Page 79 of The Devil's Fire

I headed back to Damiano but had to pause for a second to get a better grip on the stuff I was holding. Out of nowhere, I had this creepy feeling like someone was watching me.

I glanced around, spotting the girl who just serviced me as she and another lady looked at me. She shot me a quick smile, and I gave her a tight smile back, and hurried back to Damiano.

I didn’t like the way they were looking at me. I didn’t know what it was, but it sure as hell gave me a strange feeling.

“You took too long.” Damiano met me halfway with a frown on his face. I lightly chuckled at how funny he looked; a big, dangerous man like him was holding two teddy bears in his arms.

“It was only five minutes.”

“Five minutes too long.”

“So impatient.” I shook my head. “Here, try this.” I gave him a snow cone as we took a seat on a bench nearby. Damiano was holding it like it was some kind of foreign thing.

“It’s not poison.” I joked.

“I’m aware.” He said but made no move to eat it.

“Come on, have some.” I encouraged him and ate the shaved ice. I guess it was a long shot with the snow cone as he just ignored it and watched me eat mine, his eyes focusing on my tongue.

“Well, at least try the churro. It’s covered in cinnamon and sugar.” I held it out for him to try, but he just shook his head. “Your loss.” I shrugged and took a big bite. I even did a dramatic ‘mmhh’ as I ate to tease him.

His sudden lean towards me caused me to stop chewing and lean back in response. I was left breathless as he slowly licked my lip, savoring the taste of the sugar that was left behind.

“Sweet, indeed.”

twenty-five

Althaia

We spent the whole day at the amusement park, trying out different foods and playing games. I was a competitive person and would challenge Damiano at any chance.

“I don’t lose, Althaia.” He would say every time I lost to him, and it annoyed me to no end.

“I don’t like you.” I scowled and he would chuckle at me, but then he would soften the blow by winning me so many teddy bears that my arms were full. It had me smiling like crazy.

“My feet are hurting.” I winced, staring at the flats I was wearing. They weren’t exactly comfortable to wear after so many hours.

“Want to head back?” Damiano asked, and I nodded tiredly. All I could think about was getting off my feet and soaking in a hot bath.

We changed direction to get to the exit, and that was when I noticed a man changed his direction as well and followed us. The same man we have walked by a few times already.

My heart pumped faster. Something about it wasn’t right. I tried to tell myself it was coincidental, but he had still been in the background wherever we were.

I squeezed the teddy bears closer to my chest and stepped closer to Damiano for a sense of protection. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I had a feeling someone was watching us ever since that girl from the snow cone stand stared at me with that lady.

“Damiano…” I trailed off.

“I know.” He said calmly, wrapping an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. “I was trying to distract you.” He was speaking softly, but his expression was cold and serious.

“W-what’s going on?” I couldn’t help but stutter as fear filled me.

“I haven’t seen them before.” Damiano kept staring straight ahead, but his eyes were discreetly analyzing the crowd.

“Them?!” I shrieked in a panic. There was more than one?

“Don’t look.” He stopped me when I was about to. “So far, there are six of them. If you look around now, they’ll know I’ve spotted them, and they might attack sooner than planned when we get out. They won’t do anything now. There are too many people around.”

My body tensed.

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