The answer to that is none at all.
I exhale slowly, staring at him thoughtfully. “What do you really want from me, Kai?”
Kai hardly reacts, just nods and says, “We’ll meet tomorrow, straight after school in the parking lot.”
And then he turns and walks away, like that’s that. Like I’ve already agreed. The truth is, I don’t even need to agree. I know I’ve lost.
TWENTY-THREE
Who knew I’d be spending my Wednesday afternoon in a freaking Rolls Royce? Definitely not me.
The leather beneath me is buttery soft, so soft in fact it makes me want to nap right here. Oh, how nice it would feel to bless myself with this. But though that might have been an option had I been sitting with anyone else, it is certainly not an option now. Everything in this car reeks of wealth; the black dashboard practically gleams like a mirror, reflecting a constellation of tiny, glowing buttons. And the scent… it’s a blend of leather, woodsmoke and something else. Something sharp and clean. It’s intoxicating, overwhelming… too much.
I don’t belong here.
Everything about me is wrong for this place, this moment. I almost feel like I’m trespassing. Be it my pitiful shoes, if you can even call them shoes, or basically anything else about me that screams anything but fortune.
And then there’s Kai. He’s slouched beside me, legs crossed at the knee, scrolling through his phone like he hasn’t got a care in the world. He’s dressed in a long black trench coat that looks as if it costs more than my entire year’s rent and a scarf draped casually around his neck.
The boy has style, I’ll give him that.
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, trying to be discreet. The sharp angles of his face catch the dim lightjust right, making him look like he stepped out of a painting or a dream. Like he was sculpted rather than born. There’s something so magnetic about him. Something undeniably beautiful. It’s quite annoying actually.
“What?”
His voice slices through the silence and my heart skips a beat. He’s not looking at his phone anymore; his sharp eyes are fixed on me, unblinking.
“N-nothing,” I stammer, my cheeks flushing hot. “I wasn’t… I wasn’t doing anything.”
His lips quirk, but it’s not a smile. “You were staring.”
“No, I wasn’t,” I blurt out, shaking my head too quickly. Too much. Damn it, Adeline, pull yourself together.
“Oh, you definitely were.”
The intensity of his gaze pins me right in place. It’s like he can see through me, see every secret I’ve ever tried to bury. Like he’s peeling back every layer.
My throat goes dry, and the car suddenly feels stifling. I hate it when he looks at me like that—like he knows exactly how much he unnerves me. Like he enjoys it.
But then, as abruptly as he starts, he looks away. His eyes go back to the window, to the snowy world rushing past, and I can finally breathe again. I exhale quietly, silently grateful he cares so little. I don’t think I can manage him staring at me like that all the time.
Eventually, I find myself drawing my own gaze to the window. Snow blankets the ground in soft layers, and the trees are coated in frost that sparkles under the pale light. It’s beautiful, serene. For a moment, I almost forget where I am, who I’m with. How much time has passed? Too long for my liking.
I’m half-awake when we finally slow, the change in momentum making me jolt. It’s at that moment I realize howtightly I’ve been clutching the edge of my seat. How nervous I’ve actually been. It’s sad really… god I’m pathetic.
“We’ve arrived, sir,” the driver announces, looking at us in the rearview mirror.
“Thank you,” Kai replies, already moving to open his door. But me? I’m still gawking at the magnificent sight in front of me. There, standing at the end of a long, snow-lined driveway is the Steele house—sorry, mansion. It’s grand, but cold and grey. Yes, literally grey. With white stone columns that rise against the sky. It’s not what I expected, but it is at the same time. It’s absolutely breathtaking, and gothic.
The kind of place that exists in fairy tales and nightmares.
“Adeline,” Kai says, his voice dragging me out of my daze.
I scramble out of the car, nearly slipping on the icy ground as I follow him. The cold bites at my skin, but I’m too distracted to care. My gaze is fixed on the mansion. Everything about it is beautiful, yes, but there’s something else, something… off. There’s absolutely no way something this perfect isn’t hiding secrets. But even if it is… I don’t want to know.
“My father isn’t home,” Kai says when I finally fall into step with him, his tone light, conversational.
I nod. “Okay.”
