“Who’s there?” I forced the question out, calm only because I willed it.
Silence. Then the lights went out again. They were playing games.
I gripped the knife harder, the handle biting into my palm. I couldn’t see a thing, only felt the thunder of my heartbeat in my ears.
Something brushed the back of my sweater. It was so faint it could’ve been imagined. A fingertip tracing the nape of my neck, testing the softness of my skin.
I spun, slashing the air, but met nothing. The blade sliced through emptiness, a whisper of violence swallowed by the dark. The touch didn’t return, but the air shifted again. Breath skimmed my jaw. Close. Intimate.
My body betrayed me. Heat pooled low, electric and wrong. My lungs forgot how to breathe, andshame threaded through the shiver that rolled down my spine.
“Leave me alone,” I repeated, softer this time. I hated that, too.
Then the lights flared back on. Definitely intentional, as if someone wanted to remind me they could take them away just as easily.
In the new wash of shadow and glow, something moved across the far wall. A long curve—an antler’s silhouette, maybe? Quick. Metallic. Gone in a flash.
The fire cracked, spitting sparks that threw my shadow high onto the ceiling. For a heartbeat and a half, it wasn’t alone. Three others joined it.
My skin prickled. “Cowards,” I said.
The room answered with a soft tap. It wasn’t on glass this time but wood. It came from the short hallway leading to the back door. Another tap followed then a third, each one farther away. Like a metronome ticking in the dark.
Of course, I followed.
The hallway swallowed light. The Christmas bulbs and fire couldn’t reach this far. The bathroom door on the left was shut. The closet on the right… slightly ajar. I was sure I’d closed it.
Shadows warped. The air heavy. I could feelmovement but saw nothing. Was I losing it? Was the isolation unraveling me?
I pressed my fingers to the closet door and nudged it open, knife forward. It was ridiculous and brave in the same breath. Cleaning supplies. Paper towels. Nothing else.
I let out a shaky breath and shut it. The latch clicked, and another click answered behind me. Soft. Precise. I spun so fast my vision blurred.
Another click echoed through the cabin, then silence pressed in again. The knife I held was raised, every muscle locked. The hallway yawned open into the living room, and for a heartbeat, the only thing I saw was firelight and a red and green glow.
I moved slowly, feeling the hair on my arms stand on end, my heart racing, and sweat beading at my temples.
When I rounded the corner, I saw them.
Three men stood between me and the door, filling the small space as if the cabin had shrunk around them.
The first was half shadow, half flame. He was broad-shouldered, all quiet control and contained power. His short black hair was mussed at the crown. Hismask hid his mouth but not those piercing gray eyes. They watched me as if he already knew how this would end.
The one next to him stood a fraction shorter, leaner in build, his body all definition and taut lines that could be seen through his dark clothing. Dark blond hair falling across his forehead in messy strands. His mask was shaped like a stag’s, dark antlers branching up and back, the gleam of pale blue eyes catching through the cutouts. Twisted mischief lived there, threaded with something sharp enough to cut.
The third towered over them both, broader, heavier, his strength impossible to ignore. His dark brown hair curled at the nape, and deep green eyes nearly vanished to black in the low light. His skull-shaped mask was weathered and cracked.
All three looked wrong—too large, too ominous. Their very presence shifted the air like a tide.
I should have felt cold fear run through my veins. But I didn’t. Blazing heat licked down my body and straight to my throbbing pussy, and my pulse thudded in my ears. Both sounds belonged to them now.
I opened my mouth, but no words came forth. My hands shook, the knife trembling in my grasp.
None of them spoke. They simply watched.Their presence was a weight, and God, it was terrifying but also magnetic. The room felt alive with it. I should have screamed, run… anything, but my body wouldn’t obey. My fear and something else, darker and low, braided together until I couldn’t tell which was which.
The man in the skull mask took a step forward. The other two stayed back. My breath hitched. The air vibrated with a kind of command and dominance I couldn’t name. I wanted to move, but the stillness pinned me harder than being held down by hands ever could.
The Skull stepped closer and then stopped a foot away. The knife slipped from my grip and struck the floor with a dull thud. His voice vibrated low, skating over me though he hadn’t touched me.
