“Don’t worry, True. We’ll bring her back… at some point.” Bradley laughed and looked her up and down. “By the way, nice dress. Going to a funeral in the 1800s later?” And then heturned and jogged back to his friends, who had melted away with Wicked Wynona.
“I’m Marie S-curie!” True yelled at his retreating back, her fists clenched around her dark, voluminous skirts. “It’s a temporally accurate representation of how she dressed!”
Orion was at her side in the next moment. “I’m so sorry.” He ran a troubled hand through his hair; it gleamed under the neon lights of the party. “I stepped away for a second to talk to Isaiah, and—”
“We have to get her back,” True interrupted, grim determination in her voice. “I promised to keep her safe for Mr. Brightside, and thelastperson who’s going to mess with me keeping my word is Bradley freaking Morris.”
“That was Bradley? As in,theBradley?” Orion looked after the boys, though they’d long since disappeared.
“Yeah.” True cut her eyes at him. She sensed there was more coming.
After a thoughtful pause, Orion raised an eyebrow. “He wore his football uniform as his costume?”
“Bradley likes to present himself in the best light at all times. Someone once told him he looked like the actor Spencer Boldman in it, so…”
A muscle twitched in Orion’s jaw. He didn’t look too impressed. “Right.” He turned to look at her. “You know what? We’re gonna get Wicked Wynona back. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pushed forward, through the crowd.
True glanced down at his big, warm hand clasped around hers and let herself follow.
“Onny’s house is like if the Clue mansion and Cinderella’s castle had a baby,” Orion said, opening a door on the second floor that led to a darkened bedroom and then closing it again.
“That’s a weird sentence, but I totally agree. I’ve been here countless times and I still get confused. Okay, I need to be able to see clearly for this mission.” Divesting herself of her mask and leaving it on a side table to collect later, True walked to the next room, opened the double doors, and saw that it was the library.
It was empty right now, but man, those books called to her. Onny’s dad collected first-edition fantasy books—everything from Tolkien to Rowling to Carroll. In spite of her interest in the natural sciences—or maybe because of it—True found fantasy books a welcome, sometimes much-needed escape from reality.
And she had to give that up to look for a mannequin with human hair. And possibly teeth.
“If Bradley hadn’t pulled that stupid stunt, I’d love to just curl up in here with a good book and wait out the party.” She gazed longingly at the overstuffed armchair by the fireplace.
Orion came up behind her, whistling softly as he took in the decadence of the Diamantes’ library—the Tiffany lamps, the Persian rugs, the gigantic floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the gardens. Not to mention the bookcases that towered all the way to the sixteen-foot-high ceilings, a ladder perched on one end.
His breath tickled the back of her neck, sending goose bumps prickling over her skin. Startled by her own reaction, Truestepped backward, her back pressing along his front. Another shiver played across her skin, and she spun around, her head tipped back as her eyes met Orion’s. They were less than a foot away. Kissing distance.
Kissing distance? Why the hell had she thoughtthat?
True knew she should step away. But knowing and doing were two different things. Orion’s gaze drifted slowly over the planes of her face until he was looking into her eyes again.
“I’m in your way,” he said, his voice husky. But he didn’t move, either.
“Yes. You are. You just… appeared out of nowhere.” Her voice had never sounded so breathy, so shaky, before. She wondered if Orion could even hear it over her thumping heart.
The corner of his full mouth moved up just a millimeter. “You’re somewhat of a surprise to me, too.”
It was obvious they weren’t just talking about their current situation outside the library. This was something more.
More than you’re ready for right now.Her brain snapped back to attention, throwing up red flags all over the place: Cute boy! Danger! Kissing! Danger! Heartbreak! Never again!
This time, Truedidstep back. Clearing her throat, she said, “Um. Yeah, so… we should probably keep looking. For Wynona. Wicked Wynona?”
A flicker of what looked very much like disappointment played over Orion’s face, but after the slightest pause, he nodded matter-of-factly. True stepped around him quickly, walking back down the carpeted hallway. She heard Orion close the library’s doors and follow her.
“I’m not even sure they took Wicked Wynona to the second floor,” True said over her shoulder, ignoring her heart beating like a drum in her chest. Suddenly, she was very aware that the second floor was mostly deserted and mostly full of empty bedrooms, and that the sexual chemistry between her and Orion could probably power the entire town of Moon Ridge.
“If this house wasn’t twenty-four million square feet, we might have a fighting chance.” Orion walked across the hall, opened another door, and stopped short, his mouth popping open. “What the hell?”
Curiosity prickled at True as she picked up her skirts and hurried over to him.
The room he was looking into was covered in dark pools of shadow, broken up only by flickering candlelight. Five ghoulish faces floated in the center of the room, upturned toward Orion and now True, big grimacing smiles spreading across painted lips. True froze, her brain scrambling to make sense of the scene but unable to. The five figures were crouched around something on the floor, something True was very afraid would turn out to be a disemboweled teenager or the head of a teacher or—
