And Then There Were Four by Lilith Carrie

Cassie.

When I agreed to go to dinner with Silas, the last thing I had expected was for him to go completely all out. The moment I stepped out of the white-pillared building I stayed in under Oden's watchful eye, I was met with Silas's smiling face. completely underdressed in my blue sundress.

He wasn't dressed casually like I would have assumed, but instead was dressed in black slacks, a dark purple button-up shirt rolled up to his sleeves, and even dress shoes. His entire outfit screamed money, and from the glimmer of lust hidden beneath his gaze, I felt

Stepping slowly down the stone staircase, my hand gently sliding against the railing, I stared at him with hesitation and uncertainty.

"Uh-I thought you said that we were going to dinner. Why are you so dressed up?"

Laughter escaped him as he spun in a small circle holding his hands out as if to give me a better look. "Well, I wanted to impress you, Cassie. Did it work?"

Impress me? Why the hell would he want to do that?

The guy barely knew me at all.

As laughter escaped me unexpectedly, I nodded, shrugging my shoulders. "You can say that. You look like you're ready to go somewhere fancy. Is that what we're doing?"

Asking him where we were going only led to an even bigger smile. I honestly didn't see how his lips could spread that wide across his face, but he did look absolutely ravishing when he smiled like that. "I can't spoil the surprise, Cassie. You're going to have to trust me."

Trust. That wasn't something easily given, but deciding to try and take my own advice, I ignored my head telling me to cancel the whole thing because it was wrong and instead went with my gut urging me forward.

The night was cool, and the clear skies above made for a perfect evening. The realm didn't have cars or any form of motor transportation like the human realm. Everyone seemed to walk here, which allowed for tons of conversation.

To which Silas never ran out of. "So, tell me a bit about yourself."

Glancing to my left, I let a small

ét

breath escape me as I tried to figure out what to tell him. It wasn't like I was comfortable when it came to speaking about myself, but if I was going to try and be more 'trying' if you want to call it that, then would have to be.

"Well, there is a lot to know-can you be more specific?"

"Sure." He chuckled as we passed building after building, heading down the cobbled street. The only dim lighting around were the fire-lit street lamps that stood along the road. "Why don't you tell me what your old school was like? I take it you just graduated."

"Um, yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure it's no different than your schools... I mean, I don't know which place you came from—"

Silas continued laughing, finding amusement in my quickly stuttering response as I tried to redeem myself from sounding any stupider than I already felt. I wasn't sure how all this worked, and even though I was told a little about Asgard, I wasn't told much. "Cassie." He smirked, nudging me with his shoulder again. "It's okay. I'm not like the others around here. I know you don't understand how it all works."

Hearing him say that made me feel a lot better about my current situation. As much as Silas reminded me of the fuck boys back home, so far, he didn't seem that bad.

Maybe looks really could be deceiving, or I was just being stupid, and he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Either way, I was fucked because the look he kept giving me made me feel like he was seeking more than just friendship.

"Thanks." It was the only thing I

could think to say under the

we

awkward circumstances, but before I could open my mouth, I realized had left the street of the city and ended up walking down more backroads that led towards a grassy green clearing. "Where are we?"