Chapter 4

I looked at Garry. He hesitated a few seconds, then went inside anyway, and came back out with the scissors in his hand.

"Victoria, it's just being a maid. Nobody's asking for your life. Do you really want to die?"

He stood off to the side, every word dripping with fake concern.

Crystal waved the scissors around.

"So? If you crawl on the floor right now and bark like a dog, beg me to be your master, maybe I'll forgive you this once."

A little panic crept into my eyes. Where was Julius? Why wasn't he here yet?

A minute passed. Crystal lost her patience, raised the scissors, and moved to cut.

"Don't—"

No girl doesn't care about her hair. Neither did I.

Just as I was about to say something to stall, the ground began to shake.

A whole crowd of masked riders came galloping straight toward us.

I frowned, confused. I didn't think I'd arranged anything on horseback. Had Julius added this bit himself?

A moment later, the crowd had us completely surrounded.

A hundred men, a hundred horses. The sight of it was crushing.

The one at the front wore the fanged demon-face mask, which made him look even more chilling.

"Garry, are they yours too?"

Crystal backed away a few steps, her voice shaking a little.

Garry looked doubtful.

"Not mine. My people are all inside."

"Al, go over there and get rid of them. Don't let them mess up our plan."

Al let go of me and swaggered over there like some idiot.

"You lot don't know who you're dealing with. You know whose place this is?"

"Get lost, now, or I'll make sure you regret it."

The words had barely left his mouth when a broadsword ran straight through his body.

I watched closely from where I stood. That was real blood.

"Al, you bastards, you actually hurt my brother. You're dead."

Another guard drew the prop knife at his waist, meaning to avenge his brother.

But soon he too fell into a pool of blood.

Crystal had never seen anything this bloody. She screamed.

"They're— they're killing people!"

I furrowed my brow. That was too heavy a hand. If someone actually died, this would be hard to clean up.

I quietly pressed the one-way communication device.

"Julius, what's going on? Didn't I say to follow my plan?"

Julius's anxious voice came through the earpiece.

"Miss Fox, our people have all been stopped. We haven't gotten in yet."

"Did something happen on your end?"

My head snapped up, and cold washed over my whole body.

In an instant my skin crawled.

Not my people. Then who were they?

……