Page 59 of Liars

I’d be a fool to fall into one of his traps.

My head angled to the side. “Help me how?”

He removed the mask from his face and slipped it over my head, securing the string in place behind my head. “There, that should do it. We’ll have to get you one of your own for next time.”

“I thought only the football team wore masks.”

His fingers trailed down the backs of my arms. “We make an exception for family.” Nothing about his tone or touch suggested we were related.

Don’t you dare shiver, I scolded my body. “I’m not family.”

He leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, “You are now.”

Was he referring to the Raven Crew or the Corvos? I wanted no part of either, but something told me arguing this point would be useless.

“Mason!” Someone yelled over the music, distracting him long enough for me to slip into the crowd.

On my own, I realized finding Kreed would be difficult. I hadn’t factored in the masks and not being able to see his face, but I wasn’t giving up. I hadn’t shimmied into this outfit and braced the freezing cold for nothing.

I took another sip of my nearly empty drink, weaving to a corner of the building. Some idiot bumped into me, the glass bottle almost fumbling out of my hands. He mumbled a drunk sorry and carried on his way.

Shaking off the slight tinge in my shoulder, I lifted my gaze, a sudden feeling of being watched trickling into my senses.

My eyes landed on a masked figure leaning against the wall. Tingles of awareness vibrated throughout my body, my heart rate picking up as eyes the color of stars collided with mine.

How long had he been watching me?

It felt as if he tracked my every move.

I don’t know how I knew. I just did.

Under that mask was Kreed.

17

KAYLOR

Never breaking our eye contact, I walked through the crowd until I stood in front of him. He didn’t move. Didn’t say a thing. Only stared at me from behind his mask.

A slice of moonlight filtered through one of the stained-glass windows, striking the side of Kreed’s mask.

He said nothing, like he was waiting to see what I would do or say. Did he believe I couldn’t tell it was him? If the raven hair and light-gray eyes hadn’t given him away, his signature frown and finger tattoos would have. Dressed in all black, Kreed could have easily disappeared into the shadows unnoticed.

Now that I stood in front of him, could I go through with my plan? Could I make Kreed regret embarrassing me?

I swallowed over the lump of nerves formed in my throat.

Cool. Calm. Collected.

I was supposed to be all those things.

Kreed reached for the bottle dangling from my fingers and brought it to his lips, drinking what little I had left. He didn’t know it, but he helped me. Taking my drink freed up both myhands, not that they were fully necessary, but they would surely be of assistance.

Before I lost my gumption, I lifted on my toes, looping my arms around his neck. The scowl on Kreed’s lips deepened, but it didn’t deter or scare me off. I was doing this. My lips touched his in a teasing, experimental kiss, nothing like the first time when his mouth assaulted mine in a bruising punishment.

My tongue darted out, tasting him, asking him to open for me. At first, I thought he was going to refuse, and just when I was about to give up and admit defeat, his lips parted. He didn’t wait for me, his tongue diving into my mouth.

Heat flared into my stomach, and I swooned into him, my head going dizzy from the taste of him. His fingers were on my hips, holding me steady, pressing into my bare skin.

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