Page 9 of Lock Up the Darkness

They were almost upon us when his caramel-brown eyes zeroed in on me.

That golden boy spark in them diminished to be replaced in a fraction of a second by something sinister.

Instinctively, I tensed in preparation.

But then it was gone in a blink, as though he was shoving it back down deep, appearing to most as just a trick of the light, I was sure. Most weren’t as intensely perceptive as me, most didn’t have to be.

And then that fun-loving, easygoing persona was back strapped on tight as he waved the fan club back a little and stepped up to us.

Liza was close to losing her shit as he graced her with his eye contact and greeted with an overdone sickly-sweet politeness, “How you doing, babe?”

“Good… I mean… great, Kill.”

“You look great,” he said, looking her up and down. “I’m really feeling it.”

She blushed furiously. “Thanks so much.”

I was willing to bet she’d be wearing that outfit every day for the next week now he’d given his stamp of approval. Jeez.

Well, each to their own. I didn’t know their full dynamic, I’d only had a couple of weeks to observe. And my other distanced research before I’d come here couldn’t pick up on things like this, unfortunately.

He abruptly shifted his gaze to me.

Intensity flared as his eyes drifted over my white-blonde hair, taking in every inch of my face before sliding down to my lace tank, lingering on my cleavage, moving down to my black skirt, then trailing down to my knee-high block heel boots.

“Hmm. All black. Giving Ash a run for his money there,” he commented.

Liza giggled. “Too true, Kill.”

My God, you’re hilarious! I imagined her saying next. Urgh.

He didn’t take his eyes off me as he asked her, “Who’s your friend?”

I stared him down, giving it right back to him. His apparent attempt to exert some sort of power over me had no chance in hell of succeeding.

“She’s a transfer. She also works with me at Fusion. She’s finishing up her last year here with us.”

“Name?”

Before she could move to answer, and he continued on as though I wasn’t permitted to speak for myself, I answered, “Aurora Blackthorn.”

“Aurora,” he uttered, letting it roll off his tongue as though he was trying it out.

“That’s right,” I ground out.

“Interesting.”

“Problem?”

Liza gasped at my brazenness. The fan club still swirling near him went stock-still, some wide-eyed, some tossing me dirty looks for supposedly challenging their idol.

Time ticked on by, seconds seeming to take the lagging time of minutes.

The tension ramped up.

And I just waited, wanting to see how he handled the slight challenge I was posing.

Needing to know, actually.

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