Page 25 of When the Woods Go Silent

“And here I thought I was already famous,” she teases, pulling harder on my arm as her feet stumble over a root. I find myself steadying her without thinking, and a warning flashes in my brain as I snatch my hand from her hip.

She’s off-limits, I remind myself again.

“I wanted to name the storeCliterature, but my friend and I ultimately decided that would be too much for some of the tourists.” She giggles and turns her big black eyes up to me, and I feel a dangerous heat crackle between us. “What about you? Do you have a store, too?”

“Restaurant. I ownGoblin Market. My brothers help run it.”

A gorgeous smile breaks across her face, and her little fingers squeeze my arm in excitement. “I freaking love that place! I was just there the other night for the first time, and it was fantastic.”

“I know. I saw you when I came out of the kitchen for a minute,” I say, cursing myself when the admission causes her to flush, and my cock stiffens in my jeans at the sight. I did see her leaving with Rose, and inexplicably, I really wish she hadn’t already tasted our food.

I find myself wishing my magic didn’t work at all on her, and suddenly everything in me is churning to anger. I have to get away from her now, before I do something I can’t undo.

Luckily, the bookshop has just become visible through the trees.

“I have to go, but you’re almost there.”

I pull my arm away from hers, and confusion washes over her face for a split second before she hides it away. She’s too good at that sort of pretending, and I wonder why before locking down the thought.

I remind myself that I don’t care about her. I don’t care about any humans. They’re nothing more than a source of blood to make the gobbelins stronger.

For someone like me, they can never be more than that.

“Well, thanks for the chaperone, I guess. Maybe we can hike again sometime, just a serial killer and her savior.”

“I stay busy.” I regret the gruff words as soon as they’re out. A tight smile is all the apology I give her, though, and she studies me for a brief moment, like she’s trying to figure me out. Her eyes flick down my body again, and I try to turn away before she can see how fucking hard I am just from walking next to her.

“See you around, Torrence,” she says softly, a smile playing around her lips as she hoists her backpack higher on her shoulders and heads out of the woods toward her store.

Fuck. I grind my teeth, turning and crashing back into the woods, in a different direction. That was a Goddess-damned mess.

Maybe Arlo is right, and I do just need a good fuck to clear my head. It can’t be Ruby, though.

I shouldn’t have her, not even once.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

TORRENCE

Ruby is a distraction I don’t need, a temptation I certainly don’t deserve.

Hiking deep into the forest, I rehash every mistake I’ve made with her, building a case against myself as incentive to never make them again.

I shouldn’t have gotten that close to the fairy ring, and I never should have stayed and talked to her. I’ve watched her too many times already as she explores the trees under the cover of midnight. Her lack of fear hooks me each time, her fierce curiosity so much like my sister’s once was.

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