Captive of Wolves (Bound to the Fae #1) - Eva Chase Page 0,86
like a ghost walking through them—like maybe I’m not really here at all. After hiding for the better part of the last week, could I have faded away completely? It sounds absurd, but then, how can anything be more absurd than the fact that I’m living in a realm of faeries?
I venture down to the basement and gravitate toward the entertainment room at the lively music emanating from that direction. Peeking past the door, I find August braced at the edge of the sofa, his gaze intent on the TV as he jabs at his controller. On the screen, a digitized fighter whirls in the air with a spinning kick that knocks his opponent’s head right off.
August lets out a whoop and lowers the controller with a grin. He looks so at ease that I convince myself it’s perfectly fine to intrude.
“Hi,” I say, slipping inside.
His grin widens at the sight of me, and there goes that damn flutter turning my insides all wobbly. When I was seeing him all the time, I must have started to get used to how handsome he is. Now it takes me a moment to catch my breath again.
He beckons me over to the sofa. “You’re up! You looked pretty wiped out when I brought up your plate—I didn’t want to wake you.” A trace of shyness softens his expression. “How did you like the pancakes?”
“As delicious as you promised. I guess I lost most of the day.”
“We all did. Tristan’s bunch kept us up until it was almost dawn, and then Sylas wanted to go over everything they said before our memories had faded.” He stifles a yawn. “We’re all on Whitt time now. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with dinner. Breakfast was already a late lunch. Sylas went out to check on something, and I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
“Well, I won’t be needing dinner anytime soon. I just stuffed myself with those pancakes.” I step closer, halting by the sofa’s arm. “I’ve had enough of my own company after the last few days. Do you mind if I watch you play?”
August waves off any concern I might have had about my welcome. “I’ve got some games you could even play with me.”
I sink onto the sofa at the farthest end from him and grimace. “I haven’t played anything in years. I don’t even know what game system that is. I’m not sure I’ll give you much competition.”
August aims another grin at me. “I’ll go easy on you. It’ll still be fun for me. I can hardly ever convince Sylas to play, and Whitt only will when he’s so loopy on whatever he’s been drinking or eating that he spends more time shooting his mouth off than actually handling the controller.”
He’s so enthusiastic my hesitation melts. “All right. I can give it a try, anyway.”
“Let’s find something a little less violent for this…” He shuffles through his stack of games, makes a triumphant sound, and swaps out the discs. Then he hands me a second controller, pointing out the buttons. “This one’s for jumping. This one for picking things up and then throwing. This one lets you run double-speed. You move around using this joystick. It’s pretty simple. You’ll get the hang of it fast.”
I peer at the bright cartoony graphics on the screen. “What am I supposed to be doing?”
“We’re competing to solve the puzzle first. The first levels are really straight-forward. It only gets complicated once you’re warmed up.” He gives me a playfully ominous look. “Just watch out for the beetles.”
Even though it’s been nearly a decade since I last faced off against my little brother on our old Playstation—which I guess is probably an antique by gaming standards at this point—my hands fall into the rhythm of button pushing and stick swiveling with just a few hitches. Apparently video games are like bikes, and once you’ve learned how to work them, your body remembers.
I direct my character through a maze and across a few obstacles to hit the goal at the end ahead of August—but I’m pretty sure he let me win. “Nicely done,” he says, and I resolve that I’m going to win at least one level of this game fair and square.
The puzzles do get harder, but my fingers fly faster as I get used to the strategies. I can tell I’m actually putting up a decent fight when August starts aiming all of his attention at the screen rather than regularly checking