I smirked, fluttering my lashes dramatically. “You know, there are other ways I could make money.”
“Fuck, Alina.” Lee shoved a bag of noodles into the cupboard with a loud thud. “Do whatever the hell you want. But if you end up in jail? I’m not bailing you out. Let’s make that crystal clear. If you get arrested for prostitution, youstaythere. Got it?”
“Okay, okay—got it.” I sighed, throwing my hands up. “Selling my body for sex is off the table.”
I pouted, dragging out the words. “So... whatcanI do?”
He didn’t even look at me as he folded up the paper bags and shoved them into a cabinet. “Don’t ask me. You’re clever—figure it out.”
He grabbed a beer from the fridge, twisted off the cap, and took a long swig. “Anything else?”
I shook my head.
“Good. I’ll be in my room.”
The door clicked shut behind him, and the air felt colder somehow. I stood silently a moment longer before grabbing my bag and heading for the library. If I couldn’t seduce answers from Jack, maybe I could dig them up the old-fashioned way.
McMont College’s library was a maze of towering shelves, dust motes floating like spirits in the air. I wound through the stacks, searching for books on ancient civilizations, letting the musty scent of knowledge and time soothe my nerves.
Then I heard a muffled sound, barely audible over the quiet hum of fluorescent lights. A sob. Broken and raw.
Is someone crying in the library?
I followed the sound, threading deeper into the library’s forgotten corners, where the sun never reached and the air felt thick with secrets.
There, tucked into a chair beneath a reading lamp, sat a figure curled in on himself. His head was bowed low, his hands against his temples.
He was whispering to no one—or maybe to someone long gone.
“I can’t take this anymore. Where are you? Youpromisedyou’d come back. It’s been so long, and I’m still alone... I need you.”
My heart twisted. I looked around—no one else in sight.
“This is getting harder every day,” he continued, his voice breaking. “Everyone laughs when I talk about time travel. They mock me. But I’ll keep trying. I have to. You’re the only one who ever understood. Please... please come back.”
Who is he talking to?
I hesitated, uncertain. My instincts screamed to stay silent, but something stronger—curiosity, sympathy, maybe fate—pushed me forward.
“Jack?” I whispered.
His body jolted like I’d struck him. His eyes snapped wide and panicked, scanning the shadows around us for an escape. But there was none.
“What are you doing here?” I asked gently.
He swallowed hard. “Hiding,” he murmured. “I just needed... somewhere to be alone.”
My heart twisted at seeing him—so small, so fragile, curled into the shadows like a forgotten soul. But even as sympathy stirred, another part of me, darker and sharper, began to calculate.
Could I use this?
Could I exploit his pain, unravel his secrets thread by thread until he handed over what I needed without realizing it? He was vulnerable—unguarded. I had to know more. Ihadto get close to him.
“Who were you talking to?” I asked softly, stepping closer.
He froze, his back stiffening like a frightened animal sensing a trap.
“I know what it’s like,” I murmured, inching forward. “To leave behind everything. Everyone. To walk away from the only world you knew and step into one that doesn’t make sense.”
