CHAPTER FORTY SIX
Ophelia’s tiger leaped onto her bed and stood over her and Etienne’s sleeping bodies. Etienne was still holding her in the crook of his arm, and Ophelia consciously understood that her body was still asleep, even though she had a bird’s-eye view of her room. The bedroom was dark, and nothing in it moved besides the rise and fall of the tiger’s chest and stomach, inhaling and exhaling. Wake up, wake up,she chanted to herself.You’re in danger. WAKE UP.
Ophelia sat up in bed, wide awake. Her tiger was gone. She turned, and Etienne was sitting up too, concern etched on his face.
“I just had a dream about my tiger,” she whispered. “I think we’re in danger.”
Etienne nodded. “I had a weird dream too. I’m going to check the house. Stay here, and don’t move.” He got out of bed and placed his index finger over his mouth to signal her to remain quiet.
He walked quietly through the bedroom door. All Ophelia could hear was her panicked breath as she waited. Three minutes passed that felt like an hour until Etienne finally walked through the door again.
“Nothing in the house, and nothing outside,” he said as he walked toward her. “You okay?”
“No…I don’t know. Every time I see my tiger, something bad happens. Usually, to someone in proximity to me or to me. I saw my tiger a lot when I was with Mateo and during the serial killings.”
Etienne rubbed her back. “I know. I don’t know what this dream meant. I’m guessing we’ll find out tomorrow.” He held her for a while longer, then kissed her. “It’ll be okay.”
Ophelia nodded as Etienne unraveled himself from her and stood. “I’m going to the bathroom, then we can try to get some sleep.”
Ophelia’s nerves were shot, and she wasn’t sure how she’d be able to fall asleep after seeing her tiger. She walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Ophelia took out a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the fridge. When she turned around, a figure was standing on the other side of the island. Her body jumped in fear. She opened her mouth to scream, but her yell died on her tongue.
“Jack? Is that you?” she exclaimed and ran to turn on the kitchen lights. What the hell was her cousin doing in her kitchen in the middle of the night? “Jack. What the fuck? You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I knocked, but you didn’t answer, and when I turned the doorknob, it just opened.” Ophelia glanced at her front door, which was now closed. “You really should lock your door.”
“Yeah.” Ophelia was taking stock of Jack’s appearance. The way he fidgeted with his hands made him seem unhinged, and Ophelia noted the circles under his eyes. She wondered if he was having another mental episode like he’d had in high school. “So what brings you here?”
“I just need a place to crash,” he said, walking around the island. “You don’t mind if I stay here, right?”
“Oh, is everything okay at your apartment?”
Suddenly, Etienne busted through the kitchen and pushed Ophelia out of the way so that his body was fully blocking hers. “What the fuck do you want?” he growled menacingly. His presence was intimidating, and pure rage was emanating from his body.
“Wait!” Ophelia reached both arms around his center to hold him back from attacking Jack. “It’s Jack! You’ve met him before. It’s my cousin, Jack.”
Etienne did not stand down.
“Hey, man,” said Jack with an overly confident smile. “Sorry about the middle-of-the-night wake-up. But I was telling Ophelia here that I need a place to crash.”
Something was so off with him. He was trying too hard. Changing his mannerisms to mimic Ophelia’s fear one minute, then Etienne’s masculinity the next.
“Why didn’t you call?” said Etienne gruffly. If this was any other situation, Ophelia would have been appalled by his rudeness. But this was weird. He had every right to be concerned.
“Let me get you a glass of water, Jack, and you can tell us what’s going on,” Ophelia said soothingly.
The two men ignored her plan and remained standing, sizing each other up.
Ophelia grabbed another glass and filled it with water. She walked to Jack, and as she was handing him his water, her tired eyes caught sight of a silver cross necklace peeking out of his button-down. She froze. She couldn’t see the whole necklace, and Jack was religious. It wouldn’t be weird for him to wear a cross. In fact, he had probably been wearing this exact one his entire life, and Ophelia was just paranoid. But she wanted to see it again just to make sure.
“Pretty. Where did you get that cross necklace?” she asked, forcing a smile. “Looks vintage.”
Jack swallowed a sip of water. “It’s from a church group I’m in.”
“Oh. Cool,” she said and discreetly eyed Etienne. Etienne’shalf-second glance relayed everything she was already thinking. Etienne moved to hold Ophelia at his side under his heavy arm.
“So you two are dating?” asked Jack. Ophelia wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Technically, they were going out on dates, but Etienne had not explicitly asked to be her boyfriend.
“We are,” Etienne replied. His grip on Ophelia tightened.
