He slowly pulls away, then steps back.
“How’d you get here?” Dorian asks. “You have a car?”
“Yeah, a beat-up Honda. It’s parked in one of the makeshift dirt parking lots about a quarter way up the mountain.”
He frowns. “Why didn’t you leave it in the public parking lot at the base?”
I shrug. “Less chance of running into people at my spot, even though there usually aren’t people out here at night. I come on weekend afternoons when I have time, so I learned to avoid the public parking lot then. This mountain’s one of the less-popular ones, but people still visit. It’s beautiful.” I frown. “Are youguys at the regular parking lot?”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “No, Mira, we’re not. We also have a spot not far off.”
I gaze at him. “How do you know my name again?”
“We ran into each other at the library.”
I nod. “Yeah, I remember you saying that, but I don’t usually give out my name. If I told you, I’d remember you.”
He pauses for a beat. “You really don’t remember me?”
I shake my head. “No. Did I have my headphones in when we met?”
He nods.
I snap my fingers. “That’s why. I zone out when I have music on. The outside world gets blurry. You didn’t answer my question.”
He shrugs. “I asked around about you.”
I can feel the shift in his energy as the lie rolls off his tongue. “No, you didn’t.”
His eyebrows inch up. “How do you know?”
“I felt it. Well, if you didn’t ask around, I guess it’d be better if Idon’tknow how you figured it out.” I sigh. “It’d probably freak me out more. I’m already freaked out enough.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re fuckingfascinating, love?” Brit questions, gazing at me with a deepening interest.
“Usually, they tell me that I’m insane.” I can’t exactly disagree, since I’m yet to meet anyone who canfeelother people the way I do. Cara swears I’m an empath, but I don’t like the supernatural connotation around that word. It’s not like I see dead people or smell emotions, I just sort of…sensethem.
“We’re all a bit mad here,” Brit says with a charming grin. This time, his energy shifts to something a little more positive, and I think it’s the first time I’ve seen his smile be at least half-genuine tonight. Nothing on his face indicates the shift in his emotions; he looks as sincere as he did the other times, but now he feels sincere.
Very, very dangerous.
“Come on,” Dorian says, swinging my backpack over his shoulder. “Let’s get going. Stay close. We’ll talk more in the car.”
I inhale a deep breath, steeling myself. “Okay.”
I follow behind him as he begins to walk down the mountain. While every inch of meachesto run away, I know I’ll only get chased down again, and Ireallydon’t feel like going for another tumble. What I want is to curl up in my dorm room bed, blast my classical music playlist, and sleep this shitty night away. Instead, I’m walking into a completely unknown situation with no guarantees that I’ll get out of it alive. I think that Dorian was telling the truth when he said he won’t hurt me, my gut tells me he meant it, but he mentioned a punishment earlier. Really, I don’t knowwhatto think or believe right now.
The Brit walks behind me, and I feel his gaze burning a hole into the back of my head. I think he’s trying to figure me out—both men are—and that confuses me. Most people don’t care to figure me out. They catch a whiff of my brand of crazy and run in the opposite direction. I prefer it that way, since I’m not very good with people. I get along much better with animals.
Dorian slows a bit to walk beside me, wrapping a hand around my good arm. I stiffen immediately, a chill coursing through me at his touch.
“Easy, I just have a question,” he says.
I swallow and give a nod. I wasn’t kidding when I said he’s intimidating; both his physique and aura seep menace, but there’s control intermingled with it. Precision and calculation, which only ups his fear factor. He’s tall and muscular enough to kill me with a single hand, but I don’t think he will.
“Alright,” I say slowly.
“Earlier, Connor said you were bullshitting when you mentioned your shoulder dislocation. You agreed.”
