Page 156 of Stay Scared

I pick it up. The straps are worn near the clasps. The inside padding has compressed into the shape of his face.

“And what function does this still have?”

Ash reaches for it, but his fingers stop short.

“So you were going to put it on.”

His hand lowers. “I wanted it.”

The answer is almost hostile.

I turn the mask in my hands. “Rook breaks one off your face, and you come down here looking for another.”

Ash’s eyes sharpen. “That is not what happened.”

“Isn’t it though?”

He steps closer. The mask remains between us.

“You think I need it because Rook saw my face.”

“I think you hate that he chose when everyone else got to see it.”

Ash’s nostrils flare. The cut near his temple starts bleeding through the edge of the tape.

“He did not unmask me.”

“He smashed it open in front of Cade, Owen, and me.”

“He broke equipment.”

“You are standing three inches from me trying to turn humiliation into a maintenance problem.”

His hand closes around the table’s edge. The metal underneath the papers gives a faint complaint. Good, there he is.

“What do you want from me, Salem?”

The question comes sharp.

I lift the old mask. “I want to know whether you can wear this without hiding inside it.”

Ash stares at me. I hold it out. He takes it. The straps scrape through his hands.

“Put it on.”

Interest flashes across his face before the mask covers it. He fastens the clasps. The first Voice looks back at me. No glowing lines or distortion, just black material over a man I have already seen bleeding on the floor. I step closer. Ash stays still.

“Do you hate this?”

“Which part?”

“That I’ve already seen exactly what is underneath.”

His breathing changes behind the sealed mouth. “No, I don’t.”

His hand lifts toward my waist. I catch it before he reaches me. Ash’s fingers close around mine instead, not gently. His grip locks hard enough that my pulse jumps against his palm.

The old Voice leans closer. “I hate how little the mask changes now.”