“Glowing internally, that is.”
She snorted at my reply before arguing gently,
“That’s not a thing.”
I shrugged, shuffling a stack of papers that didn’t actually need organizing.
“Just tired. Big day and all.”
Her gaze lingered. Tara had always been annoyingly perceptive like that, the kind of person who noticed the cracks even when you plastered over them carefully.
“Hey, this is huge, Eliza, but if you’re not ready and you need to talk…” she said more softly, cutting herself off.
“I know,” I said, forcing a smile that felt brittle around the edges.
Especially when I suddenly hugged her to me, telling her in a whisper,
“I’m gonna miss you.”
She squeezed me back and said it too, but the truth lodged painfully in my chest. Because when I said it, it meant something more. So, I let the hug say what I couldn’t, one that stayed with me for the rest of the day.
One that said…
I might never see her again.
20
THE TEST
By the time I woke, Bo was already gone.
Not that I was surprised. We’d agreed, the night before, that time was of the essence, so the fact that he’d gotten an early start wasn’t exactly shocking. Nor was the state of my fridge because, apparently, for such a little guy, he could pack away an impressive amount of food.
Which meant I now had no creamer for my coffee and nothing to eat for breakfast. It also had to be said that I was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, and adding those two crimes to the list was a guaranteed way for me to lose my shit. Even without the added pressure of having to ‘play along,’… whatever the fuck that was supposed to mean at this point.
So yes.
I was pissed.
And honestly, being angry that my life was about to be completely uprooted felt better than giving in to the fear I knew was waiting just beneath the surface. Fear that was ready to overwhelm me the second I let it. So, I clung to the anger, heldonto it like a lifeline, because I knew the moment I saw the car Oblivion had sent for me, it would evaporate fast.
It made me wonder what would happen if I just didn’t show up. If I stayed gone. Would he really find me, no matter where I went, like Bo said he would?
I was dangerously tempted to test it.
But pissing him off probably wasn’t the smartest move, not right now. There was something to be said for luring someone into a false sense of security, and as the saying went, better the devil you know.
Right now, that particular truth was becoming very literal and very unwelcome.
As for Bo, he couldn’t be anywhere near me when Oblivion was around, not if we wanted even the slightest chance of this working. The thought of him slipping away so easily left my apartment feeling unnaturally quiet, as though something essential had been removed.
By the time I left my apartment, the city looked exactly as it always did. People hurried past with coffee cups and headphones, taxis honked their horns, and life carried on. Doing so with a comforting, infuriating indifference to the fact that my own life had just taken a sharp left turn into the absurd.
I lingered outside the office longer than necessary, fingers tightening around the strap of my bag as I scanned the street.
And then it arrived.
The car slid to a stop at the curb with quiet confidence, sleek and black and unmistakably expensive. The kind of vehicle that didn’t need to announce itself to command attention. Polished lines and tinted windows. Everything about it screamed control, money, and a level of power that didn’t bother pretending otherwise.
