Page 10 of Everdoll

I should.

But my poor little heart was pounding, all because of a case of the jitters. My last encounter with Raymond hadn’t ended well, and we hadn’t spoken a word since. Now I was a nervous wreck. I knew I just needed to calm down and talk to him. I would ask him about that stupid blacklist, and he would tell me it was just a trivial mistake, something he’d done in anger years ago, and completely forgotten about.

Maybe the misunderstanding would finally be cleared up, and we would be done.

Completely, done.

Then we could each go our separate ways again. But this time, with no questions left between us.

Despite my plans, I couldn’t bring myself to move away from Prisne’s back. Watching Raymond smoke his pipe, I pressed my body against the wall in fear, wanting to crumble into nothingness, covering my face with Prisne’s hat until not a single strand of hair was visible. The place was vast, there was distance between us, so Raymond would never see me, yet I was still afraid.

Minutes passed, and the place returned to its usual din. Prisne insisted we couldn’t leave yet and dove back into the betting. The moment I caught Raymond standing up, I pulled my body behind the heavy velvet curtains. Only when he finally vanished through the far corner door did I let out a ragged breath. I was exhausted. Ignoring and escaping Raymond was harder than I thought.

A heartbeats later, Prisne was towering in front of me, smiling as she dangled something in her hand.

My eyes sparkled for the first time in hours. “You got it!”

“Better late than never.” She grumbled in a tired voice, I patted her on the back. “Now let’s find Silvia and get out of here… Wait… where’s Silvia?”

I pointed behind the curtains. “She went out for some fresh air. Like five minutes ago.”

Prisne nodded. “Let’s take her and head back to the capital.”

“Miss Officer.”

At the elegant voice, I looked over curiously. A short, black-haired girl was standing in front of us. Reila. Seeing Prisne’s veins tense up, I figured out I should leave them alone. I immediately said, “I’ll go get Silvia,” and left.

As I pushed open the metal door, I closed my eyes against the cold, letting the icy air brush over my tense features.

Maybe I should’ve stayed in the capital.

The fresh air felt good on my skin, but Silvia was nowhere to be seen. I was sure she had used this door, so I looked around, past the wall, and slowly stepped out onto the street. My eyes fell on the stone pavement.

Blood.

Every visible corner of the ground was washed in blood. Bright and deep crimson was all I saw. But strangely, there was no smell of it. Instead, the dark street was filled with the scent of burnt machine oil. For a while, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the ground, my eyes grew wide.

Then, a severed finger rolled onto my shoes.

Unable to accept what I was seeing, I forced myself to look up.

The shimmering silver moon cast its light onto the silhouette of a tall figure in a long black coat. He was sweeping a laser beam across the countless corpses on the ground. He moved through them at ease, and with each flash of his laser, the bodies turned to dust.

Literal dust.

My heart leaped into my throat, a small sob escaped my lips. I immediately covered my mouth, but the silhouette heard me. He heard me. He stopped. Then whirled around.

My eyes met the magical blue eyes I was escaping for years.

As he stalked toward me, I took a step back, but stumbled in panic. Whether from the slick of blood or my shaking legs, I collapsed onto the stone pavement.

Struggling to get up, my breathing grew heavier. My hands searched for something to hold onto, but they met only fresh blood. I tried to pull my legs beneath me to stand, but it was in vain. My head was spinning; my hands, my feet—all my senses were numb.

The source of my fear was not the blood or the dismembered corpses.

I was afraid because I had to face my ex-boyfriend. I would’ve done anything to be anywhere else instead of this bloody pavement.

Will he kill me too?