There’s a tense pause before he finally says, “Are you safe?”
Relieved, I relax my grip on the phone and glance around my living space. My gaze falls over the few personal effects I’ve placed around the room to keep me anchored. “Yeah, I’m safe.”
His exhale is audible. “Christ, where are you?”
“I can’t tell you that. I just wanted you to know I’m okay.” And to hear the voice of my friend, to feel like I still have a lifeline.
“But you’re not. I can hear it in your voice,” he says, his words a sharp lash against my resolve. “Tell me what happened.”
I bite the corner of my lip, internally cursing myself. Of course Darby can tell when I’m rattled.
“Hol, if this is our guy, then you’ve put yourself in serious danger,” he continues. “Let me help get you out of there.”
I suppress the quick flash of anger and clutch the blanket to my chest. “I know what I’m doing,” I assure him. “I’ve spent months immersed in his world, investigating him?—”
“Stalking him.”
Indignation flares hot. “I’m the only one who can do this.”
Darby didn’t get a say when it came to making that call.
“Give me a name,” he demands.
“You know I can’t tell you that, either. Look—” I sit forward to alleviate the pressure beneath my ribs. “Just…for once, you have to trust me.”
“I’ve always trusted you. Even when this obsession got way out of hand.” Another lengthy pause. “You know Laurel would never approve of this. She never supported you working in the field—” He breaks off with a weary sigh.
His words drip like acid in my stomach.
Silence builds between us, my short breaths crackling into the receiver. I swallow past the aching burn in my throat. “I thought about Haylie on the anniversary. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there this time.”
I imagine Darby spinning the leather bracelet around his wrist, the one his daughter gave him before she was abducted by the monster who extinguished her beautiful light from this world.
Maybe it’s cruel of me to use her this way, but if he’s going to use Laurel against me, it’s my only defense.
“I see you still can’t locate your heart,” he fires back, anger threading his harsh tone.
The tension in my shoulders deflates. “I deserve that.”
As with any defense mechanism, I’ve built a callus around my heart to protect it, and often, that abrasive layer hurts the ones I care for the most.
“Darby…” I let my voice trail off, expelling an anguished breath. I can’t lie to him and claim my motivation isn’t entirely selfish. “I don’t have much time. But I’m all right. I have to see this through.”
“Just remember what I said before, about imposing your will,” he says, his tone grave. “Revenge won’t change the past.”
The warning beep sounds on the timer. A twinge of panic unfurls in my chest. “I’ll try to contact you again soon,” I promise him. “And, Darby, don’t bother trying to trace this call. I used your tech to spoof it.”
I end the call.
Exhaustion grips me almost immediately as the adrenaline leaksfrom my system. I’m left feeling weak, my muscles sore and achy.
I toss the phone aside and slump back into the sofa, casting a look through the lancet-glass doors. Amid the soaring spires, the observatory glows against the night sky. The domed structure looms over the town like a menacing fortress, concealing his secrets.
The university and I, we want the same thing.
His research.
Fighting the fatigue draining me, I stand and move to the balcony doors. Without thought, I push up onto my toes as I peer through the dingy, double-paned glass.
