The Reaper's Curse #1 - Complete

Never Have I Ever

Alicia can't help but feel as though the trees watch her, judge her every movement, mock her pretence of being calm. The insects and the frogs cackle at her, seeing through her pitiful attempts at keeping her breathing even and her hands steady.

She's a girl in the slums with only her wits and drive protecting her, when the gun in her grip felt only like hollow armour.

Alicia is not a little girl anymore, she shouldn't be afraid of the dark. But she's more afraid of it now than she ever was.

A blanket is wrapped around her shoulders, and she glances up at Oliver as he straightens. She grips the blanket, thanking him quietly. He pulls out a cigarette, sliding it along his lower lip as he watches the rest of their group set up their camp for the night, seeming to collect his thoughts.

"How are you holding up?" he questions, his low tones sending tingles across her flesh. Alicia glances away from him as he lights his cigarette.

"I'm just waiting for something to attack us," she tells him truthfully, eyes once again straying to the shadows that surround them, barely held at bay by the camp's fire. She almost convinces herself that things move in those trees, stalking them from the darkness, waiting for them to let down their guard.

The last time she was so vulnerable out in the Dead Lands, she fell into the hands of Warren and his men. Her aunt paid the price.

Movement beside her breaks her from her trance, and she glances at Oliver as he settles onto the log next to her, offering her a cigarette from his silver case. She takes it, holding it to her lips as he strikes a match and lights the cigarette, protecting the flame from the breeze with a scarred hand. She inhales deeply, hoping the smoke will calm some of the nerves that've been tearing through her the past few days they've been travelling.

"If something were to attack us, then it'd very much regret it," he says, blowing smoke towards the trees above them.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I still don't sleep very well," she murmurs. She flicks her cigarette and turns her face towards Oliver, studying his features in the flickering light of the fire, the shadows playing with his sharp cheekbones. "Distract me."

"Distract you?" He raises a brow as his lip twitches slightly. "With what?"

"I don't know," Alicia sighs, dropping her chin into her palm and pouting softly, the movement drawing his gaze to her lips briefly before they're back on her eyes. She doesn't miss such a look as she's never missed all the others, she just convinces herself not to read into such simple things in a world gone mad.

"Fine," he says with a small chuckle, a sound that has her stomach fluttering. He gets to his feet, grabbing something from the cart near them. She watches his movements, almost entranced by how he handles himself in every situation. With a cigarette dangling from his lips, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows despite the chill, and his hair in slight disarray from their travels, he's a sight to behold.

Alicia glares down at the cigarette between her fingers to focus on something else.

When he sits back down beside her, placing two glasses between them, he carries a bottle, the amber liquid within looking enticing.

"Whiskey fixes everything," Alicia laughs, shaking her head as he lifts a shoulder.

"Better than champagne," he mutters around the cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He pours two shots but doesn't pick up the glass. Instead, he looks at her, mischief lighting his sterling eyes. Alicia can only narrow her gaze at him, having no idea what he's plotting. "I suggest we play a game. Since you want a distraction after all." Alicia inclines her head, beckoning him to continue. A smile begins to curve his lips as he looks her in the eye. "I'll start with something easy. Never have I ever worn a dress."