My year with The Devil

Chapter 4

EVIE'S POV

“…You’re kidding.”

“I haven’t joked once since we met.”

I searched his face for the slightest crack in his composure.

“You seriously expect me to kiss a complete stranger?”

“I expect nothing.” He shrugged lightly. “The choice is yours.”

Every sensible part of me told me to walk away.

But for the first time in years, someone was looking at me as though I was worth choosing.

Maybe it was all a joke.

Maybe this entire night was one elaborate Halloween prank.

But if it wasn’t…

I didn’t think I’d ever forgive myself for walking away.

I swallowed.

My feet moved before my mind could stop them. I stopped only inches away from him. I looked up, and our eyes met. For a heartbeat, I forgot why I was there.

He really was unfairly attractive.

Maybe that was part of the trick. Maybe looking like temptation made it easier to convince people to make impossible choices.

I could feel the warmth of his breath against my skin. He was so close that my pulse refused to slow down.

A thousand reasons to walk away raced through my mind.

Only one told me to stay.

It was now or never.

I rose onto my tiptoes, my fingers curling nervously into the fabric of my dress.

He didn’t close the distance for me.

He simply waited.

My heart pounded against my ribs as I leaned in the last few inches.

Our lips met.

His lips were softer than I’d expected.

For a single heartbeat, I forgot how to breathe.

The faint scent of cedar and smoke surrounded me, warm and intoxicating, making it impossible to think about anything except how impossibly close he was.

The rest of the world faded away.

There was only the impossible stranger standing in front of me. And the unsettling feeling that the moment our lips met…

Something inside me had changed.

I slowly pulled away, my pulse still racing. Then I hesitantly opened my eyes.

He was gone.

The empty path stretched along the lake, illuminated only by the pale glow of the streetlights.

My heart skipped a beat.

How…

How did he disappear?

A cold shiver raced down my spine.

For one desperate second, I wondered if I’d imagined the entire encounter.

Then I heard his voice, as though he were standing right beside me.

“Your first task begins tomorrow, Evie.”

I stood there for another minute, staring at the empty path. There was no sign that anyone had ever been there.

“What the hell…”

I pressed two fingers against my lips. They still felt warm. The kiss had been real.

Hadn’t it?

A gust of wind sent another wave of leaves skittering across the path.

I shivered.

Maybe I’d had too much adrenaline.

Or Amanda had finally pushed me over the edge.

“No.” I shook my head.

I wasn’t going to start hallucinating because of one bad night. I turned and headed back toward the dorms.

By the time I reached my building, the cold had settled deep into my bones. The hallway was quiet when I unlocked the door to our room.

The moment I stepped inside, Lena shot up from her bed.

“There you are.” She crossed the room in two quick steps. “I’ve been calling you.”

“You did?” I frowned.

She held up her phone. Seven missed calls.

I stared at the screen. I hadn’t heard my phone ring even once.

“Evie.” Lena’s voice softened. “What happened?”

I swallowed.

“I needed air.”

“It’s one thing to need some air.” She folded her arms. “It’s another to disappear for the rest of the evening.”

I looked away.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I know.”

She sat back down on the edge of her bed, still watching me as though I might disappear again.

“Did something happen?”

For one second, I considered telling her everything.

About the stranger, the deal. The way he’d disappeared. Instead, I told her the only part that sounded even remotely normal.

“I kissed someone.”

Lena blinked. Then her eyes widened.

“A guy?”

“…I think so.”

“You think so?” She stared at me.

“It’s complicated.”

“What was his name?”

I opened my mouth to answer. Then closed it again.

I could’ve told her about the way his dark eyes had looked beneath the streetlights. The faint scent of cedar and smoke. Even the sound of his voice when he said my name.

But somehow, it didn't feel right to tell her his name.

“I don’t know,” I lied.

“You kissed a guy whose name you don’t know?” Lena stared at me in disbelief.

Heat rushed to my face.

I grabbed my pajamas from the chair and turned away before she could see my expression.

“It was nothing.”

“That is the least convincing lie you’ve told tonight.”

I ignored her and disappeared into the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror, my witch hat was still crooked.

Amanda’s laughter echoed somewhere in the back of my mind.

I pulled the hat off and let it fall to the floor.

For a long moment, I just stared at my reflection. The same face I’d spent years learning to hate. The same body that always seemed to take up more space than I wanted it to. The same tired eyes behind my ridiculous round glasses.

Of course nothing had changed.

It had been stupid to think otherwise.

I pressed my fingers against my lips again.

Get a grip, Evie. You kissed a stranger. Nothing more.

By the time I crawled into bed, Lena had stopped asking questions.

The room was dark except for the faint glow of my phone on the nightstand.

I turned onto my side and closed my eyes.

Tomorrow.

The word sat heavily in my chest.

His voice echoed through my mind once more.

Your first task begins tomorrow, Evie.

I pulled the blanket higher, trying to convince myself none of it had been real. But sleep didn’t come easily. And tomorrow suddenly felt much closer than it should have.