Page 23 of Tempest’s Torment

She doesn't ask if I'm okay, so I don't have to pretend that I am.

The drive home takes a little over ten minutes, traffic crawls through two sets of lights before finally easing. The grocery store comes and goes without me even thinking about stopping. I only remember it when I'm pulling into my apartment building's parking lot. Great. I'll have to go tomorrow. By the time I park, the knot in my chest has loosened enough that I can almost convince myself that it was just a coincidence. They're just flowers.

I switch off the engine and grab my bag. When I step out of the car, I spot Tempest. He's sitting on the front steps with a coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, looking completely at ease. He glances up as I close the car door. "Evening."

"Hey." I lock the car and head toward the building, but something catches my eye. Across the street, there’s a black SUV sitting at the curb, and every muscle in my body goes tight. The windows are dark, too dark, so that I can't see who's inside. I stop in my tracks, and the brake lights flare before the SUV pulls away from the curb. It reaches the corner and disappears.

"Lilah?" Tempest's voice pulls me back. "You okay?"

I drag my eyes away from the empty street. "Yeah."

He studies me for a second, then gives a small nod. "Night."

"Night." I unlock my apartment and step inside, the lock clicks behind me, and I stand there for a long moment, keys still clutched in my hand.

The flowers, the SUV outside the florist, and now the SUV outside my building. Maybe they're connected… maybe they aren't.

For three years, I've trusted myself to know the difference between fear and instinct, but tonight... I'm not sure anymore.

CHAPTER FOUR

tempest

The SUV disappears around the corner before I can make out the plate.

Lilah doesn't move; she's standing halfway up the path, keys in one hand, staring at the empty street like she's expecting it to come back.

"Lilah?" She blinks, like she's only just remembered where she is. "You okay?"

"Yeah,” she says quietly. She doesn't look at me until she's already walking again.

I watch her unlock her apartment and enter quickly before the door closes, and the lock clicks a second later.

The SUV could've belonged to anyone: someone visiting, someone waiting for a friend, it could have even been someone who took a wrong turn.

But... It pulled away the second she saw it, not before, not five minutes later, but right as she saw it.

I finish my coffee and toss the empty cup into the bin beside the steps. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I pull my phone from my pocket.

"Ghost," he answers on the second ring.

"You busy?"

"For you?" He pauses for a second. "Depends what you've broken."

I snort. "Nothing."

"Then what's the problem?"

I glance back toward the building. "My neighbor."

"Lilah?" he asks.

"Yeah."

He’s silent for a moment. "What about her?"

"I just saw something I don't like," I say, not wanting to say it over the phone.