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PROLOGUE

february 14th—log-in time: 11:26 pm

I kno to recognize dangerous men

My e what to zero in on The way a et you to do so or see his point of view The way he made you feel when he came close to you, that visceral, bone-deep sense that there was danger present Your instincts know, Cora Don’t ignore them

It’d been a lot to teach an eight-year-old

I doubt Mom wanted me to have to face that kind of fear so early on, but when you’re a detective and there’s a killer on the loose with a vendetta against you, you do what you have to do My ot the lesson

So even though he’s only a form on a screen, a cartoon really, I know the instant that he strides into the ga to tell me even as I sit in the safety of er Back away

But I don’t I can’t

Dangeroush art of being put in the friend zone, I want to knohat it’s like to be someone else To not play it safe To be desired

I use my wireless controller and have my character, Lenore, flip her hair to catch his attention She’s so unlikeblond locks and epic curves Feuys fantasize about I want to be that girl for a little while Feel what that’s like

He turns and facesand the color of the deep ocean, pulled back with a leather band He’s chosen to wear all black Most of the doa for hined his character to be overly muscled He doesn’t look like a comic book superhero like most of the male players in Hayven, but he’s tall and broad and inti Quietly powerful

“So, you’re Lenore”

The deep voice in my headset er the game has Hayven has layers of identity protection That’s why I’ve chosen this game, why I can be someone else without worry But still, the sound of hi my skin I lick my lips, force the word past my lips “Yes”

He doesn’t correct me, tell me to call him sir I like that I like players who don’t make assumptions

He steps closer We’re in the public part of the game You can create whatever environment you want in the private spaces, but the ame has zones—the park, the island, the city, the forest, and the ht noe’re in the forest A place with towering trees and liht There’s a map in a slow, indicating other players are nearby, but I can’t see anyone That’s why I was here I was looking for others to watch That’s what I do Har toward a Hood to his Wolf I’h Lenore’s eyes and there’s nowhere to run

“You’re popular around here,” he says, that deep voice a stroke against my ear, the sound intimately close in my headset Despite the name, there’s no accent

Popular Ha There’s a word that’s never been used to describe irl to play against in a video gaht But I reeek girl He’s talking about Lenore Pretty, voluptuous Lenore “I do all right”

The night sky is black behind hi the leaves of the digital trees turn to a thousand silhouettes The ga with the a, he looks as if he’s called the lightning hi feel electric “Why do you think you’re so popular? Besides being beautiful There are lots of beautiful women here”

Yeah, no shit No one’s going to ames But I don’t kno to answer the question I’ame Maybe it’s because I’m involved but mysterious I’m a watcher, a tease, not a participator “I’et to know me”

His blue hair is blowing in the wind now, a few strands pulling free of the tieback “You’re here on Valentine’s Day”