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I risked a glance at the reflection in a darkened shop window. The handsome man was twenty feet back, his hands in his coat pockets and his attention fixed on me.

My pulse accelerated as I ran through the possibilities. A random stalker? Another mugger playing the long game? One of Tyler’s friends out to get revenge?

If he attacks me, perhaps Caligo will come.

The thought appeared before I could stop it, bringing a shameful flicker of hope with it. I immediately hated myself. I’d told Caligo to go, so hoping he’d swoop in and rescue me was pathetic. Chances were he wasn’t even in London anymore. He could be anywhere in the world. Besides, getting attacked just to test a theory would be all kinds of fucked up. With that in mind, I picked up my pace.

The footsteps got faster, too.

I took out my keys and selected the right one before my house came into view so I wouldn’t have to fumble on the doorstep. I realized too late, my key already in the door, that I’d just shown him where I lived. I threw one last glance over my shoulder, expecting to find him bearing down on me.

The pavement was completely empty, a cursory scan of the entire street showing no signs of him. The obvious answer was that he hadn’t been following me at all. He’d merely been walking in the same direction until he turned down another street, and it had been a coincidence. Feeling slightly embarrassed by the assumptions I’d jumped to, I let myself inside and closed the door, automatically sliding the chain into place.

Safe.

Alone, but safe.

It would probably be wise to use a different coffee shop from tomorrow.

I’d just reached the kitchen when someone knocked on the front door.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Rowan

I ignored the first three knocks, but caved after the fourth. I’d never been more grateful for the chain Tyler had installed. I left it on before pulling the door open a crack. My caution proved justified: the man from the coffee shop stood on my doorstep, looking off to the side.

“You can’t just follow people home,” I said. “That’s called stalking. If you leave now, I won’t call the police, and I won’t tell them you’ve been watching me.”

He turned to face me, his head tipped to one side as though he was giving my words careful consideration. He really was a handsome bastard. Unfortunately, a handsome stalker was still a stalker. How did I do it? I’d gone from killer boyfriend to monster to stalker.

“Can you really not tell?” the man asked.

“That you’re a stalker? Yes, I can tell. The clue is in the watching and the following.” I made to close the door. “Go follow someone else, you weirdo.”

“I don’t want to follow anyone else.”

Something about the words tickled my brain. I held the door in place, trying to work out why they sounded so familiar.

I don’t want to touch women.

It sounded like something Caligo had said. Same tone and cadence as well.

“It’s me, Rowan.” The man held his arms out as if showing off.

Relief slammed into me, both because Caligo was back and I could tell him what I needed to, and because I didn’t have a stalker. At least, not one I couldn’t handle. The relief didn’t last long as I considered what I was looking at.

“You possessed someone. You can’t do that, Cal. Especially not for this long. He probably has a job you’re keeping him from.” Male model, probably, although I didn’t share that part. “You need to let him go.” I took the chain off and opened the door properly. “Is this my fault? Is it because of what happened with Tyler? Did you get a taste for it?”

He smiled, and there was something distinctly Caligo about it. “I’m not possessing anyone. This is me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I left because I had a plan. I would have shared it with you, but I didn’t know if it would work.”

“A plan?”

“I went to find some of my people. Ones that have been around a lot longer than I have.”