Page 11 of The Devil's Wrath

“But how did you know where I live?”

Fuck.

How did I explain my reason for being in her house? It wasn’t like we were friends. We’d had one conversation at an afterparty that resulted in my following her—myobsessionwith her. None of this would make any sense to her right now. So I did something I wasn’t proud of . . . but it was a necessary evil.

Ilied.

“I followed your boyfriend.” I gestured toward the door he’d left through.

She stared at me for a long moment, searching my face forsomething—sincerity, perhaps, or a hint of deceit. Finally, she seemed to find what she’d been looking for. Her shoulders sagged, and she leaned back against the wall, exhaustion etched into every line of her face.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did . . .”

She trailed off, shuddering at the thought. I felt a surge of protectiveness wash over me, and before I could stop myself, I reached out and gently touched her arm. “You don’t have to thank me,” I said firmly. “No one deserves to be treated like that, least of all you.”

She looked at me, studying my face before saying, “You don’t know anything about me.”

She was right, of course. I didn’t know her, not really. But at that moment, I felt I understood her better than anyone else could.

“Maybe not,” I admitted. “But I’d like to, if you’ll let me.”

She hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her delicate features. I could see the conflicting emotions in her eyes—the desire to trust and the fear of being hurt again. I held my breath, waiting for her decision.

She glanced down at her torn shirt and bruised arms as if now realizing the state she was in. “Right,” she murmured, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “I have class in the morning, and then I have to work, so I should really get cleaned up and go to bed.”

She was shutting me out.

I couldn’t blame her. I was a stranger to her. But if she only knew how much I wanted to be close to her. To comfort her and make her forget all about that douchebag while my face was between her legs.

As much as I didn’t want to leave, I nodded, doing my best to hide my disappointment. “Of course. I understand.” I stepped back, giving her space. “I’ll get out of your hair then.”

She looked at me, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flash of regret in her eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a guarded expression. “Thanks again. For everything.”

I managed a small smile. “Anytime.”

I turned to leave, but as I reached the door, her voice stopped me. “Wait.”

I paused, my hand on the doorknob. I hardly dared to breathe.Slowly, I turned back to face her, hope and trepidation warring in my chest.

She stood there, her arms wrapped around herself, looking small and vulnerable in the aftermath of the night’s events. Her eyes met mine, and in their depths, I saw a flicker of something that made my pulse quicken.

“I don’t even know your name,” she said softly. “Surely, ‘the Devil’ isn’t what you go by.”

I smiled and took a step back into the room. “I go by many names.”The Bronze Devil, The Ghost.“But my friends call me Theo. Theo West.”

“Theo,” she repeated as if testing the feel of my name on her tongue. “I’m . . .” She paused. I could tell she was weighing whether or not she wanted to give me any more details about herself. Thankfully, whether by sanity or insanity, she chose right. “Raven.”

“Fitting,” I remarked, glancing at her dark hair. But even as I said it, there was a nagging feeling in my head that the name wasnotfitting. Goddamn it, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t quite align with the name she’d given. Maybe it was the way her eyes had shifted colors when she’d said it or the peculiar lilt in her voice that I couldn’t quite place.

She smiled enigmatically. “Very original.”

I chuckled. There was something magnetic about this girl—a sense of danger and intrigue that drew me in like a moth to a flame.

“Do you have a last name?”

“Just Raven.”

I nodded, accepting her decision to withhold her surname. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Raven. Officially, that is.”

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