Page 106

105

Summer

I climb out of bed and pad into the living room to call Stranger. The phone rings once, twice, three times, and then there is the blissful sound of the line connecting.

“Little fae?” His voice is unglamoured again, as promised, and a shiver runs down my spine at the sound of it. It’s deep, dangerous, and erotic.

I sit on the couch and take a steadying breath. “Stranger.” It’s barely a whisper.

“Are you all right?” he asks, and I hear him swallow. I imagine him with a drink in his hand.

I glance over my shoulder at my closed bedroom door. “It’s been a rough day.”

“I heard,” he says after a long pause.

“You did?”

“I was watching the school.”

“Right.” I exhale heavily. “It’s nice to hear your voice.”

He sighs. “It’s nice to hear yours, too.”

“What’s with the sigh?” I ask.

“Been a difficult day for me, too.” I hear him take another drink. “You wanted to talk about the killer.”

I hold the phone a little tighter. “There has been another murder. My suspicions were right.” I take a steadying breath, trying to swallow my fear enough to voice my reality. “Whoever it is, they’re watching me.” I stand and walk to the window in the kitchen, peering out at the obsidian night.

“Have they approached you?”

“No, but they’ve been a little too close for comfort.” I look out at the trees.

“I don’t like that,” he growls.

A shiver sets my body alight, and I am not sure if it is fear or the suppressed violence in his tone. “I have to ask a favor.”

“A favor?” he asks, and I can hear the intrigue in his voice.

“I take it you’re… good with technology.”

A laugh rumbles through the phone, and I close my eyes, allowing its shivery warmth to slide through me. “I’m passable.”

“You created the Runic Network, so I’m guessing you’re good enough to find an IP address for a Nexus profile account owner.”

“I could definitely do that.” I hear his smirk. Asshole. “Who?” he asks.

“I’ll send the account now.” Going to the EverydayEmrys account, I send it over to him before replacing the phone to my ear.

The stranger moves, and I hear a laptop starting up before the tapping of a keyboard. “Huh. A stalker page for your headmaster? I guess you’re part of the majority who finds him dreamy.”

“What?” I ask, surprised by his tone.

“I seem to remember a conversation you had with Alice where you called him dark and dreamy ,” he grumbles, an edge of jealousy lining his voice.

“You’re taking that out of context. And stop listening to my private conversations!”

I can practically hear his eyes roll through the phone. “This account has a lot of followers.” I stand and pace as he types quickly, muttering softly to himself. “Hm. I have the IP address.”

“You do?” I ask, coming to a stop.

“It’s… someone you know.”

I blink, preparing myself.

“Lucas Morningstar.”

My phone falls from my hand, and I stare straight ahead, all thoughts gone from my mind. Luke? Luke runs the stalker page for the headmaster? But?—

“Little fae? Are you still there?” I hear the stranger’s voice coming from the phone, and I pick it up, holding it to my ear. “I’m here. Sorry.”

“Surprising?”

“Fuck. Luke is… a baby.”

He laughs that sinful laugh again, and the sound slides against my nerves like warm honey. “Sounds like he has a secret life,” he says.

Is this surprising? I always kind of suspected his interests were in that direction… but a stalker page?

“You suspected?” the stranger asks, and I curse, obviously having spoken out loud instead of inside my mind.

“Kind of. Not about the stalker page, but about him being into males.”

“Why?”

“Just a vibe. Plus, he always looks at the shifter alpha’s ass when he passes, but I’ve never seen him look at a girl.”

“Huh. And it’s a secret?”

“I guess. No one’s ever told me, including Luke, and his brothers don’t seem to know.”

“You know, something is interesting about this account,” the stranger says.

“More interesting than the fact it’s a stalker page for the headmaster?”

I hear his fingers striking rapidly at the keyboard. “This page was created ten years ago, but Luke just started here, right?”

“Yes, he’s first year.”

“So, who was running it before?” I hear the frown in his words.

“I don’t know, but I can’t worry about that right now. I’ll need to talk to Luke and then the headmaster.”

“What are you going to say to him?” he asks.

“I’m going to ask him about the account, and I’m going to ask him about the comments on the posts. If he’s been deleting any.”

He takes another deep drink. “Should be interesting. I can’t see what’s been deleted, if anything, but I think there’s more.”

“Are you enjoying this?”

“What?”

“Me needing your help.”

“What makes you ask that?” he asks, and I can tell he is holding back a chuckle.

“I can hear it in your voice.”

“Am I so transparent?”

“Please tell me you’re aware of the irony of that statement.”

He laughs. “Maybe.”

I drop onto the couch again.

“So what else has happened? I can hear the edge in your voice,” he asks, his voice softer than I’ve ever heard it but still laced with danger.

“Besides the murder?”

“Besides the murder.”

Should I open this with him? I don’t want to fight with him. I want to keep enjoying our conversation, but it would feel good to talk about the stuff with Connor, and Alice still isn’t home.

“It’s about Connor,” I warn. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yes,” he says, but I can hear his voice tighten.

“He… almost broke up with me today.”

“Why?” he asks, sounding even more tense.

“He found out I was the target.” I exhale heavily, rubbing my face.

“You hadn’t told him?”

“I was trying to protect him. It was stupid, I know.” I shake my head. “You know, it’s funny. He’s the first person who’s ever loved me. He even has a fucking engagement ring, but I?—”

“An engagement ring?”

I curse under my breath. I shouldn’t have mentioned that, especially to the stranger. But why not? Connor is my future, and I’ve been very clear about that. I clear my throat. “Yeah.”

Silence crackles between us, and I consider filling it, but I have no idea what to say.

“He didn’t want to be protected,” the stranger finally says, his voice tight and flat.

“He sees it as a betrayal, and it was.”

“So, what are you going to do?” he asks, an edge to his voice.

“I’m going to work to fix things, and I’m going to stop keeping things from him.”

“And how do you plan to do that? Make things right?”

I am a little flustered by his questions. “I-I don’t know, but he wants us to work. So that’s a start, I guess.”

“But you’ve apologized?” he asks.

“I have.”

“So what’s next, then?”

“I’m not sure. He says he still loves me, so…” I sigh. “He says it’ll just take time.”

“And it’s killing you to give him time,” the stranger says. It’s not a question but a statement.

“Well, I mean, it just happened, but I feel… unsettled.”

“Unsettled because he’s holding back.” It’s another statement.

I shake my head. “Unsettled because Connor and I don’t fight. I wish he’d yell at me and get it all out, and then we can just move on.”

“And if he yelled, what would your reaction be?”

“I would accept it, and we’d move forward. Or he’d end things.” Once he finally realizes this isn’t worth fighting for.

“And you’d break.”

“I–”

“He helps,” he interrupts, his voice almost accusatory. “If he left, you’d break.”

“He does help, but at least I’d know he’d be happier.” I rub my hand over my face. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not making decisions for him anymore, and he seems to want to make this better, so… we will.”

“You both have to want to make it better.”

I glance at my bedroom door again. “He deserves better. What if he doesn’t realize that until we’re married?”

“What would happen then?” he asks, his voice tense. “Would you leave him?”

“I… What?”

“Would you leave him if he realized you weren’t right for him?” he asks again, and every one of his questions pierces me like a bullet.

“I don’t think I’d have to. He’d leave me.”

“But would you? Would you ever leave him, little fae?” he asks, the questions hanging between us heavily.

“I can’t think of a scenario where I’d leave him,” I answer honestly.

“If he wasn’t the person for you and you realized… too late?”

I exhale heavily, thinking. “If that were the case, and I thought we both had a chance at happiness and true peace… Maybe I would end it.”

“Maybe?”

“Well, probably,” I say, my brows drawing. “If I knew we’d both be happier with other people or if we grew apart.”

“Happier with others, hm,” he says, pondering.

I sigh, shaking my head. “Sorry, I know you don’t love hearing about my relationship problems.”

“I enjoy talking to you. No matter the topic.”

“Even about my potential upcoming engagement?”

The sound of glass smashing comes through the phone. “Even then,” he says, though I can tell it’s through gritted teeth.

I’m being so selfish. This is bad for all three of us. I should cut the stranger off. I’m with Connor, but the stranger is… Fuck, I don’t know. All I know is that I crave this feeling of not being alone. He sees the truth of me, and he seems to like me . I don’t feel like a freak when I am with him.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Fine,” he grates out.

“I missed you.” My whisper is barely audible, but I hear his breath hitch.

“I missed you too.”

“You have a very attractive voice,” I say, relaxing back on the couch.

“I have heard.”

“Right. Sorry,” I say with a grimace.

“I believe you called it sexy last time. If you’ll recall.”

I clear my throat. “And you like my voice.”

“I do. I find it very soothing,” he says, and I can hear his smile.

“Hm,” I reply, unable to hide my disappointment at the word soothing.

“You’re upset. I can feel it.”

“Not upset. Just disappointed that I don’t have a sexy voice.”

He laughs. “You do. Just in a different way.”

“Well, what does that mean?” I ask, my lips twitching.

“You know,” the sound of that smirk returns, “this is one of those boundary moments you love so much.”

My smile dies, and I’m immediately pulled back into my reality. Why do the lines blur so much with this male? “Right… sorry.”

“I imagine you could make your voice maddeningly sexy,” he growls huskily, and I close my eyes as my core heats.

I clear my throat. “I should go.”

“Why?” he asks.

“I’m sure you have things to do.”

“Not right now,” he says.

“Then maybe a little longer?” I shouldn’t have said it. I should have just gone back to bed, but I didn’t want to leave him.

“I’d like that,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

The conversation shifts to school gossip, and we spend the next hour talking and laughing with each other.