“Halo.”
Her brow lifted. “Like the video game?”
“No.”
“Like angels?”
“Not quite.”
She laughed again. “I’ll figure you out.”
Eden got up and disappeared into the back of the shop, and I ate the delicious muffin, every crumb. I didn’t savor food very often, but this… this was good. Before I stood, my hand slid to the knife in my pocket.
She came back into the front of the shop, suddenly, surprising me. She slipped on a wet piece of tile, catching herself just with her elbow on the bartop. She laughed, her cheeks flushed pink before she steadied herself and carried another box to the back.
I had to get out of here. I didn’t want to risk staying longer than I already had. As I watched her move confidently – happy and humming under her breath like this world had never hurt her – I felt something foreign settle in my chest.
Regret. Regret that I ever said yes to this job.
Because I could already tell that killing this girl would be the one thing I’d never forgive myself for.
Chapter seven
Eden
“Where the Light Leaks in”
Ithoughtabouttheweird guy, who had come into the shop a few days ago, more often than was probably normal. I felt like he had caused a disruption, a ripple that hadn’t quite settled. He had entered like he had been dropped off in a foreign country, and he haddefinitelynever been in a coffee shop before. So, of course I wanted to know why he chose my fledgling, independent shop with its weird homebrews and live-in cat.
Curiosity was a weakness of mine; I couldn’t help it.
He had sat at the corner table until close, which was another mystery because no one showed up to meet him, and he didn’t have a book or a phone or anything. He just sat there.
Luckily, I loved puzzles, and I could tell he had all kinds of secrets. It didn’t hurt that he was hot as hell. Maybe a little unconventional, and he looked like he’d had a rough night or three, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little infatuated. He had that tall, dark, and handsome thing going on. Almost a foot taller than me, muscular, with black hair that held just the faintest wave to it. It was cut short around, just a little longer on top likea military cut gone rogue. Pretty, rich brown eyes that turned to honey in the light. He had a gnarly scar on his left cheek that I couldn’t help but notice even under the stubble. A smaller scar on his upper lip, maybe from a surgery. Covered in tattoos that I would havediedto examine. Maybe I would ask, next time.Is that rude? Asking someone about their tattoos?
And then that name he’d given me: Halo. What kind of name was that? It felt kinda ironic, like the mean dog you name Fluffy. And there was the way he said it when I asked, like it wasn’t his, but a burden instead. Just a word, not a name. An assigned status.
He hadn’t smiled. Hadn’t flirted either, unfortunately, and I wasn’t quite brave enough to try very hard to get some kind of reaction out of him. He hadn’t even looked around the shop like most newcomers did; he just watched – me, mostly, with this impossible intensity like he was studying something. I checked my reflection in the espresso machine more than once, making sure I didn’t have something odd on my face or in my teeth
Oh, God.What if he had come to audit me? Or what if he was a secret inspector? Did they have to warn you about those things, or did they just sneak in?
“Eden?”
I snapped out of my daydream so hard that I nearly fell, face first, onto the bartop. I jerked up quickly, looking over at Jay, who was holding a pan of pastries and had clearly been trying to get my attention for a few moments.
“I’m so sorry, Jay. I was… kind of off in my own world there.”
“It’s alright. I’m tired too.” He huffed dramatically, although he’d only been there for like two hours. “I was just seeing what you wanted to do with the leftover baked stuff, since it’s about time to close.”
So much waste. I frowned at the spread.
“Box them up. I’ll take them home. Except…” I reached out and grabbed one of the blueberry muffins, setting it on a napkin beside the register. “I’ll keep this one here, and you can head out early if you want. Looks like it’s going to be dead tonight.”
“Do you mind?” Jay cringed like he’d been afraid to ask. “It’s supposed to rain, and I really want to get home before it starts. I hate driving in the rain.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Be safe, okay? I’ll see you next week.”
“You’re the best boss ever. I’ll put these in a box for you and head out the back.”
