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She laughed bitterly.

“I thought you knew where he is.”

I felt guilty for no reason and wondered what she thought of me.

“At least he seems to trust you more than me.”

Okay, she thought very poorly of me.

“Three weeks ago, I felt like he hated me.”

And, as it seemed, of Julian too.

“He doesn't hate you,” I began. “He likes you... a lot.” How should I put it? “Julian is a little blind, you know?” That was the only thing I was sure of at that moment, and Emely turned to me with raised eyebrows. “He realized so late how he feels about you.”

Her eyes widened, but only for the fraction of a second, then she shook her head, her face contorted in pain, as if I had slapped her.

“It's sad that I'm hearing this from you and not from him.”

He hadn't told her. Not even on the date?

Julian, why are you such an idiot?

I should have told him that night we had danced together. It was a fond memory. But Emely had probably felt left alone.

“Can we please not talk about Julian? He hurt me very, very badly with his immature behavior,” Emely confessed, which surprised me because a few minutes ago she had wanted to get rid of me.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...”

I faltered.

There were so many things I could apologize for on Julian's behalf, but nothing would do justice to his own words.

He really didn't seem to have a knack for girls.

“It's okay,” Emely walked to the door. “Dinner is at eight. Just so you know. You don't have to starve here.”

Her sudden friendliness surprised me, and I wanted to nod but something inside me warned me not to go to this dinner because everyone would be there, and I didn't like the Russian, nor did I find Nickolas' presence pleasant.

Then again, I hadn't even had breakfast, and by eight p.m. I would probably be a starved corpse.

But what would the Copelands serve? Dead animals cooked in blood? Raw bloody meat? Human hearts? What if dinner was just a euphemism for what happened when they all gathered and I was the last one left, ready to be served?

Emely closed the door.

Now I was alone in this room and had to somehow pass the time without losing my mind.

A strangely pleasant pain in my thumb made me look down at all the blood staining my fingers.

The last time this had happened had been when I had stopped taking the pills in Sacramento without Mum's permission.

Something heavy inside my chest began to choke the air out of me, but I did what I had always done back then. What I always did whenever that strange heaviness deep inside me threatened to fight its way to the surface.

I flipped the switch. The switch that had kept me from losing my mind all those years. The one that wanted me to live a normal, ordinary life far away from this town. To be an unnoticeable ghost. Quiet. Cautious. Adaptable. And above all, one thing. The girl with the mask.

Chapter 4

Nash