Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

“That wasn’t funny,” I barked.

The one in the middle simply looked at me, while the other two chuckled softly, walking away and leaving us. I followed them with my eyes, seeing them head off into the brush and disappearing into the trees. More than two dozen cars were parked around us in the gravel, make-shift lot, but there were no buildings, no houses, just forest and cars.

Where the hell were we? It looked like just a clearing in the woods.

I turned back, seeing Kai approach me, his mask still on. He placed one hand on the lid and pointed at the lever I’d pulled inside.

“Every car made since 2002 has one,” he told me. “If that ever happens to you again, you know what to do.”

I scowled up at him. “If that ever happens again, my crew won’t be as polite as they were earlier.”

David might get on my case a lot, but he’d cut out their tongues if he knew what they’d done.

But then

, suddenly, Kai pressed into me, making me fall back into the trunk and land on my ass. My legs dangled over the side, and I looked up him, his long body blocking my escape.

“Is that supposed to be a threat?”

And then he leaned down, his vicious mask an inch from my face, making my stomach flip. “I was raised to be a gentleman,” he said, “but if you send other men after me, catching my interest will be the worst mistake you ever made.”

I forced a sneer, but a shiver ran down my spine anyway.

He straightened and lifted the mask off his head, revealing the face I knew was underneath. His dark eyes, underneath even darker eyebrows, stared down at me like a dare, and a sense of foreboding nipped at my insides. But I didn’t look away.

A light layer of sweat matted the edges of his hair, making it messy and sexy. So rare for him to have anything out of place.

Without saying a word, he walked away from me, toward the front of the car and out of sight.

I heard the crunch of gravel slowly getting fainter and fainter, and then it was gone, and I twisted my head, confused.

What? I hopped out of the trunk and slammed it shut, looking over the hood. Where did he go?

Where did they all go?

A sea of cars spread out before me, a forest of trees in every direction, and I looked up, seeing the first stars peeking out of the sapphire sky. The sun had set a while ago, and it would be dark soon.

Chills covered my arms. Shit.

Twisting my head, I saw the narrow, unpaved road behind me that we came down. The emptiness of it as it wound around a turn and disappeared creeped me out. I should go that way. It had to lead to the highway.

But music made my ears perk up, and I turned back to the way Kai went. A girl’s cheer rang out in the night, and I studied the darkness of the dense forest ahead as the beat of subwoofers vibrated off my body.

All these cars, all these people…they were in the woods somewhere. This was a party.

I glanced behind me again. I should take the road. Walk home, catch a ride…whatever.

But he’d brought me here, hadn’t he? Maybe I was a little curious. He was daring me.

Walking around the car, I headed straight for the woods. Someone at this party would have a phone, and I’d call David. He’d blame this on me, but he’d keep his mouth shut. Neither one of us wanted to suffer the consequences of me being here.

I jogged, looking around as gold and orange leaves shuffled under my shoes. The scent of burning wood drifted into my nostrils, but I didn’t see a fire or any people yet. Where were they? I could still hear the music in the distance, so I continued straight into the darkening woods.

I shot a glance back to the parking lot, the light from the clearing getting smaller and smaller.

Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. I searched the brush again. “Hello?” I called.

Where was I exactly? I’d taken walks in the woods, but I don’t think I’d ever been out this far. I was pretty sure the sea cliffs sat half a mile to my left, Loch Lairn Cave was behind Stuart Hill to my right, and the Bell Tower should be…