It’s him.
“Got you,” I murmur, fast-forwarding until I see him get out of the car this morning.
He tails her, watching her cross the street, and then moves in behind her, close enough to reach out and attempt to catch a loose strand of her hair. When he misses, he falls back, putting distance between them.
My grip tightens around my coffee mug until the ceramic handle cracks, tipping the contents onto my notes. A thin stream of steaming liquid bleeds away from the mess I’ve made, curling the edges of the paper as it drips off the desktop.
I don’t move from my chair, eyes glued to the monitor until I witness the moment Daniel snaps his picture and smiles, leaving Eris to walk alone toward her apartment building.
“Did he touch her?” Jace asks from across the loft, voice tight, stretched thin with whatever he’s not saying. “Hurt her?”
I don’t look at him. “Not yet.”
“Don’t be cryptic,” he snaps. “She messaged. She’s probably fucking shaking after that bastard?—”
“She’s alive,” I interrupt, turning to glance at the guys. “And she’s at Romily’s house instead of her own apartment.”
“But she’s not safe.” Kieran leans against the server rack, arms crossed, his biceps flexing as he opens and closes his fists.
He hasn’t settled since this morning, since she smiled on her way to meet her friend at the cafe. We all saw it. And we all knew it wouldn’t last.
Kieran isn’t the only one who’s wired from only a glimpse of Eris.
All three of us have a serious problem.
I stand and cross the living room into the kitchen, washing my hands and drying them on a towel. My movements are sharp. Controlled. Keeping me focused as I plot out my afternoon.
“Where are you going?” Jace demands as I turn to leave.
“To do what should’ve been done days ago.”
He steps in front of me, his hand out to stop me. “You’re not going after him alone.”
“Watch me.”
“He’s dangerous.”
I meet his eyes, unbothered by his protest. “So am I.”
Kieran doesn’t move, but his voice cuts cleanly across the loft. “We made a deal.”
“The deal was to protect her,” I snap. “Not sit around while he escalates.”
“She’s not ready to have a death on her conscience, especially if you’re killing someone on her behalf,” Jace argues quietly. “Not yet. Not even if youcanhide a body in the Bay.”
A humorless noise leaves me. I can’t even call it a laugh, but it’s something close. “You think she doesn’t know what we are?”
“You,” he bites out, pointing at me. “Not us. We know whatyouwill do, but she doesn’t.”
I take a step toward him, toward the door. “Then she’ll learn.”
A weighted silence folds over the room, dense but familiar. The truth already sits between us.
We want her.
We’re obsessed with her.
Kieran will protect her mind and body, even if he’s protecting it from herself.
