Page 6 of A House of Cloaks & Daggers

“Auralie?” Jonah repeated. The engine of his car hummed impatiently.

“I’m okay,” I gasped, spinning around to face him. My heart stuttered as heat bloomed across my cheeks, burning logic and sense out of my head. I took a few steps towards the car until I was past the perimeter of its headlights. “I think I left my phone behind at Dante’s.”

Painted blue in the constellation of lights from his dashboard, Jonah’s features smoothed and softened. He looked the same age as me, though he was a senior when I started school. It was the kindness in his eyes.

“Oh,” he remarked. “Well, hop in. We’ll get your things, and I’ll take you home.”

“Thanks,” I whispered through numb lips.

My skin burned on the surface, emotions heating in the magma chamber hidden far from reach, but the chill in my blood persisted like frostnip. Flexing my fingers, I walked around to the other side of Jonah’s car and climbed into the passengerseat, placing my bag at my feet while I clipped my seatbelt into place. It was new and expensive; the interior smelled like freshly cleaned polyester and vinyl.

As I looked up, I noticed my reflection in the side mirror. Shadows clung to my eyes, which were blue and bright with fear. My hair was the colour of an auburn sunset, but it looked darker than it should—more like blood—and flatter, with no trace of my usual bouncing curls. In my haste, my clothes had become ruffled, the strap of my tank top falling off one shoulder beneath my cardigan. And the clasp of my necklace had slipped around the wrong way, pulled taut across my throat like a choker collar.

It was no wonder Jonah had stopped to ask if I was okay.

He took his foot off the brake, easing the car into a crawl. “Katie really wants a burger from Mac’s,” he began conversationally. His eyes were tired but vivid when he glanced at me, nodding to the baby car seat strapped into the backseat. “Pregnancy cravings, you know?”

I forced a smile onto my face—forced because Ididknow from my mother’s second pregnancy and forced because, for some reason, I still had the feeling I should scream. “How much longer?”

“Six weeks.” He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as we crossed the bridge, then slowly brought the car to a stop in front of Dante’s.

The sound of the handbrake groaning into place was too loud.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” I breathed.

He was still tapping his fingers against the wheel. “No rush.”

Dante’s was completely dark. The front door was closed, though the sign on the door was still turned toOpen.

I reminded myself that I was tired from months of poor sleep. I had an overactive imagination and a bad habit offorgetting the medication I’d only recently been prescribed. On top of that, I spent most of my time alone in the store, immersing myself in everything from dark contemporary romance to thrillers.

And I lived in Belgrave.

Climbing out of the car with my bag in hand, I let the fresh night air clear my head as I took a step towards the bookstore.

Jonah’s car door opened and closed behind me.

The voice in my head went silent.

Approaching the building, I glanced at the window to find Jonah’s reflection cast by the streetlamp, circling me like a barrier. He was standing between his headlights at the front of his car with his head cocked to the side, watching me.

My fingers curled around the doorknob as tightly as I could manage with the sweat beading on my palm.

I knew Jonah from school. He was a member of the choir and the maths club. He and Katie had been together since they were juniors. She was the editor of the yearbook the year they graduated. He was the school captain. His father owned The Water Dragon—a business he was set to inherit. And a few weeks ago, when Amelia had dragged me out of the house for a belated birthday celebration, Jonah had driven us home when we were too drunk to stand. I knew him. I’d known him all my life, but the way he waslookingat me…

Sickness pooled at the bottom of my stomach as I pulled the door open and slipped inside. The bell above me jingled, and I wanted to rip the goddamn thing down for the way that sound twisted my guts.

But Jonah didn’t move. He remained in place between the headlights, staring up at me from the road as if he was caught in some sort of trance.

My keys and phone were on the front counter. I moved towards them, planning to call my mother to let her know I was coming home.

But in the unreliable glow from the streetlamp outside, I didn’t see the body on the floor until it was too late.

The toe of my shoe connected with something lifeless, something that squelched on impact. I threw myself backwards, recoiling from the deep-rooted shudder that raised the hair on my arms. My bag fell to the floor as I twisted away and slammed my forehead into something as hard as granite.

Not something—someone.

I bit back a rising scream as two large hands gripped my shoulders from behind, pulling me away from the pectoral muscles of the person I’d hit with my face.

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