I know exactly who just arrived.
I swallow hard as my stomach twists.
I look up just as the Ferrum Syndicate steps into the clearing.
Everyone around me immediately seems more alert.
I still have no idea how Adelaide managed to make this happen. Or why she even wanted to.
They all wear their Ferrum Syndicate masks.
And yet I recognise him instantly.
Or I simply recognise the body beneath it.
Because even without seeing his face, I know it’s him.
Then he turns, and his eyes find mine immediately.
Those amber eyes burn through the openings of the mask. A wolf is sketched across it, which somehow only makes him look more dangerous.
His hands tighten at his sides, but he doesn’t look away from me for even a second.
I quickly break eye contact.
At that moment, two of the Thirteen Circle enforcers step onto the cabin porch with a boy dragged between them.
One of them announces the boy’s punishment and that the Ferrum Syndicate will be the ones carrying it out.
The second they let go of him, the boy takes off running straight into the woods.
Nobody reacts, and the music starts up again not even a minute later. People go back to drinking, laughing, dancing.
I pay no attention to any of it because I hate this sort of thing.
It is more Adelaide’s and Octavia’s world than mine.
I reread the same page at least five times before eventually giving up.
With a sigh, I stand, needing a little distance from the crowd for a moment.
I just need to clear my head.
I keep walking deeper into the woods until the music and voices dull into the background.
Eventually, I reach a quiet enough spot and stop.
Tilting my head back, I breathe in the cool night air and look up at the sky above me.
My skin prickles again, something that seems to be happening way too often lately.
I can feel the heat of his body as he moves closer and closer. His scent reaches me, and I hate how weak it makes me feel. A second later, his voice breaks through the darkness.
“You seem to do an awful lot of running.”
Before I can react, a hand circles my waist and yanks me back into him, his head dips to the side of my neck.
His breath skims my skin, and I fight the urge to press my thighs together to calm the ache forming there.
