Chapter 14 Jace
We spent the last two hours pacing in circles around the truth, until finally, we said, “Fuck it.”
Eris only lives a few blocks away, but still the three of us load into Kieran’s car to ride over to her apartment complex… And park in the visitor’s spot, like normal visitors should do. It’s a little less creepy than coming out of the shadows in the middle of the night.
We use the short drive to rehearse what we’re going to say, who will speak first, how the hell we’re supposed to tell her everything in one sitting…
No more usernames.
No more switching voices.
No more hiding behind an algorithm.
She deserves all of us in the light.
The thought of spilling all the things we’ve been keeping from her has me nervous as fuck. But seeing her again, no matter how unhappy she is with the intrusion or lies, gives me this jelly feeling in my bones.
Silas glances at his phone, and I barely glimpse the security app before he’s cussing colorfully, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
“What is it?” I ask, leaning between the front seats to see what he’s doing.
“Daniel just broke in through her balcony door.” Silas can hardly get the words out, his teeth clenched so tight I hear them grinding.
Kieran’s phone pings, and he sighs in frustration. “Just got the alert for his car. Ohio tags. Same dent in the bumper.”
“Drive faster,” I snap, sliding out of the middle, trying not to rip the handle off the door and run the rest of the way to Eris.
This motherfucker is on the wrong street at the wrong time.
Silas snatches Kieran’s phone, already rerouting camera footage, sending it through to the file he’s been collecting.
“Two minutes,” Kieran calls to us.
Silas turns to me. “You going in first? Or should I?”
“I got it. Just stay out of my way until I’m done,” I answer, trading him the contents of my pockets for the key fob to get into the complex. “I’ll leave it outside the door.”
By the time we reach her block, I’m vibrating with rage. We don’t need confirmation of the break-in. The window of her balcony is shattered.
I bolt from the car while it’s still moving, giving Kieran no time to come to a complete stop. My feet hit the pavement so hard it jars my teeth, but I’m across the courtyard and through the entrance before my brain catches up.
I drop the key fob outside the main door and sprint for the stairs, taking them two at a time. Her front door looms ahead of me, and I only slow enough to pinpoint the hinges and calculate the weakest spot of the door.
I don’t knock.
I raise my leg and slam my booted foot into the surface beside the lock.
Twice.
The frame splits as the lock gives way, and the door swings open to show the dark interior of Eris’s apartment, only lit by a single lamp in the living room
Daniel turns toward the sound, eyes wild and breathing fast. He licks his lips, a smug smirk filling his face as he opens his mouth to speak.
He doesn’t get the time he needs.
I lunge through the entrance, standing toe-to-toe with Daniel in two quick strides.
And I hit him with the heaviest haymaker I can throw.
Once across the jaw.
Twice to the gut.
He collides with the wall, a wheeze leaving his mouth as he slides down it like someone unplugged the power source keeping him upright.
I follow him, changing the trajectory of my swing and leaning into my left-hand punches so I don’t put another hole in the wall.
“Jace,” Kieran barks, catching my arm.
“I told him not to touch her,” I snarl, glaring down at the piece of shit I could so easily kick to death right here.
“He’s not touching anyone now,” Kieran tells me calmly.
Daniel tries crawling away, a pathetic little scrabble of limbs. I itch to kick him, just flatten him out again, and not stop.
Silas grabs the back of Daniel’s shirt, hauling the squirming man upright like he’s nothing, and leans in until they’re inches apart.
“You should be more afraid than this,” Silas warns Daniel, his voice so frigid he leaves frost in the air. “Self preservation is the only friend you’ve got left.”
Daniel freezes.
“You don’t know what you’ve walked into,” Silas murmurs. “But keep walking, and you won’t get out.”
He lets go of his hold, and Daniel’s legs fold, knees hitting the floor like discarded trash being tossed away.
I don’t give him another second of my attention. Kieran and Silas can handle escorting him out.
I’m already moving through the wreckage toward the bathroom door. But I don’t want to scare Eris… So, I press my hand against the wood, not pounding or demanding entrance. Just a soft, steady sound I know she can hear.
“Eris, it’s me,” I say, more of a whisper than I mean it to be. Kieran smacks my chest, frowning, and I clear my throat. “It’s Jace. Open the door. Please.”
The knob turns immediately, and then she’s there, standing in the doorway.
Alive. Barefoot. Hair mussed from sleep.
Face sharp with focus instead of fear…
Holding a gun with perfect, steady hands.
She’s not trembling.
I am.
We stare for one long, electric heartbeat. The adrenaline is leaving my body in a rush, and her icy gray eyes are the only thing keeping me grounded right now. She glares over my shoulder, and I can’t imagine what she’s thinking.
I just know I need to touch her.
“Are you hurt?” I ask, hoping I’m not yelling.
My ears are ringing, my knuckles are burning, and I try not to appear shell-shocked or feral. I can feel how crazed I must look, but I don’t take my gaze off hers.
“No. Not physically,” she answers, shaking her head.
I reach out—not to grab her or drag her in—just offering, curious if she’ll meet us halfway. I’m trying hard to be gentle, but there’s blood on my hands that I don’t want on her.
What I want is to wrap around her and take her home.
But she puts her gun in my hand like a fucking vow.
I don’t want the one thing she had to protect herself with.
I want her.
I pass the gun to Silas without looking back, and hold my hand out to her again.
“Come here,” I implore. But I don’t wait any longer.
I take her hand and pull her from the bathroom. She steps forward, fingers sliding into mine with no fear, like she’s known who we are longer than we thought… And she’s already decided what role we’ll play in her life.
There’s a moment where the four of us exchange glances, and Kieran takes a breath as if he’s about to start this very important conversation right now.
Silas holds his hand up. “Later. Let’s get out of here first, and then we can talk.”
Eris simply nods and tucks her feet into the fuzziest house shoes I’ve ever seen. No questions about what happened to Daniel as we walk past a body-sized hole in the wall and blood smears leading out the splintered wood of her door.
She stays beside me all the way to the car, her fingers laced with mine like she’s anchoring herself to the one thing that feels right.
And for the first time since this whole thing began, I don’t know which one of us is claiming the other.
But I do know she’s not slipping away from us now.
Not after this.
Not ever.