“I saw—”
“Are you okay?” I cut in. “Did you hit your head?”
My heart gallops in my chest, sort of like one of those animated cartoons where you see the heart extend and inflate from the character’s body.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! First Lucas, then Elias, and now Karsyn. How many more people will learn my secret? Will he become furious like Elias or only show curiosity as Lucas did? Will he want to hurt me? I don’t believe that last thought for even a second, but I can’t help but feel cautious, especially after Elias’s explosive reaction.
“Peony.” Karsyn takes a step towards me, thinks better of it, and then steps back. I scared him—scare him. I can see that clear as day on his face. He bites down on his plush bottom lip before pulling it through his teeth. Then his tongue snakes out to lick at his top one. He repeats this a few more times as he stares at me. Just stares. I wait for him to begin yelling, to begin screaming, to threaten to call the police on me, but all he does is pierce me in place with that penetrating gaze of his. I think out of all the Devils, his eyes are my favorite, even more than Elias’s strange color. The soft reflective browns, spreading to hills of grassy meadows, with the outer edge rimmed in russet-hued gold. They complement his shorn blond hair and the days old stubble on his chin.
When the silence becomes too much, I begin to ramble. “I don’t know what you think you saw, but I can assure you that—”
“Don’t!” He lifts a hand into the air, and I notice it shaking. He swallows, finally peeling his gaze away from me as if it hurts to look at me. “Don’t fucking act like I’m dumb. I already told you I’m not.”
“You’re not dumb.” I slowly remove my nails from my palms and grip the strap of my backpack. “Karsyn, you’re not.”
“But you’re acting like I am,” he growls, and this time, he does stalk to me, his intent clear in every hard line of his face. He pauses when he’s directly in front of me and places his hands on my shoulders. It’s not tight enough to hurt, but firm enough for me to know he won’t let me leave without some sort of explanation. “Tell me the truth. I know what I saw.” His eyes watch mine intently, fluttering between my amber orbs. “Are you a…witch?” He says that word hesitantly, almost fearfully, as if he expects me to laugh at him for such an outlandish claim. But honestly? If the situation was reversed, I would jump to the same conclusion. A girl chanting in Latin while magical fire burned around her? A girl with pure power seeming to ooze from her very being?
Instead of answering, I simply stare at him. Just stare. Turning the tables back on him.
“What would you do if I said yes?” I query at last. Would he be like Elias and run? Would he be curious and yearn to study me like Lucas?
Karsyn doesn’t even blink. “I believe in the supernatural,” he confesses bluntly. “I always thought…” Once more, that pink tongue of his traces his upper lip, and I can’t help but imagine that tongue in more…intimate places. I shake those thoughts off before they can solidify.
“You suspected I was different,” I whisper, and the nickname “little witch” suddenly takes on a new meaning. After all, it wasn’t Lucas who gave me that nickname. It was Karsyn.
“No.” He swallows. “But what I just saw…you can’t explain that away.” His grip tightens almost imperceptibly, but I don’t wince. I don’t allow him to see any outwards signs of my discomfort. “So please. Don’t act like I’m an idiot. Tell me the fucking truth.”
“Why?” I tilt my chin up stubbornly, despite feeling small and weak and vulnerable. Young. I feel young. First Lucas, then Elias, and now Karsyn. Why is it that three of the men capable of hurting me the most are the ones who know my deepest, darkest secret? The universe must be laughing at me right about now, giving me the biggest middle finger known to mankind.
“I won’t…” He trails off with a harried, broken laugh. “I won’t tell anybody.”
“How can I trust you?” He smells vaguely like the rainwater soaking us both and something I would almost describe as cloves. I wonder if it’s his natural scent or that of his cologne. Either