Page 33 of Peripheral Vision (Tethered in Darkness Duet #1)

Chapter

Twenty

FLETCHER

D ylan scurried off and scurried home right after I told her to, my threat no longer idle, but ready to be put into motion if she hesitates to listen again.

I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t a monster, but that just wouldn’t be true.

I’m the very monster that lurks in the darkness, the very thing she thinks she fears just as much as I’m the monster that chooses to be feared. And suddenly I’m taken back again.

The garage door is halfway open when I arrive at Jack’s house.

He had asked me to come by and pick a few things up for him since he was stuck going through drills on base, so I wasn’t expecting anyone to be home.

As I step inside, I hear muffled voices from the living room, and I freeze when I recognize Dylan’s. She’s supposed to be with her friends.

Her giggle cuts through the air as I hear a male voice whisper something to her before the sound of kissing reaches my ears. Oh, fuck no. I step fully into the living room and see a boy on top of Dylan on the couch, his hands roaming in places they shouldn’t be. I clear my throat.

The boy scrambles off of Dylan and her head snaps toward mine as she rights herself on the couch, her face pale. “Fletcher? What are you doing here? ”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I say, my eyes narrowing on the boyfriend, or whoever the fuck he is, who shifts uncomfortably under my gaze.

“I was just leaving…” the boy mumbles, grabbing his jacket and making a quick exit. I don’t move until the door click shuts behind me. When I turn back to Dylan, she’s glaring at the floor and has her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

“What the fuck was that about?” I ask, my voice calm but laced with steel.

“Nothing,” she mutters.

“It didn’t look like nothing,” I counter as I cross my arms.

Dylan hesitates, her fingers twisting in her lap. Then, as if deciding to rip off a Band-Aid, she looks up and blurts, “I slept with him, okay? Are you happy now?”

I freeze, her words hitting me like a slap. For a moment, I can’t do anything but stare at her in disbelief. “You — what?”

She huffs, her cheeks flushing. “I’m not a little kid, Fletcher. I knew what I was doing.”

Fury, red hot and unfamiliar when it comes to her, rushes through my veins. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re fourteen, Dylan. Fourteen! Do you even understand what you’ve done?”

Her jaw tightens. “It was my choice.”

“It was a stupid fucking choice. You’re a kid! You don’t even know what that means yet,” I scoff as I pace the room.

“I’m not a kid!” she fires back, her voice shaking.

“Yes. You. Are!” I snap and turn to face her. “And that idiot boyfriend of yours, he should’ve known better. Hell, you should’ve known better.”

Tears well in her eyes, but she lifts her chin stubbornly. “You don’t understand, I wanted to do it.”

I stare at her, my hands clenched at my sides. I take a deep breath to try and calm down. “Dylan,” I say, my voice quiet but no less intense. “This isn’t about wanting to. It’s about what’s right and what’s smart. And this? This wasn’t either. ”

She wipes her eyes, her bravado crumbling. “Are you going to tell my dad?”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “No, not this time. But you need to understand something. If this happens again and it ends up hurting you, and I find out, then he will too.”

She nods, her shoulders slumping.

I crouch in front of her, my tone softening as I place my hands on her shoulders. “You’re better than this, Dyl. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, least of all some kid who isn’t going to stick around. You hear me?”

She nods again, biting her lip to keep it from trembling.

“Good, now go upstairs and get your head straight. And if I see that boyfriend of yours again, he and I are gonna have words,” I say as I stand up.

It’s funny all the ways things change but remain the same all at once, except now I’m no longer as patient or kind as I was back then.

Just as Dylan isn’t as agreeable, the kind of person who would just smile through the uncomfortable moments and never rock the boat.

But that was before. And what’s more? We aren’t the same to each other.

There is this forbidden tension that hangs between us now as if the years of friendship, the shared laughter, the quiet conversations, all of it was a foundation that’s suddenly cracked.

I used to look at her as a kid, as someone to protect, someone who needed guidance.

Now? Now I see a woman, someone strong, independent—someone who isn’t afraid to challenge me.

Dylan acts terrified but I see it for what it really is—the way she stares, watches.

How her breathing quickens. I saw it tonight when I cornered her.

Her pulse was racing, her pupils had dilated and while she tried to pull away…

she didn’t scream, didn’t fight me like she could have since we were in a public space knowing she could get me caught if she wanted to.

The way her lips had parted, her breath catching in her throat—she’s drawn to it. Drawn to me .

She doesn’t understand what she’s playing with, what she’s gradually inviting in.

And God help me, I’m going to give it to her.

Because when she looks at me there’s no mistaking it: behind the fear and subtle curiosity, there’s something else.

She isn’t going to run from my darkness, not when she’s starting to reach out to touch it.

And I intend to have her fucking drown in it.

The night is pressing in around me by the time I make it back to my Airbnb.

Nathan’s here tonight, laptop balanced on his knees while he sits on the small couch, a beer on the table in front of him.

The faint glow from the screen highlights his furrowed brow and the way his jaw tenses when he concentrates.

He doesn’t look up as I enter, but I already know I’m in for it judging by the tension in the air.

“You were gone longer than I expected,” he says, his voice even, measured.

“Got sidetracked.”

He snorts, glancing up. “By what? A stray cat?”

“Something like that,” I reply, brushing past him and settling in at the dining table. I don’t bother explaining Dylan—still choosing to keep that part of my world separate. He wouldn’t understand. “How are we narrowing down on that location?”

He shakes his head, taking a long pull of his beer.

“Not any closer than we were before. I’ve been working with your buddy and they are locked down tight.

I don’t know why, but I feel weird about this, man.

What if the slip up, the money transfer, was intentional?

I just can’t stop thinking about that message you got and the fact that suddenly their network is tight as a virgin on a Sunday morning when it was looser than a whore on a Friday night not even days ago… ”

I glance at him from the corner of my eyes, wondering where the fuck he comes up with some of the shit that comes out of his mouth. “Even if that is the case… is this something we can choose to back out on now?”

“I don’t know, man. I keep going over it, trying to make sense of it all.

But I’m almost one hundred percent positive they’re controlling the narrative now.

They’re pulling the strings, playing us.

It feels like a set-up, that much I think you were right in, when we struck the deal with Ezra.

I don’t know how our cover would have been blown, but this is all too coincidental.

I don’t know what their aim is, they could’ve killed us when they had the chance. So now we just need to figure out why.”

I lean forward, hands on the table, the words hitting me harder than I expected. “You think they know who we are?”

He shrugs, his eyes cold as he meets mine.

“I would like to think that our covers are concealed as theirs are, but the way things have been moving, it’s hard to say.

They’ve probably got as many eyes as we do.

Either they’ve been watching us all along, or they’ve got someone inside who’s feeding them everything they need to stay one step ahead.

I can’t say I’ve recognized anyone twice from the drops, but… ”

“But it feels off,” I finish for him. And he’s right, it does.

We’ve been to enough of these to know when something isn’t right.

Faces don’t add up. Patterns start breaking down.

And when you notice that—when you start catching things out of place—it’s not just a coincidence anymore.

“So what? We’ve been exposed for how long?

How long have we been dancing around their traps without even knowing it? ”

His eyes flick down to his screen before connecting with mine again.

“Could be recent, could go back too many jobs to count. Either way, we’re not in control anymore and they want us to know it.

They know we’re close, and I’m not sure if they’re waiting for us to make the next move, or if they already know exactly what we’re going to do. ”

“Well, they clearly don’t want us dead. Not yet.

Which means we have to figure out what they do want, which means we have to get closer.

I imagine they’re going to be herding us like cattle, so they leave us no choice but to come to them.

People like this, they’re all about control.

But lucky for us, we’re damn good at playing the game. ”