Page 45 of Creeping Lily
The accusation in my voice is impossible to miss. It’s loaded. Dangerous.
The man tilts his head, studying me through the mask, as if my anger is some puzzle he’s in no rush to solve.
“And she is.”
He says it slowly, with the patience of someone who never needs to raise his voice to be obeyed.
“She wasn’t last night.” My words snap through the air. “She was stalked across campus. Anything could’ve happened.”
“Ahhh… that.”
He says it like it’s a curiosity, a footnote in a report, not the reason my blood is boiling. He begins to circle the room, moving through the shadows like he belongs to them. The mask hides his face, but his eyes—dark, bottomless—track me the entire time. They’re the kind of eyes that have seen things most people wouldn’t survive.
“Her safety is the only reason I’m here,” I remind him, my voice cutting through the stillness. “You assured me she wouldn’t get hurt. That was our deal.”
“If you’re not careful, you’ll have me believing you have feelings for her.”
Even under the mask, I can see the set of his jaw, the tilt of his chin—he’s not impressed.
“Any feelings I may or may not have for her are none of your goddamn business,” I snap. “The deal was that Lily doesn’t get hurt.”
“The deal,” he corrects, “was that you do your job, and I do mine. Don’t question my methods.”
“You’re supposed to be watching her.”
“On her family’s orders. You don’t get to give directives on Lily Snow.” His voice turns cold, serrated. “I’ve allowed you some leeway because she’s your sister’s roommate. But you’re making this too personal.”
“You actually think I believe that crap about her family paying Goliath to protect her?” I laugh, low and humorless. “You really expect me to swallow that?”
“You’re making things… difficult with your attachment, Collins.”
“My attachment is a non-issue. Same as the day I was put on this assignment.”
“But it’s starting to look like one.”
“Who’s the stalker?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out, isn’t it?” His voice is silk over steel. “That’s what we get paid for.” He spreads his arms like a king revealing his empire, and when they fold back in, his eyes are hard enough to chip bone. “You watch her. We do the rest.”
He tilts his head again, watching me like a predator cataloguing prey. I don’t even know his name. That thought makes my skin itch.
“Who are you?” I ask, my voice equal parts disgust and curiosity.
“Ah, ah, ah. No questions.”
“The devil’s in the details,” I mutter.
“It is,” he agrees. “Maybe one day those details will find you. But for now—you have a job to do.”
“And what exactly is your job?”
I shouldn’t push, but I can’t stop. When my father forced me into Goliath, it was under the banner ofjustice—their kind of justice. The kind that hunts down predators when the law turns its head. I joined to protect the people I cared about. And lately, that means Lily.
Goliath doesn’t waste resources. If they’ve put eyes on Lily 24/7, someone powerful wants her alive. And I know it’s not her family paying the bill.
“Stay in your lane, Collins,” the man warns.
I shake my head, already moving toward the door. If I wantthe truth about why Lily Snow matters to Goliath, I’ll have to dig it out myself.
