Page 2 of How to Seduce a Slender

“No, no, that’s alright. It’s already late, I should be going home.”And never returning to this diner ever, ever again.Except, even as he rushed away from the snickering line cook and ducked his head to avoid the glance from the waitress inside the diner, Smith knew he’d be back.He always came back.

He popped his collar up, covering his exposed throat from the wind. It scratched and howled around him. The lengthy walk from the city to the haunted woods seemed extensive on a night like tonight. No moon, no stars, just the frosty air and the inky oblivion around him. The thick trees loomed ever long as he wove through them. Deep in the belly of the woods was Rosemont Manor, his home. Beyond the protection of King’s Fall, where the Lich who protected it resided. With his wacky collection of lost things, ranging from a zombie gardener to the love of Sebastian’s life, Dahlia…everything that ended up at the manor stayed.

The Lich of King’s Fall was a collector. Of books, of body parts, of magic, of things; the strange safety of Sebastian Rosemont lured all sorts of things into the tall, black iron fence that wrapped around the gothic manor. And it was there Smith spent his days. Whipping up contracts, helping Sebastian with his array of jobs, and generally keeping the house in order.Which was a full-time job in-and-of-itself!

Smith glanced up from the crinkling leaves, the frost nipped tree branches, and the hard earth as he passed through the shield of King’s Fall. Like a wash of fresh air, the unforgiving winter fell over him. Snow crunched beneath his boots. He smiled up into the endless, starless sea of leaves and darkness over his head as the flakes fell around him.

Then something whizzed past him. He jerked to the left, narrowly avoiding getting hit with a tree branch. A familiar mane of chocolate hair and the scent of oily fries hit him.No…that can’t be…But as he jogged after the shadow bulldozing through the trees, gaining on the person clearing the haunted forest, he grew more certain.

“Miss! Miss!” he called out.

His favorite waitress that he’d seen every week, four times a week, for the last three years, whirled to face him. Unfortunately for him, she swung at the same time and something solidthuddedhard into the side of his head. He exploded into electricity and lights as she screamed.

That’s when the beasts descended upon her… And Smith wasn’t about to let his favorite girl get eaten by wolves. Not while he was the monster of the woods.

Chapter One:

Melody

Cold.Itwassocold. She didn’t even think to wear a jacket. Inside the city it was cold, but she’d been sweating in a greasy diner all evening. The last thing she wanted to do was put on more layers. Suddenly, she regretted her decision. She regretted everything.

That’s right…you regret…what did you regret?Melody launched over a log encrusted with ice. Her sneakers slipped in the snow, nearly taking her down. Her arms flailed out to her sides to keep her standing. Their howling reminded her that she was barely holding the lead.Run! Run! Run!But Melody couldn’t remember why she was running. It started when she entered the forest. The adrenaline made her blood pump hot and fast, but she couldn’t remember why. Well, other than the things were chasing her.Had I done something?Pushing back tree branches, frantically, she scrambled through the woods.What even were these things?

She didn’t have the time to stop and look at them. All she knew was they bite, as evident by the chunk of her leg that was missing. Pain was gone, nothing but sheer panic. However, the blood was getting to her. Her legs weighed more than they ever had. It took more and more strength to lift her feet. The snowflakes in her vision swirled with dancing dots.Blood loss.Melody began to choke on the size of her own tongue as she struggled to keep upright. The tree branches were harder and harder to push. Her shoulders clipped trunks and boulders that rose up out of the darkness. Without a moon to guide her, Melody was lost.

You’ve always been lost…

Her world spun.

You’ve always been a lost little girl in the woods…

Howling echoed behind her, covering her back in goosebumps.

You’ve always been a lost girl being hunted…by the big…bad…wolf.

She gasped, fingers wrapping around a discarded branch. Whipping around, she hit something. Sparkling lights like fireworks went off in front of her. Her back hit the snow with a thud, and everything slowed down. The beasts, as if someone drew a wolf from a drunken memory without fur or eyes, but a massive, gaping maw filled with rows of teeth, launched into the air. They slowly sprang through the firework show, descending upon her.And this is how I die…and I don’t even remember my name.

She closed her eyes, hands flying over her face in a last-ditch effort to defend herself. But nothing touched her. Not in the seconds following the explosion of light. Not following her scream of terror. Not following the haggard breaths that created puffy clouds in front of her. Peeling her arms back, she stared at an empty, inky canopy of trees as snow fell around her. It was a hollow sound, snow trickling through trees. Creaking branches were the background music to her personal nightmare.

“Miss?”

Cold.It seeped into everything as her eyes fluttered closed.So cold.It went dark as she disappeared from the world of the living without a name or a past or any clue as to what happened.

“Whyarewewhispering?”

“Because if Sebastian or Dahlia find out I snuck a woman into the house, they’ll have my head, Havershum. Now, please.” A familiar sigh of disappointment filled the air around her head.

“You know they’re going to find out.”

“Yes! I know that,” the familiar voice hissed as her body was sweetly placed on something soft. Despite being conscious, she wasn’t in control of her body. Like she was a ghost floating inside her own corpse. She could hear them. Feel their breath on her cheek. But she couldn’t open her eyes. Despite how much she begged them to open. “But maybe they won’t notice for a few more—”

“Smith?”

“Drats. Distract them, Havershum.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Get creative.Please, for the love of…Melody, I need you to wake up. Please.” Hands applied pressure to her shoulders, shaking her lightly. Yet, in a moment, they were gone, and she was alone.

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