“You got it.” Jace blows another bubble with his gum and pops it loudly. “What’s your plan going forward?”
“Looks like I’m going to be his shadow for a while,” I tell my cousin.
Jace shoots me a wry grin. “Careful you don’t get obsessed like my brother is with his mark.”
“Yeah, not something you need to worry about,” I say with a grin.
Something flickers in Jace’s eyes, but it’s gone before I can figure out what it is.
“Speaking of my brother.” Jace’s smile is full of mischief as he flicks his gaze to one of his computer screens. “He’ll be back in a few minutes, and you have the opportunity to do something hilarious.”
“Did you put a tracker on him again?” I ask, pretending to give him a stern look.
“I can neither confirm nor deny such an allegation,” Jace says primly.
I huff out a laugh. My cousins putting trackers on each other to see if the other notices it isn’t anything new. “When did you plant it?”
Jace grins. “Two days ago.”
I let out a low whistle and get to my feet. I can’t remember the last time Jax didn’t find a tracker within hours of it being planted. He really is distracted by this kid if it’s been two days.
“How much time do I have?” I ask, already wheeling Jax’s chair back over to his desk.
Jace glances at his screen again. “About a minute.”
“Let the games begin,” I say in a dramatic voice.
Jace laughs maniacally and fixes his attention on his computer while I hurry over to the door so I can hide behind it.
My cousins and I have a running thing where we try to jump scare and ambush each other. We mostly do it for shits and giggles, but it’s also a way to keep our reflexes sharp.
Pressing myself against the wall, I wait for Jax to open the door and shove everything I learned about Damon and what happened to the back of my mind.
I’ll have time to analyze it all later. Right now, I have a cousin to ambush and bragging rights to secure.
13
DAMON
A shiver runsup my spine as I push the door to the library open and step out into the cool night. Glancing around the dark quad, I hurry down the steps and try to ignore the prickle of unease that’s been my constant companion for the past week.
Of course, there’s no one around me, but that’s not surprising considering it’s almost ten on a Friday and the library is in a part of campus that’s surrounded by academic buildings and not much else.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I reach the main path, and another shiver dances up my spine as the feeling of being watched intensifies.
I have no clue where this new paranoia came from, or why, but it’s fucking annoying, and I can’t seem to shake it no matter how many times I tell myself I’m being an idiot.
Logically, I know there’s no one watching me. Or at least there’s no one watching me from the shadows. I’m used to being stared at and whispered about behind my back, but this feels different.
It’s hard to explain, but it’s more focused, like someone is actually out there andwatchingme, and it’s not just the usual gossip and covert looks I get when I’m around other students.
And it’s constant. The only time I don’t feel it is when I’m in Romeo House. Every time I step outside my dorm, it’s there. It doesn’t matter if I’m in class or walking around or at one of the many communal areas of campus; that feeling is there.
It’s stupid. I know it’s stupid. There’s no reason anyone would be following me around and watching me, and I’ve never seen so much as an inkling that there actuallyissomeone out there when I give in and look around. There’s zero evidence that anything is going on, but that doesn’t stop my suddenly paranoid brain from believing there is.
Shaking off another prickle of unease, I quicken my steps and hustle toward Romeo House with my head down and my hands shoved deep in my pockets.
I’m nearly at the gate when my phone vibrates in my pocket, and I dig it out to check my notifications. A smile curls the corners of my lips when I see I have a text from Eden.
