Page 9 of The Puppetmaster

Alena obediently sinks down into the red chair, her back turned to the room. I’ll be able to keep an eye on everything around us as I take my seat across from her.

For a few moments, we just sit in silence, her wide eyes latching onto mine as she waits for me to speak, while I silently observe her.

She hasn’t changed much since I last saw her. Alena Prey is still the reserved beauty I remember her to be, her dark chocolate brown hair a little longer now, the silver sparkle still apparent in her blue eyes, and her light skin still unkissed by the sun. Her aura is soft and feminine; only the stern expression on her face hints at the presence of the unruly lioness hidden inside.

I place my elbows on the armrests, hands folded in my lap, and my gaze fixates on her as I begin to speak.

“You signed up late.”

She arches an eyebrow at my words, looking surprised and irritated at the same time.

“How do you know? Miss Barry said that it was—”

“I know she did, but you broke the rules nonetheless.”

“Is that why you brought me back here?” she snaps. “To scold me?”

I huff, shaking my head at her sassy comeback.

“Why was I allowed to come in the first place?” she continues. “Just so you can throw me out after getting my hopes up? Is that part of the—”

“No,” I contend sharply. “That’s not how I play my game, and you should know that.”

She tilts her head to the side, a perplexed expression written across her pretty face.

“I should?” she wonders out loud. “With all due respect, there’s very little I—or anyone—can know for sure about you and the details of your proceedings.”

“And yet you are here with the hopes of becoming mine.”

She takes a deep breath as a blush blossoms on her cheeks.

“An apology then?” she asks. “Is that what you want from me?”

“Do you think that would be enough to make up for it?”

She shrugs. “I doubt it.”

“So you won’t even try?”

The hint of a furrow appears between her eyebrows and she bites at her lower lip, unwilling—or unable—to give me a verbal response. I can see her mind working, the tension obvious in her facial expression and her antsy mannerisms. Her chest rises and falls under heavy breaths as her entire body labors to figure out what it is that I want from her.

Poor little thing.

Let’s make this a little easier for her.

Chapter 6

Alena

“Who am I?”

His question startles me. I had no idea what to expect when he came up to me as soon as he arrived at the club tonight, and once he told me to follow him, my brain stopped working entirely.

Never in a million years did I anticipate this. Never in a million years did I think he’d ask me over here—let alone that I’d be the first girl he approached during this hunt.

There was a time in my life, not too long ago, when I dreamed of this. I would play this scenario though in my head over and over again, imagining what an interview with him could be like, what he’d want to know, how I’d respond to his inquiries.

But that was back then, a couple of years ago. My life was different then.

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