Page 97 of Liars

Was it possible Kreed was involved in my parents’ deaths? Or the attack at the club? It didn’t make sense, though. He’d been there. He’d beaten the guy up, and I’d seen his face. I didn’t know what dots I was trying to connect, but they weren’t lining up, and yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was missing a key component.

“You’re lying.”

I thought about the note, the paper crumbled in my hand. I planned to show him. I wanted to see his reaction and if he had any idea who would have slipped into my locker. But now…

No. Not yet.

Not until I was positive I could trust him.

I needed to figure out what the note meant before I let Kreed in. Whotheywere as the note referred. The people trying to hurt me? The Corvos? Someone else?

Coming to Kreed’s room might not have been a good idea. Had I let my feelings for him sway me? Make me see him differently? I thought I knew who Kreed was. The good. The bad. And the ugly. But staring into those star-studded eyes, I was no longer sure of anything.

His head angled to the side, regarding me. “What if I am? But I’m not lying about the cold. It’s below zero tonight.” He brought the back of his hand to my cheek. “Do you feel that?”

Ice. His skin felt frozen, stinging my cheek. My arm wanted to lift and place my warm hand over his, stealing the chill from him.

Kreed grabbed the knitted accessory from my fingers, taking a step forward so our chests nearly touched. “Maybe you like the mask.”

“Kreed. Don’t.” I swallowed, my heart still unsteady from the initial shock, but I refused to back down.

Something in the glint of his eyes changed when I said his name. “You do that on purpose, don’t you?”

I lifted my chin defiantly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Now who’s lying?”

I watched how he moved, calculated and taunting, but I wasn’t afraid. Not of him. The mask, maybe. But not Kreed.

His fingers ghosted over my wrist, deliberate and testing. I didn’t pull away.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, narrowing my eyes.

“Testing a theory.” His mouth pressed to my neck in a wintry kiss, his lips a conflicting frost to the blistering heat of my skin like seasons colliding, winter and summer coming together.

He drew the mask over his head and down onto his face. My heart skipped, a ribbon of panic snaking across my chest.It’s Kreed, I reminded.Just Kreed.

His lips brushed mine again, so light I barely felt it. “Is it the mask you’re afraid of or me?”

My pulse fluttered for utterly different reasons. “It doesn’t work. I’m not scared of you.”

“Close your eyes,” he murmured.

“It won’t make a difference. Even if you stop talking, I can smell you. My body knows yours. My lips…” I swallowed.

The corners of his mouth curled. “What about my lips?”

My chin lifted, pulling on courage I didn’t have. “I know how you taste.”

His pupils dilated. “You think you can pick me out?” he asked, referring to Maddox’s stupid game in the church’s cellar.

But unlike the Raven Night, I wasn’t afraid. “Test me.”

He chuckled, dark and quiet. “And risk these lips touching someone other than me? They don’t kiss anyone else,” he said as he dragged the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, parting it from the top.

Something in my chest snapped. “You’re not the only one who doesn’t like to share. If I’m not kissing anyone else, then neither are you.”

His fingers fell from my mouth, but his gaze lingered on my lips. “Possessive looks good on you, little raven.”

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