Page 13 of Toward Immortal Ruin

“That’s the electricity exhibit only.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “The fear exhibit is up here, Coffee Shop Cutie.”

“Oh, I’ve been assigned a nickname now?”

She gave him a look. “Seems fitting, especially since you’ve already given me one.”

When her stomach growled, they grabbed a snack and a couple of water bottles from the cafe. Nero refused to let her pay for it, only adding to Eden’s growing sense that this was technically their first date. They quickly finished the bag of popcorn and candy before heading upstairs.

The exhibit she’d consulted on loomed before them. It was painted in dark, spooky colors, and was as interactive as it was informative. If she had to choose her favorite work, it might’ve been this one. There was a short line to get in, as groups had to be small to enter. The entire experience had a warning sign boldly stating that those with heart conditions were encouraged to skip this one.

Knowing what faced them, she agreed. The initial room was padded for a reason. The line moved quickly, and soon, she and Nero entered the first area of the exhibit side by side. It was too dark to see his features, but she wouldn’t need to.

In the dark, a machine whirred, and her heart raced.

A flash of light. A massive, monstruous figure lurched toward her.

There was no hesitation. Just as quickly, Nero leapt in front of her, hands raised and ready to tackle whatever threat came.

Eden fawned. She’d taken him to a fear exhibit, and his first instinct had been to protecther. What happened between them the night before hadn’t been an isolated incident. That sensation of safety and comfort she felt around Nero was increasing with each moment spent with him.

The overhead lights turned on only a half a second later, illuminating the mechanical device decorated to look like a horrific creature of Gothic shadows. A doorway opened beside them, showing them the way into the next area that described their responses.

Nero rocked back on his heels. “That was part of the exhibit?”

“It’s supposed to get your blood flowing and your hackles up.”

“Oh, mine are definitely up, professor.”

“It’s aimed at telling you whether you’re a Fight, Flight, or Freeze. Fawn didn’t make the cut this time.” Her hand wrapped around his arm, still tense and rock-solid with his response. “I think we can both agree you’re Fight.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, yeah, you got me.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t have your axe, huh?”

If it was possible, a bashful looking Nero was even more heart-melting than the last. Stomping on the butterflies in her stomach, she said, “Tragically, my fear response is to freeze. It’s incredibly unhelpful.”

“Last night it wasn’t,” Nero pointed out. “If you’d have run from that wolf, he would’ve chased you. Trust me, running from a predator doesn’t win you any favors. And,” he added offhandedly, “you saved my skin, too. You were pretty impressive, in a context you never should have been in.”

It was her turn to blush.

At some point, Nero had wrapped an arm around her waist. All she could think about was the way it made her feel. To be wanted by this man was both confusing and flattering. He’d been keen to see her again today, and spent the majority of his afternoon with her. While she found him highly attractive and they had off-the-charts chemistry, she wondered what he saw in her.

Nero skipped directly over the Flight and Fight responses to Freeze. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”

As she’d uncovered in her study, the Freeze reaction had been rooted in prey animals. This portion of the exhibit covered how it was developed to hide from predators. A rabbit or ground squirrel commonly froze when they sensed danger.

Nero read every single piece of information on the ‘Freeze’ board before he looked up at her and gave her a lopsided smile that told her he was done.

“Come on,” she said, “I want to read about our Fighter, over here.”

On his board, there were examples of animals being surprised, and lashing out instinctively. There was even a clip of someone being scared on Halloween and automatically responding with a right hook.

Nero’s hand pressed lightly against the small of her back as she read the board, pointing out a few fun facts that left him chuckling. When they finally left the exhibit, she’d curled her fingers around his offered elbow.

As she thought about going back home, her own fear response kicked in. “I’m a bit worried that I might find another wolf by my apartment again.”

Nero stopped walking. “I’d never want you to feel unsafe, Eden. I’m happy to walk you back to your apartment.”

“Even without your axe?”

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