Page 82 of The Guru: Shadow

“You belong to me; therefore, you belong here,” he said.

“I…what…Deis, seriously. I don’t belong to you, this was–”

A devilish grin appeared on his face.

“What the hell, Deis?”

And then he pulled her towards him, grasping her face with his free hand.

“You belonged to me the moment you pressed that share button,ma belle. Actually, you belonged to me the moment I saw you.”

No one had ever been so possessive with her, and a part of her wanted to throw herself at him. But she couldn’t let him.

“Deis, this is ridiculous. Let me go.”

When he spoke, his tone had changed. Less playful, therefore colder, almost business-like.

“When you leave, you will find approximately fifty paparazzi in front of the entrance, and they will eat you alive.”

“You got to be kidding me,” she groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Not at all. Take a look at your phone, let alone your Instagram. They know. And they’re coming for you.”

They? Who is they?

Nonetheless, she took out her phone, which was in automatic night shift mode by now, and when she unlocked it, her heart stopped for a second, skipping at least three beats. Her mind went completely blank.

Fuck.

The number of the badge on the Instagram app almost made her drop the phone. She stared at it for a moment, her heart racing, before she pressed the phone against her chest as if it would help make the notifications disappear.

333,333

Suddenly, her mind started working again.

What the fuck. The 3’s again? I didn’t even know the badge number would show that high! This is crazy. This must be a really bad dream.

Her eyes wandered from the phone in her hands up into the eyes of Deis.

“Things come at a price, Em,” he said quietly. “Welcome to my world.”

Welcome to my world. So, are you living in a world of revenge, too?

Words failed her as thoughts raced through her mind.

People would see. They do see right now. Everything I ever did online.

If I were that interesting, even to the paparazzi, they would find out everything.

“No,” she finally said. “This can’t be true. This is a really bad dream.” And with that, she freed herself from his grip.

But he did not let her go. He stepped behind her, his hand on her back. “Em, come with me, I think you must see for yourself.”

“See what?”

“The extent. Come.”

I need to wake up.