Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
A tiny voice squealed beside him, “Wow.”
Gage found her, lowered the prize, and held it out.
“Here you go, sweetheart.”
The little girl clapped her hands. “Mommy, can I have it, please?”
Gage turned toward the mom’s defeated sigh. “Ma’am, please don’t make me walk around with this thing.”
“That dinosaur is bigger than she is.” she laughed, soft and kind. “Yeah, you can have it, honey.”
The girl jumped up and down. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” Gage said, still smiling.
Scar pulled on his forearm, his voice strained and urgent in his ear. “Shadow says we gotta get the fuck outta here.”
Gage blinked. “Why?”
“They don’t like how many people are crowding us,” he murmured. “Everyone’s got their phones out taking pictures and recording.”
Gage’s stomach dipped. “Oh crap.”
“You were the one showing off,” Scar gritted, hurrying him through the throngs of people. “Someone with perfect vision couldn’t do what you just did. They told us to go to the haunted mansion—it’s empty—while they create a diversion to draw attention elsewhere. Callahan’s gonna’ pull the car around the back.”
People were calling out as they hurried through the gathering.
“Do it again!”
“Win one for me!”
Inside the haunted house, the air was cool and damp. The smell of fake fog fluid and dust was thick.
A loud clang sounded over his head before a prerecorded scream blared from a nearby speaker.
He and Scar ignored it all, going deeper inside until the crowd noise dulled behind them.
Scar put his arm around him. “Don’t be scared. I’ll protect you.”
He laughed. “Um, I’m not afraid of the dark. Besides, you’re the screamer.”
“If you tell anyone that, I’ll deny it.”
Scar guided him through a hanging curtain.
The farther they went, the quieter it got, as if the eerie silence was meant to make people more fearful.
A figure burst from an opening on their right side with a blast of cool fog. A strobe light began to flash as someone lunged and roared at them.
Gage raised one brow.
“Uh, I think we’re supposed to jump or something?” Scar droned.
The actor exhaled. “Oh, never mind.”
Gage listened as he shuffled back into whatever prop he’d leaped from.
“Maybe we should yell next time,” he said. “You know, to make ’em feel like they’re doing a good job.”
They walked around a few more corners, and no one bothered to try to scare them anymore.
Scar whispered, “It’s dark as fuck in here. I can’t see shit.”
Gage stopped, another kind of smile forming.
He eased away as he skimmed his cane across the floor, quick and silent. He read the layout by echo and texture. The room was small enough to own.
“Where’d you go?”
Gage pressed his back into the farthest corner. “Welcome to my world.”
Then he moved.
Soundless and fast.
“Gage,” Scar hissed. “I will kick your ass if you—”
He snapped his fingers near Scar’s ear and was gone before he finished flinching.
Scar cursed under his breath, “I don’t wanna play this game with you, Gage.”
“Seems as if you have no choice,” he whispered, already enjoying this.
Scar crept forward, trying to stay silent, but Gage could hear how fast and hard his heart was beating.
Gage rotated in a slow circle, making his voice sound as if it was coming from every direction—a cool trick Zorion taught him.
“I can feel you,” he taunted. “Your pulse, your heat, your scent…you smell divine.”
“You’re turning me on,” Scar rumbled.
Gage let Scar get close once, close enough to feel his breath before he was gone, silent as clouds drifting across the sky.
Scar spun, reaching and missing.
“You’re guessing where I am,” Gage said in a frightening voice. “I’m certain where you are.”
“Stop,” Scar gritted. “Enough, come here. Now.”
Gage brushed past his shoulder instead, light contact, then vanished again. Scar’s hand hit the wall with a dull slap.
“You are not in control here.”
“You’re getting off on this, aren’t you?” Scar asked.
“Immensely.” Gage licked his lips.
It sounded as though Scar was trying to calm himself as he began to inch forward. Gage could hear Scar’s palm gliding along the wall as a guide.
Scar almost caught him once, grazing his fingers along his sleeve. Gage ducked under Scar’s arm and slid away, heart kicking.
“Got you,” Scar said, voice rough.
“Almost doesn’t count,” he whispered, circling Scar slowly.
He came up behind Scar and pressed him into the wall. His exhale rushed out him before he turned and slid his arms around his waist.
Scar’s mouth was on his, hard and messy.
He kissed back with the same amount of energy, moving his hands up and down the soft material of Scar’s sweater.
“I want you,” he moaned against Scar’s mouth, honest and shaking. “So much.”
“I want you too,” Scar said roughly.
Gage confessed the one thing that’d been on his mind for weeks. “I want to satisfy you. I keep thinking about it. I keep…worrying that…you know…”
Scar touched his forehead to his.
“Gage, I’m okay if we don’t…have sex.” Scar swallowed. “I’m not doing that to you. I’m not letting you compromise what you believe, for me.”