Chapter 2 Kieran
Eris is home. It’s not really any safer since Daniel lurks outside her apartment building as often as we do… But it is better because we can watch her more closely.
That’s what I keep telling myself.
I don’t actually believe it, though.
She would be safest here with us.
I observe her from the too far distance of our loft, wishing she were here instead of at her place.
My eyes don’t stray from the main monitor where the image of her sitting in an armchair in her bedroom keeps me riveted.
On the screen to my left, the camera feed cycles through her hallway, kitchen, living room, but I only give it a sliver of my attention.
Her legs are curled beneath her, hiding her bare feet. I imagine the hoodie she’s wearing is mine, and she thinks it smells too good to part with. The messy knot atop her head is only askew because I’ve made it that way… But I don’t stay in my delusions long.
I want to catalogue everything about her, though I stop when I see how collected she is.
Eris appears at ease as she talks with her friend, Romily. Unguarded even. There’s no tension in her shoulders as the day winds down. No signs of lingering panic, like maybe she keeps reliving the visit from her ex.
All I see is focus.
She’s calmer than most people would be after a stalker gets mere inches from you and then gets dragged out of a building. Much calmer than any of us were as we stood idly by.
Romily pads barefoot back and forth across the bedroom as she talks animatedly with her hands and raids Eris’s closet like she owns the place.
My girl just sits and absorbs the clear chaos of her friend, phone gripped in her hand like she can’t put it down, as if the secrets inside it are too important to part with.
She’s still just as steady and controlled as she normally is, but there’s something different about her now.
I click on the volume icon in the camera database, loading the sound to one of the two bedroom cameras we installed, so I can hear the women talking.
“Put this one on,” Romily calls as she exits the closet, tossing a dress onto the bed. “This is the final answer. You look hot in green.”
Eris doesn’t move. She just wakes her phone, fingers sliding across the screen in smooth motions. She stops, and a message flashes across the chat interface on the right side of my screen.
Eris:
Are you still watching me?
I smirk as she glances at the camera.
Locke:
Always.
She rolls her eyes and rotates, tossing her legs over the arm of the chair so she can stare head-on into the other camera.
Eris:
You know Roo will change in here too, right?
That’s weird. Even for you.
Locke:
My eyes are only for you.
Tell Roo to change in the bathroom.
Her brows lift as she scoffs at my response. The disbelief is loud and clear, but it feels more like a challenge than a dismissal.
Eris:
I’m not sure whether I should smile at that or start covering the lenses.
Locke:
Both… but smile first.
And bite your lip while you do it…
Eris:
Fuel for your fantasy?
Locke:
I want to watch.
She looks up, right into my soul through the camera, and smiles.
It’s not forced or shy. This is the type of smile that says she knows exactly what it’s doing… teasing, self-assured.
Lethal.
I lean closer to the monitor, the corner of my mouth twitching before I can stop it. Every time I watch her, she’s more composed. Right now, she feels so aware of her power that it’s breathtaking.
It doesn’t make sense.
She should be terrified after everything that happened earlier.
But she’s not.
And I can’t stop witnessing her becoming this confident version of herself.
On the feed, Romily drops two more outfits onto the bed. “Which one?”
“The left,” Eris says, still staring at the camera lens. I hold her gaze, wondering if she can feel my eyes on hers.
“You didn’t even look.”
“I don’t have to, Roo. You always put the one you like more on the left side… And if I pick the one on the right, you’ll just tell me it’s not short enough or it doesn’t accentuate your assets enough or—”
“You didn’t even look,” Romily repeats.
Eris picks up her phone from her lap, casting a quick glance over her shoulder at her friend. “Looking doesn’t change my answer. The one on the left.”
Eris:
I guess we’re going out for margaritas instead of drinking at home. Not sure I want to go.
Locke:
Then let her drink.
Stay in. I’ll keep you company.
Eris:
You are company.
Sort of.
Like creepy, illegal company.
Locke:
It’s only creepy if you cover the lens and I have to find another way to watch you.
Eris:
You’re terrible.
Locke:
You like it.
Eris:
Shut up.
Locke:
Make me.
She bites her lip, a tiny pause between thought and motion. It’s the exact second when she decides to play along.
Eris:
Fine, I’ll tell her to change in the bathroom. But if you’re watching, you better appreciate what I pick.
Locke:
Eris, I appreciate everything you pick.
Especially me.
She doesn’t respond right away. But the flush on her cheeks says everything.
On screen, she nudges Roo with her foot. “Go change in the bathroom.”
“Why?” Roo asks, grinning.
“Because your ass is in front of the camera, and I keep getting notifications about it.” Then she shakes her head. “I need a second alone.”
Roo laughs. “My ass looks much better on film than in a live stream. You better charge double on your OF when I’m involved.”
But she grabs black fabric from the bed and disappears into the one room in the apartment that doesn’t have a camera.
Eris stands languidly, turns back toward the lens, hands going to her hips, exactly where I’d like my fingertips to mark her.
“Are you happy now?” she asks softly, the corner of her lips tugging into a smirk.
She doesn’t expect an answer from me. I can tell the question is rhetorical.
But I give her one anyway.
Locke:
Ecstatic.
Now pick the green dress.
And turn around slowly.
Eris hesitates deliberately, just long enough for the anticipation to hit me in the chest. She moves with intention, dragging her fingers down the dress. Performing for me, but not pretending.
It’s then I realize that fear isn’t what drives her.
It’s control.
And maybe that’s why she fascinates me.
The system flagged her user profile the day she first logged in as an anomaly buried in the code. She had no digital footprint before that login. No verified IP trail. No identifiable metadata. It was as if she had just… appeared out of thin air.
No one just appears.
Except her.
Jace can’t do anything more than hack her phone, and Silas can’t dig up shit about her past other than an address that no longer exists and a few living expenses that get paid by a literal Jane Doe.
I want to know all of her secrets.
And then I want to create more with her.
Eris steps closer to the bed, unties her messy bun, and glances at the camera as all that raven hair tumbles over her shoulders and down her back.
Her smile this time?
Wicked confidence.
A dare.
My real life Shego, minus the tight bodysuit. For now…
I drag a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots as I try to shake off the static crawling up my spine. I can hear my heart beating in my ears as my mind tries and fails to piece things together. Things that don’t really make sense… Things that are a stretch, even for my imagination.
The anomaly. The fake office job. The way she seems to bloom under pressure.
Something about her just doesn’t add up.
And I don’t know whether I want to solve her…
Or worship her.
Locke:
You know I could watch you forever, right?
Just like this.
Quiet.
Soft.
Mine.
Eris doesn’t respond immediately.
She just stands there, calm and unflinching as she reads my message. Then she drops her phone onto the bed and reaches for the green dress, slow and purposeful, like she’s letting me see her decision before she makes it.
I exhale through my teeth, nearly whistling as I watch her remove her hoodie, exposing her bare skin beneath.
Her grin deepens into something playful yet dangerous, a wolf teasing the rabbit.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
She’s becoming someone else right in front of me.
Someone bolder.
Someone aware of her power.
And I’m starting to think we aren’t the only ones watching.
She’s watching us now too.