Sai’s voice tells me he’s closer than Julien. The crackle in the air. The tremble beneath my feet. All of it says he’s near.
I turn—
Lighting tears across the sky, illuminating Sai in a blaze of white. He slowly swipes the back of his hand over his mouth, smearing blood from his lips to the edge of his jaw.
He looks… terrifying, feral. Unhinged. Black eyes glittering as he smiles, teeth slick with red.
And fuck, I want him.
I memorise him like this. Even when the lightning ends and he dips back into darkness, I’m still staring. Desperate for another strike. So entranced, I almost forget the game, almost follow him into the dark… until the thunder follows and breaks the haze.
Sai takes one step forwards.
I take three back.
“Easy,” he whispers low, coated in a tease, like I’m some spooked horse he thinks he can tame.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I snap, trying to mask the unsteadiness of my breath.
Another flash of lightning. His smile widens—bloody and beautiful, because my defiance only feeds him.
“Aww, don’t be like that, baby,” he coos, that deadly smile never leaving his bloody lips. “We just wanna play.”
He steps closer.
I glance behind me. Julien still hasn’t moved, but he doesn’t need to, because Sai isherdingme to him.
My eyes dart around the hallway. Can I get past Sai?
No way.
The glass? Too thick. The forest? Too dark and dense…
The dark. The shadows.
Like they hear me, the edges of the room begin to twitch, creeping inward—
“Don’t youdarefucking flit.” Sai’s voice is so predatory, so full of acidic rage, that genuine fear floods me.
I side-step, eyes flicking to the nearest shadow—
A gasp rips from my throat as fingers collar my neck from behind.
“Bad choice,” Julien murmurs in my ear, rumbling through me.
I’m thrown forwards, straight into Sai’s waiting chest and lifted as he flings me over his shoulder.
Rage crashes through me. At being commanded, being caught, being carried like a prize. It burns through the fear and reignites my fight.
“Put me down! You fucking monsters!” I snarl. “Put. Me. Down!”
Sai laughs, so smug my rage intensifies.
“Let mego!” I kick hard—but then my legs are trapped by his arm, too tight to gain momentum. I growl, squirming, “Put me down, you fucking—”
I’m dropped, feet hitting solid ground only for him to yank me back hard so my spine is to Sai’s chest once again.
I barely register where we are, it’s a room, but it’s too dark to make out anything. The only light is from Sai’s markings, a deep violet glow that highlights the man standing in front of me.
