#Chapter 83: Into the Woods

Aria I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. William, the famous model who I had danced with at the masquerade, was messaging me on the dating app. I wasn’t even sure how the message came through, considering the fact that I had turned off notifications—a bug, perhaps—but it didn’t matter. My stomach did a weird little flip, but not in the way it might have if I were actually interested. It was more like… shock. Shock mixed with a touch of dread. “Aria?” Darren’s voice pulled me back to the present, and I looked up sharply to see him watching me from where he stood by the car, his brow a little furrowed. “You alright?” he asked, glancing at my phone. “Oh! Yeah.” The words tumbled out a little too quickly as I locked my phone and shoved it into my jacket pocket. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he didn’t quite believe me, but he didn’t press further. “We should get going if we’re going to make it to the pack lands before nightfall.”