"I—I don't know if—"
He smiled, but not in a warm way. "Oh, you're one of those."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
His grin widened to reveal more of his long fangs. They looked sharper up close. "A human who pretends not to want it. But you knew exactly what you were signing up for, didn't you, Scotty?"
I blinked rapidly, feeling confused and scared and stupid. Why wasn't he backing off? Did I say something wrong?
That's right, the safe word! Spencer told me I was supposed to use a specific word to halt a scene.
But what was it? Why couldn't I remember the word?
Shit, did anyone even tell me what it was?
"Um, I actually don't remember the safe word," I admitted. "Is it okay if we take a break?"
Carnassial raised an eyebrow, looking disappointed. "Seriously?"
"Yes?"
Carnassial let out a frustrated, dramatic sigh like a teenager who was just told he couldn't go to a concert. "You know, you wishy-washy humans are the worst."
Still leaning over me, he parted his mouth to let his fangs gleam in the darkness. They didn't look like plastic. They looked real. But that wasn't possible.
"Do you have any idea how hungry I am?" Carnassial growled.
Was he still roleplaying? If so, he was taking it way too seriously. I thought the scene was supposed to stop instantly. Unless I was so bad at this kink thing that I was confusing other roleplayers.
"If Mallory wouldn't rip me apart, I'd sink my teeth into you right now."
Something about the way he said it made my blood run cold. This didn't feel like a game anymore. I certainly wasn't having fun. I wanted Carnassial to get away from me, and I wanted to get the hell out of this creepy castle.
For a moment, Carnassial stopped paying attention to me. He lifted his gaze to the ceiling as if searching for something intently. When he apparently didn't find it, he faced me again, narrowing his eyes with defiant glee.
"Then again… How much is Mallory going to miss one single human? It's not like she can keep track of them all."
My stomach flipped. Why did he sound like a villain on a crime show?
Roleplaying or not, there was no way I was about to become the victim on an episode of CSI. I kicked out at Carnassial's chest to push him away, but when my foot connected with his body, he was hard as rock.
"Ow!" I yelped.
The next few seconds happened in a blur.
A resoundingsmackechoed through the room as the door slammed open and a figure ran in with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, Carnassial was being held in the air by his neck by another vampire roleplayer who was glaring at him furiously.
And then I must've started hallucinating, because two bats manifested in thin air before promptly transforming into intimidating women.
But the women kept their distance as if the man gripping Carnassial had everything under control.
It took me a second to realize that I recognized him. He was unmistakably the roleplayer I'd run into in the kitchen, the one with the pale pink eyes and deadly good looks.
"You have two seconds to explain why I shouldn't rip your head off," the pink-eyed vampire growled.
The timbre of his voice made me shiver, but not in an unpleasant way.
Carnassial choked in his grip. "I was kidding! I wasn't actually going to —"
