Chapter 16 #2
“Chamomile? Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. My nose is very sensitive.”
Her body tenses in my arms.
“Why is chamomile significant?” I ask, bracing myself.
“I have over 20 boxes of different flavored tea in my cupboard. Chamomile is the only flavor I drink.” She sniffles. “I keep all the others because they were Anna’s.”
“They’ve been watching you for a while.” Another growl shakes my chest. “This wasn’t random.”
“You haven’t noticed anyone new hanging around your building? At work?”
“No, and I usually pick up on that kind of thing—especially after what happened with...” she trails off.
“There was a note on your table. I didn't get the chance to read it—I was too worried about you. The front said: "I could have.”
“Let’s go back inside—”
“We’re going to the cabin.”
“I am going back to the apartment to check that note. You can do whatever you want.”
I tilt my head slowly, antlers catching the moonlight. Her gaze catches on mine—and I feel the moment she truly sees what I am—a creature.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Oh? ” she snaps, pushing against my chest. “I wasn’t asking for permission.”
I catch her wrists before she can pull away.
“Then what do you suggest?” she demands. “That I just follow you and ignore the note sitting in my apartment?” I’m not going with you, Andrik. I need to see it for myself.”
My claws tighten gently around her wrists. I dip my head close enough that my breath grazes her cheek.
“You want to know what I suggest, Lumi?”
She doesn’t answer.
“I suggest you stop giving him exactly what he wants.”
“Excuse you?” she snarls.
“He’s playing a game with both of us. He didn’t leave that tea just for you—he left it for me to find. He wanted me to see what I missed. How close he got. He wanted you confused and scared, and now you’re about to do exactly what he hoped for.”
“You’re not going to manipulate me into this,” she shrieks.
“You’re right, Lumi. I’m not going to manipulate you. That would imply you have a choice.” I growl. “You don’t.”
She yanks her hands away from me, and this time I let her. But my eyes never leave hers.
“You have five minutes,” I say firmly. “I go first, and you don't touch anything until I say it’s clear.”
“Wow, thanks, Dad.”
Her chest slams against my back with a startled oomph when I toss her over my shoulder. One hand wraps around the back of her thigh, the other cradles her head. I don’t flinch as I jump down from the fire escape, landing hard enough to rattle the railings.
“You’re insane,” she mutters, gripping my fur.
“And you’re kaemorin. So we’re going to do this my way.”
I set her down the second we hit the ground. She doesn’t look at me.
“Let me down!” she barks, swatting at my back.
“I think I’ll carry you instead.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
My claws shoot out, and I lower my antlers defensively as I step inside her door.
“Can you put me down now?” she asks.
“Fine. Five minutes, and you don’t leave my sight.” She grabs the note, and my breath hisses softly behind her as I read over her shoulder:
I should’ve died with her. I think the wrong sister died.
And below it, in a handwriting that isn't hers:
No, little dove. You stayed for me.
“What is that?” I ask.
“It’s a page from my journal. I wrote this after my sister's funeral.” She says, tears welling in her eyes.
“Did you tell anyone about that entry?”
“No. Never,” she mumbles.”I—I don’t even leave my journals out, I always put them in my dresser drawer.”
The room shrinks around me.
“They read something that wasn’t meant to be seen by anyone but me. Not only did they read it—he answered it.”
“They didn’t just come in tonight,” I say slowly. “They’ve been here before. They've had time to plan this.”
My claws flex. My whole body is tight.
“They knew which tea to use. They knew how I take it.” She repeats... her voice hollow. “They knew where I kept my journal.”
“This wasn’t just a message. Whoever this is, they think there is something between you two. This isn't infatuation, Lumi.” I murmur.
“They read it,” she croaks. “They probably devoured every single fucked up page. Those were my most emotional, heartbroken thoughts scrawled across pages I thought no one else would ever see.”
She crumples the page in her fist and drops it to the floor before she wraps both arms around herself.
“I feel more violated now than I did when they took me.” She sobs. “Like they’ve crawled inside my mind and made a home of my grief.”
“I wasn’t fast enough. I’m so sorry, Lumi.”
She blinks.”Andrik, there is no world in which this is your fault.”
“I couldn’t control my shift, which made you run. I was struggling so hard with our bond that you felt you had no other option than to sneak out the bathroom window in the middle of a snowstorm. And then, I couldn’t even track you properly because they did something to hide your scents.”
A silence stretches between us.
“Please come with me,” I say quietly. “I can’t protect you here, and I won't let you sleep somewhere he’s already been. ”