“No, Alek. Everything is okay. Just the flowers…”
Victor hands over the card to Alek, and Abi sits next to him to read it together.
“Who is it from?” Alek asks.
My brain goes on overdrive to connect the dots of what I’ve told everyone so far. Victor believes an ex-boyfriend caused the stab wound.
“From my ex. We had a fight before I left,” I mumble, and I send Victor a pleading look. His face is stoic.
“Your asshole of an ex-boyfriend is sorry, and he wants you back. That’s why you look like you’re going to faint?” Alek says.
Abi smiles warmly. “What a sweet gesture.”
Ohmigod. That’s why Charlie wrote this message—he’s manipulating them. He can’t fool me.
He knows I’m here with these people. He’s found me. He’s done his research. Charlie is apologizing, and only Victor and I know what for.
“But why did he call you Firefly?” Abi asks.
Because he’s a maniac and obsessed and infatuated with the idea of him and me.
“Because I let him and I shouldn’t have.”
Only Alek is allowed to use a nickname for me, because he’s my brother. And I’m grateful Victor uses my name. It makes me feel strong.
“What did your ex-boyfriend do, Twinkle? And how come I haven’t heard about him before?”
Victor’s eyes are dark brown now, studying me. He’s keeping my secret.
Charlie has powers. Not the supernatural power that Victor has. Charlie’s powers are evil. Vicious. Hurtful. The flowers are his warning he won’t stop, even if it means hurting Alek, Abi, and Victor in the process.
Although the guys are athletic, enough bad guys can bring them down. An image of a bloody-faced Alek and bruised Victor flashes in my mind. Sharp pain stabs through my heart. Trouble follows me everywhere.
I stand up so quickly that I see little specks of light.
“Will you take him back?” Abi’s chirpy voice startles me.
“Not in this lifetime,” I say with conviction and dash to Alek’s room.
I throw myself on the bed, barely managing not to break my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. There’s no song on my playlist to calm me down and take away the frightening thoughts creeping into my mind.
The phone beeps.
Unidentified number: You can give yourself up now Firefly. You tried to escape me. Not cool.
My mind drifts to a place I don’t want to go. He found me on the third day. My stomach quivers. I clutch my phone tighter.
Tomorrow I leave.
Chapter Ten
Two weeks earlier
“What’s going on here?” I scream at the two men in my living room, my heart about to explode from my chest.
The young guy with light brown hair, muscular but lean, about my height, turns back immediately.
“Let her go.” He throws the command to the second one.
