Page 42 of Tempest’s Torment

When I open my eyes again, it's morning. For one disoriented second, I don't know where I am, which is the usual, but then I hear movement in the kitchen, smell coffee, then I remember and something in my chest loosens instead of tightening.

The clock on the nightstand reads 7:42. I blink at it, and then I blink again. I slept through the night, with no nightmares, no waking up to check the locks, and no lying awake listening for sounds that weren't there. I can't remember the last time that happened.

I sit on the edge of the bed for a second before forcing myself to move. I wash my face, run a hand through my hair, and open the bedroom door.

Tempest's at the counter with his back to me. Two mugs are already sitting beside the coffee maker. He glances over his shoulder when he hears the door, gives me a small nod, then goes back to pouring the coffee.

"Morning," he says.

"Morning."

That's it, no questions about how I slept and no awkwardness. Just coffee.

A knock at the door sounds as I take a seat at the table, and I go still, but Tempest's already moving, he checks the peephole before I've straightened up, and whatever he sees makes his shoulders drop slightly.

"It's Sniper," he says, then opens the door.

The man in the doorway is somewhere in his mid-thirties, toolbox in one hand and a bag slung over his shoulder. He smiles when our eyes meet. "Morning, Lilah." He lifts the toolbox slightly. "Still alright with me making a mess of your apartment for a couple of hours?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Good." He smiles. "I'll swap out the front door lock, reinforce the fire escape window, and get a camera up in the hallway. Then I'll get out of your hair."

He heads toward the fire escape window and sets his toolbox down.

"Sniper handles security," Tempest says.

"I handle miracles," Sniper corrects.

Tempest snorts. "You changed a lock."

"I changed lots of locks."

Sniper gets to work without wasting any more time. He measures, drills, replaces screws, asks me a handful of questions about the apartment, then gets right back to it. He doesn't ask about Evan, and he doesn't look at me like I'm something fragile that might break if he says the wrong thing.

Tempest tops up my coffee without asking if I want more, he just sets the full mug beside me.

"Thanks," I say, giving him a soft smile.

Something softens in his expression. "Mm," he replies.

Sniper comes back from the fire escape window holding the old latch, giving it a look. "Well... there's your problem." He drops it into his toolbox. "I'd trust a paper clip more than that thing." He reaches for the new lock.

"How did he get into the building?" I ask. "The keypad on the front door?"

Sniper glances at Tempest before looking back at me. "Most likely?" He shrugs. "Somebody let him in without realizing it; people hold doors open all the time."

"And if they didn't?"

"Then he got the code somehow." He reaches for his screwdriver. "Either way, we'll change it."

"Can you find out?" I ask, really hoping they can.

"I'm going to try." He nods toward the hallway. "The building stores a log every time someone uses the keypad. I'll pull it when I'm done here. If somebody's been using the code at odd hours, it'll show up."

"And the camera?"

"That goes up outside your door before I leave." He points toward the hallway. "If anyone comes up here, it'll record them. Tempest and I will both get an alert."