Page 10 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

“Notes,” I said. “Sure.”

Maybe it was easiest to play his game, if there was one. Or maybe I was lucky and it was all coincidence. I wasn’t the kind of person to gamble on luck though.

I stopped as we reached the doors and fumbled in my backpack for my notebook. I couldn’t help freaking out a little, having him here so close to me. Both because of what he meant to me now… and what he used to mean to me.

“Hey,” he said.

I glanced up at him, and found him frowning. He jerked his thumb at the circulation desk. “I accidentally stole a copy ofThe Agony and the Ecstasyand took it home for the summer. I came in today to give it back and pay my ridiculous fine—seventy dollars, can you believe it?”

“That’s ridiculous,” I agreed automatically. “You should’ve just bought it.”

“The librarians let me off with a warning because they’re lovely,” he said, flashing that adorable grin over my head in their direction. Great. Even librarians swooned for this cocky asshole. He directed that gorgeous gaze back to me. “I just wanted to tell you because you seem freaked out. I didn’t follow you in here from class or anything. I just recognized you and thought you could help me.”

“I’m happy to,” I said, then realized I was playing this all wrong. He could tell I was freaked out by how he’d just appeared. He’d probably left the note on my books, but he didn’t know for sure who I was. That was why he was testing me. If he knew for sure who I was, he wouldn’t bother.

I needed to lean into the role he expected me to play. Dumb bimbo who hung on his every word.

“You just surprised me, that’s all,” I said, giving him a slow smile, looking up at him through my lashes. “I didn’t even realize we had a class together.”

“Maybe we can sit together Friday.”

I willed myself to blush. “Sure, that would be great,” I said softly, as if I were playing it off like nothing, but was secretly thrilled.

I pulled out my notebook and flipped to the page where I’d jotted my notes. “Let’s see. Three short papers, three to five pages, and one longer twelve-to-fifteen page paper. No tests, though. That’s nice.”

I reeled through what the professor had said. I could feel Stellan standing too close to me, radiating warmth and confidence. His gaze on my face was too intense.

The blush was beginning to come naturally, but that was okay. Let him think I was disarmed. Hopefully he thought the pulse beating too fast in my throat was because I had a crush on him.

He rested his hand lightly on my arm. “Thanks,” he said, cutting into my monologue about the class. “I have to get to my Calc class. But maybe I’ll see you for dinner tonight? Do you eat in the freshman cafeteria?”

“Yes,” I said, because there was no point in lying.

“We make the freshmen soccer players swipe us into dinner after practice,” he said with a teasing grin. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Maybe.”

“What’s your name?” he asked, taking a step back, his shoulders against the door. As he pushed it open, the sun illuminated his hair with light.

Funny, because I knew Stellan Bishop was no angel.

“Aurora,” I said.

“Pretty name,” he responded, but I could’ve sworn the faintest disappointment flashed across his face. “For a pretty girl.”

There was a time when Stellan’s teasing and compliments left me weak.

Now, even though I smiled back at him, they left me terrified.

4

Aurora

"The trick, little angel, is that you don't want them to bleed out too quickly."

The Demon's knife cut into my arm, just below the first layer of skin, and I tried to hold in my whimper. He hated when I cried.

"See how the blood is just pebbling, right there?" he said in that breathless, excited voice that haunted my every moment. "But it hurts, doesn't it? It's really a beautiful thing."

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