Standing as well, I approach my half brother and force myself to look him in the eye, needing him to understand just how bad everything is about to get.
“Things between us are just getting started, Tristan. You have no idea what’s coming for you.”
But he will.
I guaran-fucking-tee it.
Fifteen
Journal Entry
Twenty-two years old
7:30 a.m.Syn leaves the house for class. She’s wearing a long-sleeved shirt and leggings. She tends to wear clothes that conceal her scars. She braided her hair today. I wonder if red is her natural color.
7:55 a.m.Constantine walks her to class. They stopped by the student center to get breakfast. She bought a sausage biscuit. She smiled a lot. I think she likes him.
8:15 a.m.I sat in the back of the auditorium and watched her. I really should stop doing that.
9:00 a.m.Syn and her friend leave class. They talk for a little while, then Hendrix shows up and walks her to her next class. Who shows up changes every day. Yesterday, Tristan escorted Syn to her first class, and Constantine showed up later. It’s annoying. They’re always with her.
11:00 a.m.Syn keeps a journal in her backpack. She likes to sit on the grass in the quad and write in it. She does this every day. I watch her from nearby and sketch her.
11:30 a.m.Constantine joins Syn in the quad. He brings her lunch. Today, he brought her pasta salad in a plastic container. I’m surprised when I see Constantine talking. I know this because I read the movements of his lips and see Syn’s reactions to what he says to her.
2:00 p.m.Syn and her friend go to the student union. Syn orders a cupcake, vanilla with sprinkles, and a black coffee, plain. They sit outside at one of the bistro tables. Syn has a pretty smile. It lights up her entire face. And her laugh…I love her laugh. It’s genuine and carefree.
3:00 p.m.Syn’s last class of the day. She keeps looking behind her, like she can feel me there, watching her from the shadows.
4:45 p.m.Tristan picks up Syn and drives her to the Bierkeller. He sits at the bar the entire fucking time she’s working, so I don’t go inside and head back to the bell tower.
5:30 p.m.Stop stalking Syn. It’s creepy.
Of course, I ignore that last entry.
Sixteen
The Present
Sittingbetween his legs on the lounger, Aleksander’s chest is warm against my back as the sun disappears behind the horizon. I’m so grateful for every sunrise and sunset I get to see because I know if things didn’t happen the way they did, if Alana and Cillian hadn’t saved me from the fire, I wouldn’t be here…and neither would my children.
Nibbling on a thin slice of pickle, I look up from the journal propped against my knees in my lap, so many different thoughts running through my head. I didn’t know that Tristan and Hendrix went to see him after our elevator encounter. I also didn’t know he’d been stalking me. Aleksander had been right there, so close, yet my alarm bells weren’t triggered like they usually were whenever I felt eyes on me.
“That night at the Bierkeller was quite serendipitous if you think about it.”
Tipping back his beer, Aleksander peers down at me over the lip of his bottle. “There is nothing serendipitous about being shot.”
“It was just a graze,” I refute. “And I wholeheartedly disagree because you, Tristan, Hendrix, and Constantine showing up at the same time on the same night I was working is the definition of serendipity.”
“I’ll concede that point,” he murmurs against my ear, and a flurry of goose bumps erupts down my arms.
“How many times did you sneak into my classes?”
“A lot.”
I twist around so I can see him better. “How much is a lot?”
Dimples pop on his cheeks when he grins. “More than once.”
