who’d spent much time doing manual work.

“Are you alri⁠—”

“Teddy!”

Kael was suddenly beside me. He looked me over from head to toe, his gaze darting across my body in search of injuries. Finding none, his attention dropped to the remains of our drinks. His expression fell ever so slightly when he saw what was left of his Frappuccino, and despite everything, I wanted to laugh.

“Sorry,” I said quietly.

He immediately looked back at me. Cupping my chin in both hands, he gently turned my head from side to side, checking me over one final time.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, smiling softly. “So long as you’re unharmed.”

“I’m fine.” I smiled back, momentarily losing myself in the way his maroon eyes caught the afternoon light.

The pointed clearing of a throat interrupted us.

“I believe these are yours.”

Reluctantly pulling my attention away from Kael, I accepted the paper bag containing our paninis from the stranger. The outside was damp with spilled coffee, but hopefully the foil lining had protected our lunch.

His mismatched eyes moved between me and Kael. They lingered on the disguised cryptid at my side for just a fraction too long before returning to me.

“Again, I am deeply sorry for bumping into you.”

The stranger brushed a hand through his slicked-back hair. It was a deep chocolate brown, threaded with strands of silver. Whatever product he used left it looking unnaturally sleek, as though it were permanently wet. A gold watch glinted in the afternoon sun, looking every bit as expensive as the rest of him. When his arm fell back to his side, it disappeared beneath the sleeve of his thick woollen peacoat.

I hadn’t seen him around Blackthorn before, which wasn’t unusual in itself. I avoided meeting new people at the best of times. Even so, something about him felt out of place. His clothes, his posture, his smile.

One thing was clear.

He didn’t belong in Blackthorn.

“It’s okay. Accidents happen,” I said, keeping my tone friendly. “I haven’t seen you around town before.”

The stranger smiled. I suspected it was meant to be charming. Instead, it looked faintly unhinged. The sight of his perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

As though sensing my discomfort, Kael stepped closer and wrapped a strong arm around my waist, pulling me gently into his warm side. The stranger’s eyes dropped to where Kael held me, and his grin seemed to widen.

“Ah, yes. I’ve recently moved here.” His gaze drifted along the high street, as though searching for something only he could see. “It’s certainly an . . . interesting place.”

I raised an eyebrow. “It feels just like any other small town in the UK to me.”

The man laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. It scraped against my nerves like fingernails down a chalkboard.

“But not every small town in the UK supposedly has a monster living in the woods, now does it?”

Kael’s arm tightened around my waist, his fingers pressing into my side. The pressure almost hurt. I inhaled sharply through my nose, fighting the urge to flinch. The sound was far too quiet for human ears, but Kael heard it instantly. His grip loosened at once, followed by a small apologetic squeeze.

“It’s nothing but fiction,” I replied. “Stories kids tell each other at sleepovers.”

“So, you’re one of the locals who doesn’t believe in the Satyr?”

I nodded. “There’s no such thing as monsters,” I said firmly.

The stranger’s smile faltered, only for a heartbeat. Easy to miss if I hadn’t been watching. Then it returned, not quite a grin this time. More of a smirk.