The air shifted, and she sensed David’s presence before she heard his approach—solid, grounded. Her body recognized him before her mind did, tension uncoiling a fraction.
“What do you need?” David asked, concern threaded through his voice.
“I thought I left this behind.” Her voice came out hoarse, scraped raw from inside her. “I thought—he ruined my life once. I can’t—” Her mouth trembled. “I can’t do it again.”
She clutched her elbows, curling in on herself, the sticky heat pressing against her skin. She rocked slowly, trying to keep herself in one piece. She swallowed the rising ache, the old one—shame, distrust, failure—back like it had never left.
David sank down beside her without a word, close enough to feel but not touching, like he sensed her skin was a live wire. “You don’t have to do it alone.” His voice enveloped her like worn leather—gentle, familiar. His shoulder pressed against hers, enough to sayI’m here, I see you.
Lena closed her eyes, pressing her lips together to trap the sob before it escaped. She didn’t move away, didn’t breathe for a moment, just let herself absorb that brief anchor of contact.
But the thoughts twisted again, dark and smothering.
“He’s sick, David,” she murmured, eyes still closed. “He twists things. He makes you question yourself, your memory, your sanity. And if he’s here—” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “God, if he’s doing this forfun—what if it’s not just him this time?”
The words tumbled out, too hard. Paranoia or instinct—she couldn’t tell anymore.
“What do you mean, Lena?” David asked.
She raised her eyes to his, letting him see the fear crawling through her. “What if he’s part of the sabotage? What if this whole thing started because of me?” Her throat worked against her panic, bile burning on the back of her tongue. “What if I brought this here? To the resort. ToKate.”
Her heart slammed like a fist behind her ribs, brutal and unyielding. Tears trickled down her cheeks, hot trails she ignored. Her hands trembled harder now, legs bouncing under her like the ground would slip away if she stayed still.
David gripped her shoulders and gave her a little shake. “No!”
Her eyes snapped to his, startled. The panic stuttered. She barely breathed, then nodded slowly, her fingers reaching up to close around his wrist.
“You listen to me, Spark.” David said, his voice sharp like a blade freshly honed. “First—no matter what he’s doing, no matter how twisted it gets—youare not to blame for this.”
“Aren’t I?”
“You didn’t ask to be followed. You didn’t invite that monster here. This happenedtoyou, Lena. He is the threat. Not you.”
His thumbs rubbed slowly, grounding circles into her upper arms. “You are a survivor. And survivors aren’t liable for their stalkers’ obsession.”
He spoke softly, but the words unlocked something within her—like a cell door opening. And for the first time since the footage played, air moved into her lungs again.
David leaned back, watching her to make sure she was still with him. Then, quieter now but no less fierce: “And he made a mistake last night. A big one.”
Something flared in David’s eyes—something harder, more dangerous than she’d seen before. An edge of steel beneath his usual sarcasm. “You saw when he raised that little remote-looking thing at the camera?”
Lena gave a weak nod. “Yes, what was it?”
“A scrambling device. Wipes footage, scrambles memory banks. Usually works well. But I knew—hell, I suspected ages ago—that someone was using that type of tech. So I started insulating key cameras.”
Lena blinked, letting the information sink in. Hope stirred uneasily in her gut.
“That means?—?”
“—we got him,” David said flatly. “On camera. In your part of the resort. Breaking his restraining order. Leaving physical evidence.”
“And if he’s not acting alone?” she asked.
“If someone is helping him?” he asked softly but with a dangerous intensity. “Hiding him?” His mouth curled into a grim smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Then we figure out who.”
His voice dropped, a promise carved out of steel. “And we burn them all down, Lena.”
And for the first time in hours, maybe days, Lena believed it.
