Page 109 of Watch Me Burn
Luna
Ihear him before I see him. Four quick tones as he disarms the security system, followed by the soft click of the lock disengaging and the whisper of the back door opening. Each sound feels amplified in the silence of my house, echoing the thunderous beating of my heart. I’ve been sitting here for hours, waiting, my body coiled tight as a spring. Shadow stirs at my feet, sitting up at the approaching footsteps.
This is it. The moment everything changes.
My hands shake as I grip the throw pillow in my lap. I’ve rehearsed this conversation a hundred times in my head, but now that he’s here, now that I can hear his boots against my hardwood floor, every practiced word evaporates.
He appears in the archway between the hall and the living room, silent, imposing, and with that damn wolf mask covering his face. But tonight, everything is different. I've turned on all the lights in the living room. I won't let him hide behind shadows. Tonight, the mask doesn’t represent mystery or forbidden desire. Tonight, it’s a lie. A barrier. A fucking insult to everything I thought we had.
“Take. It. Off.”
The words leave my mouth before he can speak, and some distant part of me registers surprise at how steady my voice sounds when everything inside me is screaming.
He stops mid-stride. Every muscle in his body locks into place, tension radiating from him in waves I can feel across the space between us. His shock pulses through the air, tangible even behind the silver barrier hiding his face.
“That’s not how this works, Luna.”
“It is tonight.”
I push myself up from the couch, my movements deliberate despite the earthquake in my bones. My legs shake with the effort of supporting my weight, but I lock my knees and refuse to show weakness. The pillow tumbles to the floor.
“Take it off or leave. Those are your only options.”
Shadow rises with me, a low growl rumbling in his chest, sensing the electrical charge of tension crackling between us. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to hold myself together.
“No more games, Damien. No more lies.”
His name hangs in the air like a dropped bomb. For a moment that stretches into eternity, he doesn’t move. He just stands there, this powerful, intimidating figure reduced to stillness by his own name.
One hand lifts halfway toward the mask, then drops back to his side.
“Luna—”
“No.” The word slices between us. “You don’t get to ‘Luna’ me right now. You don’t get to use that voice—whichever voice you’ve decided to use tonight—and expect me to just melt and forget. Take it off, Damien. Or get out.”
His fingers twitch. The mask catches light from the fire, colors bleeding across the smooth surface, turning it into something beautiful and unbearable all at once.
“If I do this, there’s no going back.”
“There was no going back the moment I recognized your kiss.” My throat tightens, but I force the words out. “So stop hiding behind that fucking mask and let me see you.”
With deliberate slowness that makes my pulse spike, he reaches up with both hands and pulls the mask away.
My breath catches despite knowing exactly what I’ll see. Even with the truth burning in my chest, seeing his face, Damien’s face, in this context, in my living room where my masked lover has stood so many times before, feels surreal. The sharp planes of his cheekbones, the intensity of those dark eyes, and the mouth that I’ve kissed. It’s him. It’s been him all along.
A sob crawls up my throat. I’ve been such a fool.
“How could I have been so stupid?” The words I've been asking myself all day tear out of me, raw and bitter. I turn away from him, unable to look at that familiar face any longer. “I bet you got a good laugh out of that, didn’t you? Fool your gullible little doe. As long as I don’t show her my face or body or kiss her on the mouth, she’ll never figure it out.”
He moves behind me, his boots scraping on the hardwood.
“That’s not true.” His voice is rough. Real now, without the gravelly disguise he’s been using for months. “Don’t you ever fucking call yourself stupid, Luna. You’re the smartest woman I know.”
“Ha!” The laugh that escapes me is harsh and ugly. It doesn’t sound like me at all. I spin to face him, my hair whipping across my shoulders. “Smart? Really? Because I feel like the world’s biggest idiot right now.”
His expression shifts, a flash of rage, or maybe anguish. I can’t read it, and I’m past caring. I pace because standing still isn’t an option. The energy crackling through my body has to go somewhere.
“When did you realize the truth? I know it wasn’t last night. Not really.”
