Page 23 of Preyless
Because, regardless of how tonight went…PetalstoFangs was our girl.
Aiden waved his hand in front of my face—the asshole—to snap me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at him with an exasperated eyeroll and raised my brow, considering the balaclava hid any other part of myself that could be interpreted as an answer, such as my mouth. Good thing, too, or else I would have stuck my tongue out at him.
His face, however, wasn’t masked up like mine was, and the stern glare and set jaw that followed my petulant eyeroll was quickly anchored toward me. He raised his hand again, using two fingers to show where our girl had entered the forest, and I hissed under my breath.
Go-time.
As silent as the night, I stood and began trekking after her. My footsteps were light and precise, unlike the man behind me who somehow clomped around like a beast unless he was careful. But even if I was the stealthy one, Aiden was the hunter, and it was more than useful. In duty, it was the exact same way. We might as well have been treating the beginning of that night as if it were a mission. It was why he had the night vision headset on instead of the concealing mask I wore.
I smirked at the thought.
Our little doe really didn’t realize who she had gotten involved with.
She would soon, though.
Even without the night vision headset, picking her out of the dark was exceptionally easy. Somehow, her hair was so dark that the moon’s light bounced off it, and it almost looked like she had a halo. And she was mere feet away.
I swallowed roughly and planted myself behind a tree, hidden from her sight, before I spoke. “You really didn’t hide as well as I thought you would have, darlin’.”
The yelp that came out of her throat at the sound of my voice was intoxicating.
Her voice trembled as she spoke. “I didn’t know we were playing hide-and-seek.”
“We’re not, but that does sound very intriguing for next time.”
“N-next time? Where even are you?”
Ignoring her first question, because—yes, next time—I picked up a small shell that had somehow gotten to the tree line and tossed it. I moved my head slightly from behind the tree, just to see where it had hit, and smiled gleefully when it landed at her feet.
She stared down at the shell. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
My tone was full of mock-pout. “Awe. I guess it doesn’t. Tell you what…how about we play the hot-or-cold game before the real game begins. If you win, you get to tell us how the rest of the night is going to go. But if you lose, then you’re ours to do whatever we want with. Yeah?”
I bit my lip as I watched her mull it over. She crossed her arms, rubbing them from the chill before nodding. “Okay. Yeah.”
Satisfaction coursed through me.Good girl.
Even if I wouldn’t let her win.
“Go on,” I urged. “Start walking. Follow where the sound of my voice is.”
She did just that, and I had to bite back my laugh as she walked in the complete opposite direction. She was going to be so much fun.
I trailed after her so my voice wouldn’t carry too much and ruin the game. “Warmer.”
She paused, shifting to the left.
“Colder.”
She immediately huffed and went to the right instead. I smirked as I watched her stomp around the woods. The October leaves crunched around her, and like clockwork, the light sounds of Aiden’s footsteps followed as he entered the tree line with us. When I felt him right next to me, I called out to her again, eager to frustrate her now. “Colder!”
Aiden turned his head to look at me with a smirk.
Being a brat was exceptionally useful when it came to other brats.
We watched as she threw her arms up and started walking right back toward us. “I have a feeling you’re not playing very fair, Wraithe.”
I laughed. “How’d you know it was me playing the game?”
