Page 7 of Carved Obsession

I stop a few feet in front of the door but turn my back to it. As if on cue, the phone vibrates with a new text. Just like that, the current dissipates.

“Cillian’s there to chat about the docks,” I say.

“Yeah, I kind of assumed.”

Well, I needed to be sure.

I slide the phone into my front pocket and look up, seeking Maddox, but what slams into my line of sight instead, doused in lively pastel clothes that make everyone else look monochrome, is...her.

The current is back. Goosebumps nettle over my skin, and the noise of the street traffic separating us fades away.

One hundred and ninety-eight days and there she is.

Across the street, carrying two cups of coffee, a brown paper bag hanging on her wrist, she opens the door to her shiny, dark-green sports car.

As if she feels the touch of my gaze, she looks up. Straight into my goddamn eyes. And I curse every single car passing by, interrupting my line of sight, because she looks gloriously surprised. A slight tinge of shock, or maybe fear, rounds her eyes.

My feet move before I can stop them, but a hand pulls me back just as a car honks as it speeds past me.

“What the hell are you doing, Carter?” Maddox growls.

The woman I’ve failed to find is now smirking at me. She’s fucking smirking. It’s both condescending and innocent, and embers catch fire deep inside me in response. My fists clench as she raises the coffee cups to me in salute, then dips down to climb into her car.

No!

She’s not getting away this time.

I won’t allow it.

I look left, ready to step onto the busy street and rush to her, but two tourist buses drive by, blocking both my sight and my way. A deep groan vibrates through my throat.

“Goddamn it, come on,” I whisper to myself, urging the damn buses to move faster.

But when they clear, the parking spot is empty and the dark-green car is nowhere in sight. A heated tightness clutches my lungs, holding my breath hostage within them.

She’s gone.

Chapter 2

Scarlet

“Well, fuck me sideways!” I exclaim.

A wide, cheek-straining smile possesses my face. I can’t help it. I can’t control it. Adrenaline rushes through my nerves, and fear and anticipation tighten my fists around the steering wheel as my foot presses harder against the gas pedal.

It’s been months since Imethim in that alley. The chances of us running into each other were close to zero since I didn’t live in Queenscove, but since I moved here, I kept waiting for the unavoidable moment when he would find me.

Every single time I was out, I couldn’t relax. Always looking over my shoulder. At night, I kept checking out the window, tensed constantly.

I decided to find him instead. I’ve seen him several times during this time, but I’ve been confident he’s never seen me once.

If I wasn’t convinced before, I am now, because there’s no way I would have misunderstood this feeling. I felt him like a brewing storm silencing the world. Sizzles of current rushed over my skin as he yanked the air from my lungs. He was everywhere around me, and I was stuck in his violent vortex.

And there was so much violence in his eyes. Even from across the street, there was no missing it. Too many shadows looked back at me. Too dark. Threatening.

He tried to come for me, though I doubt he would have done anything in the middle of the day with all those people around.

The thought bears logic, yet...vengeance was so deeply etched in his frown that I don’t trust he wouldn’t have found a way. Right there. In the middle of Queenscove. I only got away because of pure dumb luck, and he doesn’t appear to be chasing after me.