Chapter 12 Eris
I’m halfway through my second drink, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on my back when something shifts in the air, cooling my skin. It’s a paranoia I don’t normally succumb to, but the crowd is dense and the music is louder than it was when we came in.
A prickle at the nape of my neck urges me to run, but the thing inside me begs for a fight.
I slowly turn on my heel.
And come face-to-face with Daniel.
Not on a screen.
Not in a text.
Not lurking outside my window like a bored ghost.
He’s here.
In this bar.
In my space.
His smile is the same sour tilt of his lips he used to wear when he tried to exercise ownership over me or when he thought I owed him something.
My jaw locks at his possessive expression, anger crawling under my skin like an army of ants marching to a bloodbath.
Roo sees my face, follows my line of sight, and snaps, “Oh, absolutely fucking not.”
Daniel is eight feet away, cutting around the table separating us, like this place belongs to him. I don’t break eye contact, keeping my focus on him as Roo touches my elbow, letting me know she’s ready to fight.
“Anna,” he groans, as if my name tastes sweet in his mouth. “You look incredible.”
“Don’t,” I warn.
Roo presses closer to my side. “Back up, Dollar Store Patrick Bateman.”
Daniel ignores her. Of course he does. He hasn’t ever spared her a moment of interest, which shows his clear lack of self-preservation. Roo is certifiably insane most days.
“Why are you here?” I ask, voice sharp enough to cut through all the bullshit Roo is ready to stir.
“Following a trail.” He shifts closer, reaching out to touch my hair.
My pulse spikes as I dodge his fingers. That army of ants marches under my skin with frenzied rage.
“You can’t keep avoiding me,” he insists, tucking his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “We were good together. You just needed space to realize that.”
“I needed space all right,” I respond with a laugh. “To realize you’re a liar and a cheater and a piss-poor narcissist.”
His smile doesn’t waver. “I’ve missed you and your smart mouth.”
“I don’t care,” I reply, exasperated with this entire charade.
I hate the version of me he calls Anna. She’s so much weaker than I am… But I can’t drop this act until I can kill him. And sadly, I can’t kill him here.
Daniel reaches for me again, the delusional gleam in his eyes causing my lip to curl in disgust. His fingers stretch out like he thinks he can still touch me.
He barely grazes my forearm.
And another hand shoots out from my side, clamping around his wrist hard enough to draw his attention away from me.
Daniel turns just as I do.
Jace hovers over me like a shadow.
Not the charming, teasing version of him I once met, the one who kissed me like he was memorizing me. Or the cold version of him who tried to avoid contact while he was in my apartment.
This Jace is quiet, like the whispering of a well-used blade whirling through the air.
“I think you should leave,” Jace says in a rumble. His voice is low and loud, somehow carrying over the music.
Daniel huffs a laugh. “Who the fuck are you?”
Jace doesn’t shrink back. “I’m the man who won’t ask twice.”
I twist to keep both men in my line of vision, pushing Roo slightly behind me so she’s closer to the table, closer to an empty beer bottle she will absolutely use as a weapon.
Daniel tries to yank his arm free, though he doesn’t have the strength to pull loose from Jace’s grip. Annoyance blooms on Daniel’s face, the frown morphing into pinched lips and flared nostrils.
Jace lets Daniel go the next time he jerks his arm.
“You reach for her again,” Jace warns, leaning in, voice calm and only loud enough for the three of us to hear. “And I’ll make sure you don’t have hands to touch anyone else.”
Every word lands with a precision cut. There’s no posturing or anger in Jace’s promise. Daniel hears it as the threat it is and freezes. He looks at me, searching for something soft. Something familiar he can warp and manipulate.
There’s nothing left for him to find.
Surprisingly, Daniel gives a small smile and turns to leave, weaving through the crowd until we lose sight of him.
No dramatics.
No last word.
Just gone.
But he’s not that simple…
I don’t realize Roo’s hand is pressing between my shoulder blades until her exhale ruffles my hair.
“Holy shit.”
I snort at her in reply.
I’m thrumming with the violent urge to end this mess with Daniel, and my hands shake from pure frustration. Every time he shows up and gets close, it’s too public to kill him… And I have too many eyes and cameras on me when I think I’m in private.
Privacy is a joke.
The only time I’m alone is when I’m in my bathroom.
Jace stands at my side, still staring in the direction Daniel disappeared, like he’s preparing for round two. Or ten. He’s calm, a solid wall of muscle and strength I didn’t know I would lean against until now.
Roo doesn’t say a word as she tucks my buzzing phone into my hand. I’m not even surprised by the HimLock app notification on my phone.
Locke:
He won’t touch you again.
Not while we’re breathing.
I don’t reply.
Because for the first time in a long, long time… I want to believe it.
Roo doesn’t care to stay at the bar for another minute.
“Matt says he’s gone,” she murmurs in my ear. “He had another bouncer follow him to his car.”
“You texted Matt?”
“Fuck yeah,” she growls at me. “We’re not leaving until he’s gone. And now that he’s gone, we can kick fucking rocks.”
Roo grabs my wrist, gently but with purpose, and mutters something sharp to Jace that I don’t catch. He turns his intense stare toward the two of us, but he shakes his head instead of speaking.
She steers me toward the door like we’re escaping a burning building. I don’t argue or look back to gauge Jace’s expression.
We don’t say a word about the events of the night… not as we venture through the carpark or on the drive to my apartment. The lights of Crimson Bay’s nightlife blur past us in gold streaks, keeping us company.
We acknowledge nothing aloud until the front door of my apartment is closed and locked behind us. Roo leans her hip against the breakfast bar and observes me as I breathe so fucking deep, I make myself light-headed.
“Are you okay?” she asks, uncertain in a way Roo rarely is. “I didn’t realize he had gotten so… bad. And I’m not comfortable leaving you after seeing that.”
I’m not okay. Not even close. But I nod anyway, because whatever is happening inside me feels too tangled to unwind so soon.
“I’ll be fine, Roo,” I promise her, shooting a quick glance at the camera in the corner of the living room. “I’m just processing and planning.”
Roo hovers like she always does when she’s worried, becoming some sort of warped Betty Homemaker as she makes me tea I don’t drink. She looks out the window before checking the locks and drawing the curtains. She even hangs my jacket on the hook by the door.
“Stop freaking out. I promise I’ll be okay,” I scold softly. “Please go home. You can’t do anything from here, but if you’re at home, then you can start looking into Daniel.”
She nods, kissing me on the cheek. “Call me when you wake up or if anything feels off. I don’t even care what it is. Call me if—”
“I will.”
She leaves with a reluctant huff, and I lock the door behind her, lingering in the entryway as I glare at the shadows dancing across my apartment. The stillness casts an eerie, stagnant aura, too silent to provide comfort.
The walls have ears, and though that’s a problem on its own, tonight, it brings me peace.
Because tonight? I just want to sleep.
I glide across the living room floor, the hardwood chilly against my bare feet, and grab my phone from the coffee table. I still have questions… And it’s about damn time I get some actual answers.
I’ll text Jace first. I want to know… everything.
Why was he there?
Why did he step in?
Is he one of the HimLock guys?
I suspect the answer is yes, but I war with myself over the reality of actually hearing that.
Do I even want to know?
I won’t ask Jace in a text… That’s a conversation directed at all three of my HimLock guys.
Eris
You didn’t have to scare him like that.
His reply is instant, like he’s just been waiting for me to reach out.
Jace
You’re right.
I didn’t have to.
I wanted to.
My breath stutters. My thumbs hover, thoughts incoherent for a moment. Only one word comes to mind.
Eris
Why?
Three dots roll across my screen longer than I’d like.
Jace
Because he looked at you like you were his.
And you’re not.
Heat rushes to my face, red-hot anger and something heavier mixing until I can’t tell them apart.
I don’t reply. There is nothing to say back to his response.
I open the app instead.
The gradient heart pulses as it loads, the dark screen shifting like it’s turning its face toward me.
Eris:
Was he there before I saw him?
Jace, I mean…
Were you watching too?
Locke:
Yes.
The answer punches through our chat like a physical blow. My chest tightens with something dangerous, something I don’t want to name yet. But it’s there, coiling around my lungs.
Eris:
Have I met all of you?
In real life?
Locke:
You’ve met the parts of us we wanted you to see.
Eris:
Not people…
Parts.
Cool. Got it.
I sink onto the couch, tucking my legs beneath me, phone glowing in my hand.
I’m starting to feel as though I’ve been tricked. Like I’m stupid for getting this attached to something that shouldn’t be real. That isn’t real.
They aren’t real until they’re mine, and that can’t happen if they won’t be honest with me… if they won’t materialize in the flesh and stop hiding.
I feel like such a fucking idiot, and that pisses me off.
Locke:
But you still keep talking to me.
You’re not as offended as you want either of us to believe.
I stare at the words until they blur, then I type so fast the words lag across the screen.
Eris:
Because I don’t know where else to go to feel this seen.
I’m not offended.
I’m angry.
Locke:
Then stay.
Even if you’re angry.
Even if you think you should walk away.
Even if you’re scared of what this is becoming.
Just… stay.
I shake my head as I drop my phone onto my lap.
I can acknowledge that I don’t want to walk away, and even if I did, I’m not sure I can anymore.
The part of me that should know better, the part that should hunt and kill them for knowing too much about me, doesn’t fucking care.
I just want to make them mine.