Chapter 13 Eris
Ahigh-pitched sound jolts me awake, and I nearly fall off the couch. Broken glass clatters to the floor from my balcony door. My breath leaves in a burst of panic as I take a quick inventory of my living room.
I yank the blanket covering my legs and climb over the arm of the couch without making a sound, phone clutched in my hand so I can text Roo.
My footsteps are fast and efficient, taking me toward my room. I flip the closet light on and slam the door, then I swerve in the opposite direction and duck into my bathroom.
Daniel’s voice fills my apartment.
“Anna,” he calls in a singsong tone. “Anna…”
He doesn’t sound frantic or drunk. If anything, he’s soft. Possessive in a way that turns my blood cold with fury.
And a little ebbing fear.
It’s not every day that someone breaks into my apartment while I’m sleeping.
Daniel continues to call me by a name that was never mine. He doesn’t know Eris; he only knows Anna, a character built to get close to him.
Anna is not me.
She would bargain and sweet-talk…
I do neither. And I don’t scream or freeze as the adrenaline floods my system.
I just stand in the doorway of my bathroom as I listen for his shoes to crunch on the broken glass. That’s when I’ll know he’s inside.
He knocks a few more shards from the hole. I hear the distinct sound of the curtains falling and the glass shattering as he steps through.
I ease the bathroom door closed, twisting the knob so it’s silent as it clicks into place.
There’s no sense in trying to keep him out, so I don’t bother with the lock.
There’s only one more precaution I take…
I stuff a towel against the bottom of the door, as gently as possible, blocking the light from my phone.
The glow intensifies as I wake my screen. And because the HimLock app is already open, I pop in a quick message.
Eris:
He’s inside.
The reply is so immediate I don’t have time to muffle the buzz.
Locke:
Don’t move.
We’re coming up.
They’re coming up? What the fuck does that mean?
Are they already here?
I shake my head and get back to business. The bottom drawer is home to a small pistol that I put here when the cameras in my apartment started filming my life without consent. It’s a new gun I bought for this very occasion.
There is only one name on the bullets in the mag.
I sit on the stool at the edge of my tub. It’s a little green thing I normally use to hold my towel or clothes, but now it’s my perch.
I chamber a round, slide the safety off, and stare at the door in anticipation.
Deliberate footsteps move down the hallway. He’s making sure I hear him invade my space, like he’s savoring his own delusion. The thud of his shoes pauses mere feet from me, with only a piece of wood between us. Pressure causes the door to creak, and I assume he’s leaning against it.
I could so easily shoot through the door, though there’s a chance of missing that I don’t want to risk.
I want him to look into my eyes while I pull the trigger.
“Come on, Anna,” Daniel coaxes, mouth to the door. “Don’t be dramatic. I just want to talk.”
I say nothing.
Do nothing.
But my finger rests confidently against the gun, a split-second from the trigger.
I’m not waiting for rescue.
I’m waiting for an opportunity.
There’s a loud bang at the front of my apartment that startles me. Then the sound of busted trim and splintered wood rings through the silence. The front door detonates as if someone struck it with a battering ram.
It’s not opened... It’s obliterated.
A shout follows. Daniel screams in outrage. The heavy crash of a body meeting drywall comes next… The bathroom floor vibrates beneath me. And the mirror in my entryway slams onto the hardwood, more shattered glass raining across my floor.
I raise a curious eyebrow at the closed door, but I don’t yet move.
I just listen, intrigued and wondering if they really got here this fast. Will they also be killing Daniel? Or will I have to find another time to do that?
I roll my eyes, lost in a mix of frustration and excitement and thinly veiled weariness. That’s where I stay for several minutes, even as I hear muffled sounds and words coming from the other side of the wall.
Until a voice cuts through the rioting emotions plaguing me.
A familiar voice that makes me roll my eyes a second time.
“Eris. It’s me,” he announces. There’s a soft grunt and a throat being cleared. “It’s Jace. Open the door. Please.”
I smile at the tenderness in his voice, but quickly mask my amusement as I rise and turn the doorknob in one smooth motion. It isn’t locked; they didn’t even check… Were they going to wait until I let them in?
Jace fills the doorway, his broad chest heaving, and his jaw clenched. I recognize the murder simmering in his eyes. His knuckles drip red. There’s drywall debris on his shoulders, and I think I can safely assume he’s the culprit behind whatever damage is beyond my view.
I won’t fault him for it… but I might have some retroactive anger if they left Daniel alive inside my apartment.
I need him dead.
I glance behind Jace and narrow my eyes. Silas and Kieran stand flanking him like dark centennials, furious silhouettes vibrating with the need to do more damage.
No one speaks for a hot, awkward minute.
I don’t even know what to say…
The past few weeks form a maddening collage in my mind as I reanalyze every conversation we’ve ever had. Every shared moment. Every touch.
Jace’s gaze sweeps over me, looking for any outward sign of injury. I snap my attention to him, biting my tongue so I don’t explode.
They don’t deserve the amount of anger I currently have simmering in my blood.
“Are you hurt?” Jace asks me, his eyes imploring me to be honest.
“No.” I shake my head. “Not physically.”
Silas’s eyes drop to the gun in my hand. His mouth twitches in approval, but not surprise… That smirk is suspicious. Isn’t this one of those situations where—never mind. I can’t even finish that sentence.
There is no situation like this…
Ever.
“She didn’t run,” Silas murmurs to Kieran.
“I didn’t have to,” I say, with a little more sass in my tone than I intend to use. “Why would I run? This is my home.”
No one answers me.
Kieran steps closer, voice low. “Are you okay?”
“No, but I’ll be fine.”
That’s a lie.
Something is alive under my skin, electric and burning. Eating me from the inside out.
And it has nothing to do with Daniel or my current circumstances.
It has everything to do with them.
My HimLock guys… who have a metric fuck-load of shit to explain.
But I’ll give them a pass until I have a fresh mind to process their answers.
They came for me. That’s still kind of blowing my mind because it almost sounds like they were coming here before Daniel showed up.
I won’t read too much into it right now.
I slide the safety into place and extend the gun as something like a peace offering, showing them I’m not a dangerously wounded animal who might shoot.
Jace takes my gun, gentle despite the blood on his fingers. He passes it to Silas.
“Come here,” he murmurs, taking my hand and tugging me out of the bathroom.
I don’t fall into him or collapse on trembling legs, but also don’t let go of his hand. I like the way it engulfs mine, like I’m some petite damsel.
We share a few glances with each other, and Kieran opens his mouth to speak.
“Later.” Silas holds his hand up. “Let’s get out of here first, and then we can talk.”
I just nod, slip my feet into a pair of wool-lined house shoes, and follow them out of the wreckage of my apartment, into the sleeping hallway of my complex. Soundless. Controlled. Obsessed. And utterly pissed off about not being able to kill Daniel yet again.
There was a plan in place. I was so ready to execute it too.
But it doesn’t really matter… because now I’ve seen their faces. And I know the names behind the voices.
I no longer care about lines or lies or how any of this started.
I care only about one thing…
They are mine.
And the ferocious want I feel for them scares me far more than Daniel ever could.