Under the light of the blood-red moon, Mia walked ahead, moving across the soft, shifting sand with an ease that betrayed none of the helplessness she'd shown before.
She didn't look like prey at all.
"Your acting skills are laughable," Orson thought darkly, lips curling into a cold smile.
He could sense the faint ripples of elemental currents around them. Filthy things were lurking in the dark, circling like jackals, waiting for a chance to pounce.
No doubt, the moment he struck Mia down, they'd leap out to attack.
"Fine. You want a performance? I'll play along. Let's see if you can handle it."
His eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
Beneath the blood moon, Mia exuded a heart-tugging innocence that seemed absurdly out of place in such a sinister wasteland.
That, of course, was the natural allure of her kind.
