Abandoned in the empty hall I had been carried into, I was faced with two choices.

The first was to go back out the side door and return to the terrace. At the very least, I knew my way there. But it also meant facing the people who had witnessed the embarrassing spectacle of being carried away by a guy in a cape.

The second was to go through the door the mystery man had gone through and wander around aimlessly. Getting lost in a massive mansion was not a good idea by any stretch of the imagination, but it felt like a better option than the first.

Besides, I knew the security team was prowling around the house looking for rulebreakers and the waitstaff had to come from somewhere as well. I was sure I’d run into someone eventually.

Yet as I wandered ahead through the dimly lit halls, I didn’t come across a single soul. Instead, I followed the sound of muffled bass thumping through the walls, grateful when the music got louder and was accompanied by the chatter of other guests.

“Hey! Where did you come from?”

A security guard approached, glancing behind me for others before looking down at my person with a scowl.

“I-I’m honestly not sure.”

“No guests in the back,” he practically growled as he continued to look over my body. “What were you doing back there?”

I admit my first thought was he was either checking out me or my costume, but the way his eyes narrowed as he scanned my body made it all snap into place. My eyes widened as I rapidly shook my head back and forth.

“I wasn’t stealing! I was outside and I dropped my champagne glass and The Phantom carried me in through a side door and abandoned me and—”

“The Phantom?” the guy interrupted, his tone dry. He sighed and shook his head. “All right. Go ahead.”

Wait, that was it? The guard turned to walk away and I reached out to grab his arm, surprising us both.

“So you know who I’m talking about?”

“Yeah. You don’t have to explain yourself. Just try to stay out of the back, okay?”

“Wait!” I protested as he tried to walk away again. “What’s his name?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m not allowed to divulge the personal information of guests. It would defeat the purpose of the masquerade.”

I squinted and sarcastically stated, “That didn’t sound rehearsed at all.”

“You catch on quick,” he replied, cracking a smile for the first time. “Have a lovely evening, ma’am.”

Knowing I wasn’t going to be able to stall him any longer, I blew out a harsh breath and waded into the group of people that were heading into the room the music was coming from. We shuffled through the doorway as a group and I nearly got pushed over when I froze to the spot.

It was a ballroom. Who the hell needed a ballroom in their house?

“You’re blocking the door,” a voice grumbled from behind me.

I stepped out of the way and stood against the wall beside the door, trying not to gape at the massive room that had been heavily decorated for Halloween. There were people everywhere—both on the dance floor and standing around it—and I felt a pang of regret for coming inside.

And here I thought the bar had been packed. This was ridiculous.

I caught myself edging deeper into the room, even though I made it a point to stay close to the wall. I seemed to be the only person who was standing alone, a fact that only became clearer the closer to the dance floor I got.

Where was The Phantom now? Much as I didn’t want to make another spectacle, I would have appreciated having someone to speak to.

“What are you doing over here by yourself?”

I turned to the owner of the voice, surprised to find a tall man with black hair standing directly beside me. His mask and silk shirt were both red and there were two small horns protruding from his hair. A slow smile stretched across his lips as I continued to stare at him in silence.

“Um, just... looking around, I guess.”

He nodded and reached out his hand as he said, “I’m Bryan.”

“Are you supposed to tell me that?”

His smile turned lopsided. God, he was handsome. Not as handsome as The Phantom, but—

Whoa. Where did that come from?

“Probably not, but almost everyone here already knows me. I’m usually the one throwing this thing, after all.”

“Wait. Bryan Johnson? You’re the owner of the mansion?”

“I am. And who are you?”

“Eve Smith. It’s nice to meet you.”

I put my palm in his and shook his hand, feeling my cheeks warm slightly when his smile grew bigger.

“Eve Smith... Where have I heard that name?” he asked softly, more to himself than to me. “It’s strangely familiar.”

“It is? Well, my first name is actually Evelyn, but most people seem to want to call me Eve even though I prefer...” I trailed off when his eyes widened in surprise and he dropped my hand like he’d been burned. “What’s wrong?”

“I do know you,” he said incredulously. “Oh shit. It all makes sense now.”

“What makes sense? How do you know me? Please, I—”

“Am I interrupting something?”

My body jolted in surprise before I whirled around to come face-to-face with my spook of the evening.

But he wasn’t looking at me.

He was glaring at Bryan.

The look in his eyes nearly made my brain short-circuit. Something was definitely going on here—and both of these men were somehow in on it.

“Not at all. Just introducing myself to Evelyn,” Bryan said pointedly, which only served to ramp up my suspicion. “Where have you been?”

“Around,” The Phantom grunted before reaching out to tug on my hand. “If you’ll excuse us.”

“Whoa, hold up. Leaving so soon?” he asked as he gently grabbed my other hand. “We were just getting to know each other.”

“I think you know enough.”

That was cryptic. Bryan’s grin widened while The Phantom looked increasingly annoyed—his expression twisted like he tasted something sour.

I was being pulled away as soon as Bryan dropped my hand. My weak protest was overpowered by the sound of the music as a much louder song began to play. All I could do was wait to see where we were going and hope that he wouldn’t abandon me again in a secluded area of the house.