Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
If there was one thing Ravenswood did better than any other town, it was the holidays. No matter how well-known or unheard of that the cause of celebration was, the community went all out. So, of course Halloween was no exception.
Ravenswood’s famed bar, The Crow’s Nest, sat at the heart of the town's festivities and, as always, it was a sight to behold. Its worn wooden floors sparkled beneath a canopy of purple and orange fairy lights, while ornate chandeliers, draped in faux cobwebs, cast shadowy figures onto the patrons below.
The windowpanes bore silhouettes of witches and bats, making the whole establishment feel like a scene out of a Gothic novel. As Mara and I settled into a luxurious nook with high-backed chairs, I found myself instinctively scanning the crowd.
Our coordinating sailor scout outfits had already earned us more than a few appreciative glances. I knew we looked good, but a little validation never hurt. Mara raised her glass to propose a toast when her gaze caught on something—or rather, someone—across the bar for the third time.
“He’s staring again.”
Following her line of sight, I glimpsed at the tall, striking man in a dark, distinctive costume. His eyes held mine with a mixture of intensity and undeniable familiarity. “Are you sure we don’t know him?”
She smirked. “No, but I wish one of us did. He has no business being that fine.”
I wholeheartedly agreed.
As if he'd heard her, a slow, mischievous grin spread across the man’s lips, that were shaped like Cupid’s own handiwork. It was the kind of smile that posed a perilous threat to the composure of any woman who valued her sanity.
With his sharp, angular jawline, jet-black hair styled in a way that appeared both effortlessly natural and intentional, and darkly shaded tattoos peeking out from the collar of his tailored Victorian-style suit, he was exactly the type of man I would fantasize about but never see in the flesh.
That wasn’t what captured my attention, though.
The feeling that he was familiar nagged at me, yet the certainty of memory eluded my grasp. Someone with his striking presence should have been unforgettable, etched permanently in my mind. And still, there was a whisper of recognition, a ghostly sense of déjà vu. Could the person haunting the edges of my recollection really be him?
Raising her glass of Lucifer Morningstar for a toast, Mara finally looked away from the alluring mystery man and shouted, “To us, baby! We kicked this semester's ass.”
“To us,” I echoed, clinking my drink against hers.
“We seriously needed this break, Winter," Mara sighed, sipping her cocktail. “I couldn’t deal with one more lecture from Professor Hargraves.”
I laughed. “Tell me about it. If he mentioned his 'groundbreaking' thesis one more time, I would’ve broken down in tears.”
As we shared a chuckle over our shared tormentor, a group of football jocks from our university approached, their costumes ranging from zombies to superheroes. “Hey ladies,” one of them said, his eyes lingering on Mara a bit longer than me. I understood entirely. Mar was stunning on her worst days. “Nice costumes. Drinks on us?”
We exchanged amused glances. Accepting the offer meant entertaining them for the evening, and I wasn’t up for that yet.
“Thanks, but we're good for now,” I replied, raising my glass slightly.
“If you change your mind, come find us.” As the jocks returned to their boisterous group across the bar, another acquaintance, Tracy, dressed as a stunning Medusa, drifted over to show off her outfit and divulge some gossip.
After a few minutes of shared laughter, she went back to her own group. The evening flew by with Mara and I getting lost in our own world, navigating between drinks and the dance floor. I was thoroughly enjoying myself, but my attention kept drifting to the familiar stranger across the bar no matter where I stood, his presence unmistakable. He was no longer alone. Beside him was a tall, athletically built guy with nearly-white blond hair and piercing blue eyes, oozing charm and confidence.
I didn’t recognize him whatsoever, or what he was supposed to be, but I hardly knew every single person in town let alone the entire student body.
As Mara and I recovered from laughing ourselves to tears over a particularly hilarious memory of her falling down the bleachers at a football game and showing half the crowd her ass as she crawled away in shame, I glanced around again, only to find the intriguing man approaching our table. Before I could react or warn Mar, he stood beside us.
“Hope I'm not interrupting.” His voice, deep and enticing, made the ambient noises seem to fade away. “May I join you?”
I squinted slightly. Now that he was right in front of me, the niggling suspicion that had been teasing at the edges of my consciousness all but solidified into certainty. Denial clung fiercely to my sound reasoning, making it hard to truly accept that he was standing before me in flesh and blood.