Page 40
“No,” I snapped. “Worse.”
She leaned over and turned the screen toward herself. Lux Draven’s Demonopedia page stared back at her. “Liv,” she said slowly, “why were you creeping on Lux Draven last night?”
“I got curious,” I said, throwing up my hands. “Vale came in and said the coffee was for Lux. Then Mandi told me about the Broken Halo massacre. Then I remembered the masked guy at the tower, and my brain did a thing, okay? I wanted to know what kind of person has a murder mannequin standing around near his office.”
“And?” Sam asked.
“And then I fell asleep looking at his file,” I mumbled.
Sam stared at the screen, then at the roses, then at the ward carved into my doorframe.
“The timing is freaky,” she admitted. “You deliver flowers to Lux Tower. You see a masked guy there. You look up Lux, read about his pet assassin, pass out, then wake up to Masked Creeper in your living room with a second rose on your counter.”
“Do not say assassin,” I whispered. “I will puke.”
A thought hit me sideways.
Wait.
No.
Absolutely not.
My skin went cold. “What does his assassin look like?”
Daniel and Sam traded another look.
I pointed at them again. “Stop doing that. I swear to God, I will start screaming and make it everyone’s problem.”
Daniel sighed. “There aren’t any real photos.”
My stomach dropped. “What does that mean?”
“It means there are stories,” he said. “Not pictures. Not confirmed ones.”
“What stories?”
He hesitated.
“Daniel.”
“Broad,” he said, finally. “All black. Expressionless mask. Red eyes, if anyone sees them at all. People who survive don’t describe details. They describe the room going quiet. They describe feeling like something walked in wearing a man’s shape.”
My mouth went dry.
Broad.
All black.
Expressionless mask.
Murder vibes.
“Oh god,” I breathed. “It’s him.”
Sam winced. “We don’t know that.”
“I saw him,” I said, voice going thin. “I saw him at Lux Tower, and then he was in my living room. Why the fuck would Lux Draven’s assassin be in my house?”
