MALLORY
Abuzzing echoed in my ears as I stared at the black rose. Jade moved closer, sniffing at the flower curiously, her tiny nose brushing the dark petals, whiskers twitching.
“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no—” My gaze dashed around the room from corner to corner, looking for anything else out of place.
The window was definitely shut and locked before I’d gone downstairs, so how the fuck had the rose made it into my bedroom?
How did it get here?
Creak.
A floorboard groaned downstairs, and I whirled toward the door, ice flooding my veins.
Someone was inmyhouse…with me.
My pulse spiked violently, adrenaline hitting hard and fast, making my common sense disappear. I was rooted to the floor as panic clawed its way up my throat, choking me, making it hard to breathe. Somewhere in my mind, a voice screamed at me.
Move. Move. MOVE, MALLORY!
I stumbled back, nearly tripping over my own feet, and closed my bedroom door with a near-silent click, flipping the lock into place. I doubted it would do much good if the intruder wanted in my room, but hopefully, it would hold them off long enough for me to figure out how I was going to get out of this alive.
What other reason did someone have to break into my house if it wasn’t to kill me? They could be robbing the place, but we didn’t have much of value to be stolen. They would be sorely disappointed.
Jade darted under the bed, a gray flash of fear.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” My gaze snapped around the room, searching frantically for a weapon, an escape route, hell, anything useful.
My phone.
Where is my phone?
A whoosh of air left my lungs as I spotted it on the nightstand. I lunged for it, nearly knocking over the lamp, my hip slamming into the nightstand hard enough to bruise. Pain bloomed, but I ignored it, fingers closing around the phone.
I should call 911. That’s what a normal person would do, yet my fingers overrode logic, hovering over a saved contact. It should have been my mom, but that would have required me to tell her about the stalking. There was only one person who knew all the details.
Maddox.
The phone rang too loudly in my ear, each tone stretching into eternity. I couldn’t risk putting it on speaker and having the trespasser hear me call for help.
Once…
Twice…
Three times…
“Pick up,” I begged, pacing in the small space between my bed and the door. “Please pick up, please.”
Finally, on the fourth ring, the call connected, and his deep voice carried through the line. “Hales?”
Relief hit so hard my knees almost gave out, nearly sent me crumpling to the floor. “Maddox,” I whispered, my voice strangled by fear. “I—I think someone’s in my house.”
Too long a silence stretched through the phone before he spoke again, as if he had to process my words. He wasn’t the only one having a hard time fucking comprehending. “Where are you?” he demanded.
“My room,” I whispered, my eyes fixed on the brass handle, waiting for it to move. “I locked the door, but?—”
“Don’t open it,” he cut in, and I heard movement on his end. Rustling. The jingle of keys. An engine starting. “Stay quiet. Don’t let them know you’re aware they’re there. I’m coming.”
Another creak echoed from downstairs but closer this time as if they were checking room by room. Looking for something.
