9. Mallory #3
It wasn’t a question. She knew me too well.
ToxicCharm: Tell me everything.
I hesitated, fingers hovering over the keys, trying to figure out how to explain Maddox Corvo in a way that made sense.
Me: There’s not much to tell. I mean, we only just met.
ToxicCharm: Which means there’s plenty of time to get him to notice you.
Me: Oh, I don’t think he’s forgetting me. I might have pulled a self-defense move on him today and dropped him to the ground.
ToxicCharm: You what?
Me: Okay, in my defense, I thought he was stalking me.
Looking back now, had I misread the situation? Had I hurt his ego?
ToxicCharm: You didn’t.
I cringed at my screen, nipping on my nails.
Me: I definitely did.
ToxicCharm: You can still come back from this. When do you start school?
A knot formed in my stomach at the familiar first-day jitters. You’d think by now I would be immune. I wasn’t.
Me: Ugh. Tomorrow.
ToxicCharm: Perfect. Just find a way to casually bump into him. Every. Day. And try not to toss him again unless he asks for it.
I snorted, the sound absorbed by my room’s walls as my memory recalled the moment I took Maddox to the ground. Smart move, Mal. Real classy.
Me: Oh, no sweat, except I have no idea where anything is, let alone where he’ll be. And he has a twin brother.
ToxicCharm: Two for one?
I chuckled.
Me: The other is too pretty.
ToxicCharm: I’ll take him.
ToxicCharm: My best advice. Make him jealous.
I stared at the words on my screen longer than I should have. Read them twice. Three times. Let them sink in.
Jealous?
Did I even want Maddox to like me? Besides, despite leaving a slightly more memorable impression today, I still wasn’t sure he thought about me at all. Hell, I wasn’t sure what my purpose was toying with Maddox Corvo.
Keegan and I chatted about random shit for a few more minutes, mostly what was going on in her life, before we signed off.
I shut my laptop and set it on my desk, my gaze drifting to the window.
The moon was bright tonight, casting an eerie yet beautiful glow against the twinkling night sky.
The woods whispered in the dark, branches swaying in the wind, leaves brushing against one another, shadows stretching and shifting between tree trunks, a darkness that felt less empty and more… aware. Watchful.
I stepped closer to the glass, and for a hair-raising second, I thought I saw something.
Or someone. A flash of eyes. My breath hitched as a shape formed near the tree line, taller than the surrounding shadows, too solid to be smoke, too still to be wind.
My pulse spiked, as if my body recognized danger before my mind could catch up.
What the—
I leaned in, pressing my palm lightly against the cool glass, but nothing moved.
The figure didn’t step forward or take shape, but I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was out there in the woods, watching me.
I had half a mind to open my window and scream at the creep I was certain lingered in the trees.
But what did I really have to fear? My mother was downstairs. Only an idiot would break into this house.
Screw it.
No perv was going to mess with me in my home. I was done living in fear.
Shoving away from the window, I stalked downstairs, flinging the front door open and not bothering to shut it behind me.
I stormed barefoot across the grass, the blades slipping between my toes, but I had one sole purpose…
the woods on the side of the house. My eyes went straight to where I swore I saw something, scanning the area.
“Hello!” I called out, halting in the middle of the yard, close enough I could run back to the house if I needed.
“Hello! I know you’re out there.” I stared longer, my gaze darting through the trees, but nothing stirred, nothing but the wind.
I forced my breathing to slow, willing my imagination to stand down.
Fuck. I ran a hand through my wild hair. “Fine. Be a pussy. Don’t show yourself.” I flipped off the trees. If I thought baiting them would draw them out, I was wrong. Cicadas droned somewhere in the distance, the faint rustle of branches answering the silence.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was just a shadow. Maybe my mind was spiraling because of what Paisley and Atlas told me about those missing girls. Maybe I couldn’t stop thinking my life was an ongoing ID television show.
I shook my head and went back inside, but as I turned off the light and climbed into bed, I couldn’t lose the feeling that something out there had been watching me long before I started looking back.
Those comforting thoughts followed me into sleep like a second shadow I couldn’t outrun.
Maybe the smart thing would be to tell Mom about the missing girls.
Then, at least if I disappeared, I knew she would find me and hunt those assholes down.
That would be one way to catch kidnappers. Dangle them with bait.
Not that Mom would ever go for it, but if she didn’t know…
The thoughts my mind toyed with in the middle of the night were frightening.