Page 29 of Devious Knight

In the alternate universe I imagined Kade was supposed to be nice to me.

We were meant to be dating once I built up the courage to speak to him, and everything was supposed to be amazing.

Instead I feel like I’ve been thrust into a dark twisted fairytale where nothing is as you imagine, and you can’t even trust yourself.

The wind grows stronger, howling through the massive oak trees, and that imagination of mine takes over. Suddenly it sounds like a thousand ghosts surround me, chasing the moon in the afterlife. The branches of the trees look like hands reaching out to grab me, and the rustle of the leaves sounds like feet chasing me.

Everything is louder, my sight stronger, my skin sensitive.

I quicken my pace, wishing I’d had the good sense not to come this way. I wasn’t thinking. I was doing what normal me would do after finishing up at the studio.

By the time I get to the Hollows—a place that’s even scarier than the woods—my heart is pounding in my throat.

The urban legend around campus has it that a student was murdered here and the ghost of the caretaker who killed them haunts the place.

I always wondered what people thought of the student’s ghost because no one talks about it. They always fixate on the caretaker and the many sightings people have reported of his ghostly form with the chains of hell attached to his heart.

Great idea, Isabelle.

That was a real clever move. Scare yourself even more than you already were.

The distinct sound of twigs crunching under heavy boots has me halting midstride, and my heart stops.

A rustle swishes through the bushes and I look to my left, where both sounds came from.

There’s no one there, but there must be someone. I heard something. I definitely didn’t imagine that.

I know I’m on campus and there are loads of students out at all hours of the night, so it could just be one of them. But I want to see who it is and make sure it’s not Kade, then I’ll be on my way.

I hear the rustle again so I keep staring, waiting for whoever or whatever it is to come out. Nothing happens.

“Is someone there?” I decide to call out.

There’s no answer. It doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t expect anyone to respond.

Feeling silly, I turn to continue on my way but crash into a tall, foreboding man with the horrific face of a skull. In the silver moonlight he looks like he just came straight from hell.

I scream at the top of my lungs, drop my bag and get ready to run for my life, when he grabs my arm and deep male laughter rumbles around me.

He lifts one large hand and pushes the skull back, showing me it’s a mask, but the man under the mask is someone I least expected to see.

Dmitri.

He gives me a mirthless grin, similar to the way Kade smiled at me at the club.

Dmitri leans forward until he’s inches away from my lips and widens his grin. “What are you doing out here at this hour, Isabelle?”

His sudden closeness—which is way too close for comfort—is just as weird as hearing him say my name. I’ve known him for even longer than I’ve known Kade and this is the first time he’s ever spoken to me.

Dmitri Valneko is as handsome as Kade and just as sinister. They come from the same background, so high-profile family, and he isn’t ever far from Logan. Or Kade.

And he’s still holding on to my arm.

“You scared me half to death. Let go of me.” I try to imbue my voice with a bravado I don’t feel and free myself, but to my surprise he tightens his grip.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“What’s it to you?”