Someone had been out there.
And they’d been watchin’.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
BY THE TIMEwe reached High Voltage, theafternoon had turned thick with heat, the kind that clung to skin and made the air feel too close. On the ride in, I held Chain tighter than I meant to, arms locked around his waist, cheek brushing his back. Every time our eyes met in the small mirror, something inside me jolted, warm and unwanted and impossible to ignore.
This morning had been wonderful.
And terrifying.
I could feel myself slipping toward something dangerous with him, something I’d never been allowed to want.
Ruby waved as soon as we walked in. “Well, look who decided to grace us with their presence. You’re late Boss.”
“Boss. Real important part of that sentence,” Chain said as he headed straight for the office.
Ruby rolled her eyes at him and then at me. “C’mon, rookie. Welcome to round two of chaos. Grab napkins and let me show you how not to die in the rush.”
The next hour spun fast—voices overlapping, the clatter of silverware, music vibrating through the floor. I moved table to table, shoulders brushing strangers, the scent of fries and spilled beer hanging thick in the air. It was overwhelming, but in a strange way, it felt… alive. Loud, messy and exactly what I wanted when I left Miriam’s.
And then—a flicker.
Not sound. Not a person calling my name. Just movement. Outside the window. A tall figure passing through the sun. My breath hitched like someone yanked it from my chest. Dark hair. Familiar profile. A walk I knew deep in my bones, in places memory never let go.
Zach?
My hand slipped off the tray. Napkins fluttered to the floor like white wings.
“Lark?” Ruby’s voice blurred in my ears. “Hey—what’s wrong?”
But I wasn’t listening.
The world tunneled, music flattening, voices muffled, my pulse thundering behind my eyes.
I moved. I didn’t think. Didn’t breathe. I shoved through the door and burst into the heat. The sunlight blinded me, too bright, too hot. Exhaust fumes mixed with the heavy smell of asphalt. Cars crawled past, people talked, laughed, lived. But all I saw was that man disappearing around the corner.
“Zach!” The name tore out of me like a scream dragged across old wounds.
I ran. The pavement burned through my shoes, hot enough to sting. My lungs clawed for air. Sweat gathered at my temples, blurring the edges of everything. But by the time I reached the end of the block, he was gone.
The only thing left was the echo of his familiar walk, the exact tilt of his shoulders where I used to rest my head when the world was too cruel to carry alone. My stomach dropped. The ground felt uneven beneath me. My fingers trembled as if electricity were firing through them, memory and reality tangling until I couldn’t tell them apart.
“Lark!” Chain’s voice punched through the haze, deep, rougher than usual. His boots were loud against the pavement. Grounding.
“What the hell are you doin’?” he demanded, breath a little uneven from chasing me.
I turned toward him, chest aching, vision blurred at the edges. “I saw him.”
“Who?” His tone was firm but not harsh.
“Zach.” The word cracked like it hurt coming out. “He was here—right here. I know what I saw.”
Chain’s expression changed, tension giving way to something quieter. He stepped in front of me, blocking the sun, giving me something solid to look at. “Zach?” he repeated, gentler this time.
I nodded hard, swallowing against the tightness rising up my throat. “He was my boyfriend when I was seventeen.”
Chain waited. Didn’t touch me. Didn’t interrupt. Just gave me space to fall apart if I had to.
