15. Silas
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lilith
Tell me something about yourself.
Silas
No.
Lilith
Oh, come on. Pretty please?
S he’d been at this for days.
The same question, the same persistence, trying to pry something out of me, to find some crack in the wall I’d built between us.
She was relentless, and I, stupidly, was starting to like it.
But I couldn’t tell her a damn thing. She couldn’t know me. If she knew me, she…
No.
She was standing at the counter, brows knit in mild frustration as she stared down at some paperwork.
Silas
I know you’ve made three cups of coffee in the last hour and you’ve not touched a single one.
She went rigid, gaze flicking toward the counter, to the coffee. Then straight to where I stood across the street.
Her eyes stayed on me as she slowly picked up one of the mugs and raised it to her lips, taking a slow sip. Her face immediately contorted as she forced it down like it tasted like absolute garbage, and I had to swallow down a laugh.
Lilith
Ok now it’s just creepy.
Silas
It’s just an observation.
She sighed, tapping her nails against the phone before responding.
Lilith
Yeah? Then observe something else, asshole.
She looked back up at me, and flipped me off.
I actually laughed this time, a sharp exhale that fogged through my scarf and into the cold air.
She shook her head, muttering something under her breath before walking off in between the shelves out of sight.
The street had emptied, leaving only the distant hum of passing cars, and the faint buzz of streetlights overhead.
She stood beneath the neon glow of the store’s ‘closed’ sign, fishing for her keys.
A few quick tugs, a twist of the lock, a double check, and the metal security gate rattled shut behind her.
She turned and looked right at me.
I wanted to see what she’d do this time. How she’d react.
I lifted my hand and gave the barest flick of my fingers in a wave.
Her brows pinched and her lips parted slightly, like she was this close to saying something. Instead, she let out a sigh that echoed across the street, rolled her eyes, and started walking.
I pushed off the lamppost I’d been leaning on and fell into step with her from across the street, keeping pace like a silent lunatic.
Halfway down the block, she stopped abruptly and turned toward me. “You’re being super fucking creepy right now!” she shouted over the road between us.
She pulled out her phone and typed.
My phone buzzed.
Lilith
STOP IT.
I smirked. Not a chance.
Silas
Just making sure you get home safe.
She groaned loudly, her head tipping back like she was longing for divine intervention.
“Have you done this before?” She shouted again, keeping her eyes ahead.
I pulled my phone back out again, typing as I walked.
Silas
No.
She glanced at her screen, then right back at me. She didn’t believe me. Didn’t blame her, honestly.
She veered toward a convenience store without so much as a glance in my direction. I leaned back against another lamppost, settling in as she disappeared inside.
Patience. I had plenty of it.
A few minutes later, the door swung open, and she stepped back out with a bag in her hands. She took two steps before stopping dead in her tracks.
“Oh, come on!” she shouted, exasperation dripping from every syllable.
A couple of passersby glanced between us, but I didn’t move, didn’t react, just tilted my head slightly like I had no idea what she was talking about.
She groaned, shifting the bags, and picked up her pace.
I matched it.
She walked faster.
So did I.
Then, out of nowhere, she darted down a narrow side street.
My stomach dropped.
No. No, no, no.
My fingers fumbled with my phone, sweat slicking against the screen.
Silas
Don’t do that. It’s not safe.
For a beat, nothing. My nerves twisted, cold and tight.
Where the fuck did she go?
Then her figure reappeared at the corner, and my muscles uncoiled so quickly I almost fell flat on the concrete.
She was glaring at me, a solid scowl set firmly in place.
It was impressive really. If looks could kill, I’d be a headline. ‘Local Man Stalks Wrong Woman, Mysteriously Disappears.’ No headstone, no eulogy—just a cautionary tale about a guy who crossed the line and got exactly what was coming to him.
Despite that thought, I couldn’t stop. I arched a brow, half expecting her to hurl her bag across the road, right at my head. Frankly, I wouldn’t have blamed her.
She huffed and kept walking .
If she kept frowning like that, she was going to give herself permanent wrinkles. Not that she didn’t look cute pissed off. Not that I should be thinking that.
Shut the hell up, Silas.
I shouldn’t have been doing this though. I knew that. Knew it in the same way I knew that fire was hot and knives were sharp and gravity was just another force, indifferent to whether I landed gracefully or flat on my face.
But my body stayed level with hers as my feet kept moving.
Technically, I wasn’t getting closer. Technically, I was still keeping my distance.
Technically.
Except none of it felt like distance when she kept throwing glances at me, scowling like she was two seconds from whipping a rock at my head.
She stopped at her front door, keys dangling from her fingers, turning back to face me with an exasperated sigh. “You coming in to murder me, or what?”
My lips twitched under my scarf, but I didn’t answer. Just shook my head.
If eye rolling was an Olympic sport, she’d be taking home the gold. Hell, if she went any harder, she’d be the first in line at the ER with a critical case of Exorcist Syndrome.
She turned, shoved the door open, then slammed it behind her.
I stood there for a second, listening to the deadbolt slide into place, then exhaled slowly and turned on my heel, heading back into the city.