[DING! (╬ Ò﹏Ó)]
[ABORT! ABORT!]
[HIDING PLAN HAS FAILED!]
[SNAKE KING IS HERE!]
[HOST IS SCREWED! ☆]
Xin Yi scrambled backward on the bed. "Qing Lin! Oh! I was just—uh—resting! Very innocent resting! Not hiding at all!"
He stared at her for a bit, his chest heaving.
And he looked feral.
Not molting-crisis feral. Not sick feral.
Hunting feral.
His pupils were contracted to slits so thin they were barely visible. His scales, the ones along his cheekbones and neck, were sparkling, catching the light in a way that made them look almost alive.
His long fingers flexed at his sides, and she could see the tension coiled in every muscle of his body.
He looked like he was two seconds away from shifting into his serpent form and constricting something.
Preferably her.
"Why," he murmured, "were you hiding from me?"
"I—I wasn't—"
"Xin Yi." He took one step into the room. The door swung shut behind him with a soft click. "Don't. Lie. To a snake. I can smell fear. And guilt."
