His voice emerged as a ragged whisper, sandpaper against stone. "Something... overtook me. Please accept my apology." He swallowed hard, the movement visible along his throat, as though he'd been the one screaming instead of me.
Kassie grabbed hold of me and hid behind my body. “When you attacked, it was when I made a comment about Harlow.”
I whined to signal that I would put the Slenderman down again.
He nodded. “Yes, it appears so.”
Kassie hummed. “You were jealous, then? Upset she would dare look at someone.”
The Slenderman growled.
“Right, let’s not talk about that.” I laughed nervously. “What did you come to say about the fox shifter? Did you have any other news?”
Glass crunched beneath the Slenderman's feet as he rose unsteadily. "The fox shifter has vanished," he said, his voice still raw. "Even the wolf pack couldn't track his scent. We've found evidence he visited your former residence, Kassie." His featureless face turned toward her, and though he had no eyes,I felt the weight of his gaze. "For your safety, consider that place forbidden."
He walked to the door, his back behind us.
“What about Harlow?” Kassie called out. “Will she be safe? I need to talk to her!”
The Slenderman, who appeared weakened, stopped at the doorway. “Don’t worry about Harlow. She is safe, and I will be sure to protect her with my life.”
He began walking again, then paused. “Sorry about making you clean up the mess.”
He lifted his hand, and we watched as the glass began to levitate, appearing to move backward in time. It sped up as it reached the window, sealing itself back into place as if nothing had ever happened.
I turned around and saw that even the mason jars had put themselves together and were back in the cabinet.
“Woah,” Kassie said. “That was crazy.”
We both turned around and began to say “Thank you,” but at that point, with the door still left open, our mayor was gone.
I pulled Kassie closer to me, the reality settling in that we faced whatever came next alone. The monster who governed our town, I couldn't think of him as "mayor" anymore, had revealed a dangerous weakness. His composure had fractured at the mere mention of Harlow, and that unstable connection between them threatened all our safety. Something needed to change, and quickly.
For the time, my priority remained Kassie's safety, though she seemed unaware of the danger. She slipped from my protective grasp and drifted toward the nearest window, pressing her palm against the newly-restored glass as if testing it were real.
Kassie traced her fingertips over the seamless glass. "It's like it never broke at all," she whispered, then turned to me with wide eyes. "But what if the fox shifter finds us here? Could he dosomething like this—fix things with just a gesture? Or is Gideon the only one with that kind of power?"
I couldn't help but smile at her intuition, even as concern gnawed at me. She should be more frightened than curious. Fox shifters were notorious for their cunning, and I had no idea why this one had fixated on my match, of all people.
Well, shewasstunning, amazing and had the best bosomsever.
I did know one thing for certain, and that was he wouldn’t touch her. Not then, not ever.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kassie
The buzzing of my phone on the dresser caught my attention. At first, I ignored it, figuring someone had just texted me. But when it kept vibrating insistently, I realized someone was actually calling me.
If it were a phone call, it most likely meant it was an emergency.
Because no one called anymore, everything was done by text.
Everyone hates phone calls these days… even doctors know it. That's why they text to confirm appointments instead of calling.They understand the dread of hearing that ring and having to answer it.
My lips released Atlas with a pop. His breath caught in his throat, transforming into that vulnerable whimper I'd come to adore. "Kassie, please..." he whispered, voice strained.
He wasridiculouslycute when he begged. Apparently, this was his way of letting me get back at him for rutting me in the sky—right over the town, no less. I told him it hadn’t exactly been a hardship for me, but he insisted I punish him, and honestly… what kind of girl turns down an offer like that?
