37. Chapter Thirty-Seven Whispers of Tomorrow
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Whispers of Tomorrow
Tess
Throughout the week, I saw Maverick across the street from the shop, amongst crowds, and generally wandering randomly around the area, wherever I happened to be.
I wiped down the tattoo station, unable to shake the sinking feeling gnawing at my gut. Ivan’s ghost was like a storm brewing, but it was all in my head. He’d always been a dark force in the world, but now he was morphing into something worse, the memory of him haunting me everywhere I went.
Maverick sauntered past the shop across the street, his face turned away, then veered into the bookshop two doors down. I didn’t know what his game was, but I didn’t like it. I found myself warring with competing instincts about him, both allured and afraid of letting him have his fun with me.
On the one hand, as Oscar had insisted, I deserved a chance to enjoy myself for a while, but on the other, I knew keeping an emotional distance was the smart thing to do. It felt too good being the object of his attention not to get attached, but his reputation was clear. He did not get attached.
Ivan’s voice in my head interrupted my train of thought: I walked through the mall, and as long as I made eye contact with people, they fed me with so much delicious fear that I was full in half an hour.
I glanced over at the appointment book, empty under his name, its pristine pages mocking me with their blankness. No clients. Just Ivan, lurking in the corner of my head like a specter, his brooding presence still suffocating me. I expected to return with bustling creativity, but there were only Ivan’s tales of torment on an endless loop.
I continued setting up for the day and then turned to his empty chair to relay the day’s appointments. Two for me and none for him.
Because he was dead.
That evening, I thought I saw Maverick in the crowd up ahead as I strolled home from work, but then he disappeared. In the morning, I caught his gaze while he sipped coffee in the window of a cafe on my way to work. He didn’t acknowledge me, but I smirked and shook my head.
Was Reaper obsessed with me? I didn’t know how to feel about that thought.
On the way home from work the next night, I got that eerie feeling someone was following me. It was ten PM, so it was pretty dark out, and I’d had a long session inking a client’s back, so I was exhausted. I turned around, but the two people behind me talking to each other weren’t moving toward me or paying any attention to me.
“Maverick, if that’s you, quit it. I’m not in the mood.” I made the declaration loudly, hoping he’d hear me if he was skulking around somewhere.
There was no response, so I kept walking. It wouldn’t be long till I was home, in my pajamas and reading in bed with a decaf mocha. I could almost taste it already.
Then… a rhythmic tapping behind me, growing louder.
Someone moving closer.
Someone running right at me.
I froze.
Prepared for the inevitable hand to wrap around my mouth and haul me into a van or something.
I held my breath.
Why didn’t I run?
But the capture never came.
Instead, there was silence.
Just dead quiet.
Stillness, making my hairs stand on end.
Finally, I turned around and just caught a muffled choking sound, but no one was there.
My heart beat loudly in my ears.
I checked both sides of the street.
There wasn’t anyone nearby that I could see.
“Hello?”
As if my stalker would say, “ Hey, how’s it going? ” Ridiculous .
“Fuck,” I hissed and dashed home, staying on high alert. I didn’t see or hear anything else the whole way, but as I closed the front door, I was sure I saw Maverick peeking at me from behind a tree.
I slammed the door and locked it, begging my heart to calm the fuck down.
“Everything okay?” asked Addie from the couch. She was all curled up with a mug and a blanket, watching something on Netflix.
I nodded. “Yeah. Fine. But I think Reaper is stalking me.”
She sat up, alarm plain in her eyes. “Stalking you?”
I bit down on my teeth, pausing to think about whether to brush it off or not. “Yeah. I’ve been seeing him around all week, and just now, it felt like someone was following me.”
“You think it was him?”
I shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. I think he’s outside now, though.”
She shot up and peered out the window. “Right now? I’ll go tell him to fuck off.”
I laughed. “He won’t listen anyway. What the fuck does he want?”
“Maybe that’s what he wants, another fuck.” She waggled her eyebrows like a loon.
“Nah. He can walk into any supe club and have his pick.”
She plopped back down in her seat and tucked the blanket in. “You always do that, you know.”
“What?”
“Fail to take into account how fabulous you are. Maybe he actually likes you.”
I scoffed. “Please. He doesn’t even know me.”
“He knows you’re brave and compassionate, that you refuse to be fucked with, and you stand strong in adversity. Plus, you’re hot, and I bet he enjoyed that sesh you two had, or he’d have disappeared like you expected!” She threw a crumpled-up napkin at me, and I batted it away with a laugh.
“I love you too, Ad, but as my oldest friend, you’re obviously biased.”
She groaned. “Are you gonna come watch The Witcher with me or what?”
“Nah. I’m just going to get to bed. It’s been a long day.”
She pouted. “Fine. See you tomorrow then.”
“Night…” I shuffled down the hall to my room.