The only way out.
I squeezed my eyes shut, my thoughts returning to the night I’d arrived at Saint Vale.
The chilly downpour. The gloom. That unsettling feeling.
I’d stood in this exact spot, soaked and alone, thinking I’d reached rock bottom. I had no idea that’d turn out to be the most peaceful night I’d have here.
Only a few days had passed since my stepfather’s driver had dropped me off and left me here, but it felt like an eternity had gone by.
Taking in shallow breaths, I scanned the fountain and thelong drive beyond it, my gaze refusing to drift toward the devil behind me.
There was no need to look. I felt every inch of his suffocating presence.
His smell, his breathing, his nearness.
It all sent warning signals through my body.
I chewed on my bottom lip as I tried to decide which was worse—being trapped with Enzo inside the university or out here with him.
Both felt like different versions of the same slow death.
I hugged myself, shivering, and wished I’d changed out of my pajamas. But it wasn’t like I’d known we were going outside when Enzo asked—no,demanded—I take a walk with him. I’d assumed we’d go to the hall or library.
How naive of me to forget what kind of devil I was dealing with.
The chances of Enzo dragging me into another underground torture chamber were higher than him taking me somewhere normal.
Enzo shoved me forward, nearly knocking me down a step. I lost my balance and tumbled forward. Just before I fell, he grabbed my elbow, steadying me.
I recoiled, my footing unsteady at the edge as my heel skimmed it. For a second, I teetered there, caught between controlling my balance and falling.
He released my elbow, and then, in a flash, his hand caught mine.
A single second passed. Then two. Silence hung between us like a ghost in the night.
His hold on me was different than in the woods.
No cold leather glove. Just his bare skin.
The devil’s hand felt warm, rough, and disturbingly human.
As he led us down the stairs, our shoulders brushed with every step. He laced his fingers with mine, and my pulse jumped.
Enzo had ulterior motives for taking me out here.
He either planned to kill me or convince me to keep my mouth shut.
If killing me was his intention, then he’d get away with it. Arisono and the rest of the university would bury any evidence against him.
My shoes scraped against the stone as I stepped down to the ground. Enzo guided us along the winding path toward a cloister wall.
Once we stepped far enough from the lights, he stopped. My hand slipped from his as he turned me, reached for my waist, lifted me as if I weighed nothing, and sat me on the stone wall.
He jumped up beside me with a grunt, close enough that his shoulder brushed mine. His body heat seeped into me.
I breathed in his scent mingling with the night. I turned toward him, but the darkness hid most of his face.
All I could make out were the sharp angles and shadows across his cheekbone and jaw.
