“I’ll see you soon.”
I flip over to Jax’s call, but he isn’t on the line anymore. However, when I look at my phone screen, I see that he’s texted me.
Jax
DON’T TALK TO THEM
I frown at his message, but stuff the device in the pocket of my sweater dress instead of replying. Jasmine is wiping out a glass, smiling at the pair as they sit on the barstools. There’s an apprehensiveness about the way she’s talking to them that tells me she feels the bad vibe, too.
“—yeah, festival day is always busy around here,” Jasmine is saying. “Is it your first time on the island?”
“It is,” one of them replies.
I cautiously make my way back to my area, trying hard to pretend like everything is fine.
“We heard some friends of ours were here for a few months. Thought we’d pay them a visit.” The second one’s dark gaze swivels to the statues on the bar, and he snickers upon seeing them, elbowing his friend.
“Check these out,” he says.
The first laughs. “Looks like some of North’s shitty designs. He always liked pretending as if they looked like this.”
My eyes narrow, and Jasmine clears her throat.
“Hey, Juni, do you mind checking the kitchen to see if table five’s food is in the window?” Jasmine asks me.
“Juni?” The first one’s eyes light up upon hearing my name. “As in Juniper?TheJuniper?”
I pause mid-step and look between them.
“Do I know you?” I ask.
Both grin, and it’s like looking into an endless mirror of teeth. Too wide. Too sharp. Too sinister. The second one taps his fingers on the bar top three times, and I notice his long, opaque nails.
“Not yet. We’re going to be best friends soon, I think,” the second says.
“I’m counting down the minutes,” the first agrees.
I don’t know why I want to vomit.
His gaze is holding mine, and I feel like I’m spiraling, like his inky pools are a black hole swallowing my consciousness.
Snap out of it.
“Hey, are you two getting a drink? Can I offer you our signature shots for the day? Fire and ice?” Jasmine interjects, taking two shot glasses out. “Here, you can have a luge special. Watch this one.” She pours vodka down the North tongue and smiles forcefully. “Fun, right? Juni, table five.”
Her words trigger me out of the daze. I blink twice and inhale, realizing I haven’t taken a breath since our eyes locked.
“Tell you what, Juniper. Why don’t you get that food and come back to us? We’redyingto chat.”
Don’t agree to anything.
Nick’s voice seems to be on the wind.
“I—”
Before I can speak, a shadow passes through the door. It’s across the room within the time it takes me to blink, and when my eyes open, Nick is standing behind the two men.
I’ve never heard the bar so silent.
