Page 44 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

“Are you ever going to sayyes, Angeline?” teased Malinka, approaching them.

Angeline looked up at Mav. Those eyes, her full lips, the jutting cheekbones and dewy skin. The sound of her laughter. He’d never loved anyone or anything like he loved her. That’s why he was going to be a better man. From now on.

Angeline smiled. His favorite look, the one that said she saw him, all of him, and loved him anyway. Malinka snapped a picture.

“We’ll see,” said Angeline.

13

ANGELINE

As she finished setting up their tent, Angeline was still jittery and agitated from the violence between Petra’s men and Maverick. She kept seeing the men taking Mav to the ground. Petra’s words echoed. And that moment when she thought about leaving came back to her again and again. But she pushed it all aside. Angeline was good at putting distress away; her life with Maverick necessitated it.

Maverick and Angeline were last to get their tent up after mucking about with all the other equipment in the trailer, managing the social-media shitstorm that followed Malinka’s (unauthorized and in violation of their contract with her) live where Mav was attacked, and hundreds of thousands watched on their phones.

Just what they needed. More bad press.

On the other hand, the videowasgoing viral. Six hours until game time. And truthfully, views and follower numberswereway up.

So why did she feel so sick? A pall had settled. And where was Alex?

He wasn’t answering her texts.

Angeline sat on top of her sleeping bag, using her cellular hot spot to sift through a swath of emails from the lawyers, not to mention a nastygram from the CEO of Quench who claimed that it was clear to everyone that Mav’s heart wasjust not inthe content he’d broadcast for their shitty drink. Which everybody, likeeverybody, hated. But she’d written them an email that she hoped was soothing. She just prayed that Quench wouldn’t go under before they made their final payment.

She called Alex again. Straight to voicemail. She didn’t bother to leave another message.

Stress was a white noise that never went silent.

There was another sound now, too, a kind of rumbling growl. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but now it leaked into her consciousness. She listened. What was that?

She clamped her laptop closed. Then something else, layered over the rumbling.

Voices. Someone yelling.

What now?

She cast about for her jacket, found it in a tangle on top of the duffel bags Mav had been hauling around. What was in there? She felt around for the zipper on one of them and discovered that it was locked. The other one, too.

What are you up to, Maverick?

She stared at the black bags a moment, frustration rising. She gave one a kick with her toe. Heavy but soft, malleable. Could be anything in there. Finally, she gave up. She’d find out soon enough. Or so Maverick kept promising.

Angeline stepped out into the cool, damp afternoon.

The other tents were pitched in a loose circle around the fire pit. Where was everyone? Probably scouting the site. That’s what she’d be doing if she was participating.

Clouds swirled above. The fresh smell of the trees was a balm to her spirit. The dirt beneath her feet felt solid, as she crossed the campsite, heading to the trailer.

She felt Enchantments watching her. She stopped to stare at it a moment. It had a presence, an attitude. Petra’s voice rang back to Angeline.This land is unwell.Did she believe that? That places could be sick, or haunted, evil?

She thought of Eaton House, where they’d staged their Extreme Haunted Hide and Seek. The place hadn’t seemed evil as much as it seemed tired; bad things had happened there, horrible things. But as far as Angeline could feel then, there was no echo of past horrors, no lingering specters.

She decided standing there that Enchantments, likewise, was just a place.

Peoplecould be sick, haunted, evil, their deeds creating a terrible legacy. But, if anything, places were just impervious, indifferent. They just stood observing the folly, standing long after their inhabitants had returned to the earth. The trees whispered all around her, bearing witness to all their human madness and remaining unchanged.

Angeline moved noiselessly toward the human sounds that were coming from around the bend.

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