Page 15 of Origins
Chocolate?I stood on tiptoe, trying to see if he had—actually—gotten a box. But, as he said, there was none. Although, as much as I loved chocolate, it probably would have been poisoned anyway. I wasn’t that gullible.
Miles scoffed as he pulled out his phone, typing frantically. “First, you stalked the poor girl on the street. Then you overwhelmed her with your scary-ass presence when she was already upset. I’d run away too. If you gave her chocolate, she’d probably think it was poisoned.”
“I’m not scary!” Titus argued, placing a hand to his chest. “I’m a friendly guy. Haven’t you seen my face?”
“No, you are scary,” Miles replied, distracted. “Damen says that there’s no record of her cell listed in the school’s contact information.”
My heart raced in fear as I realized that they were looking for my phone number. Not that they’d ever find it—I only had this phone thanks to Finn. Nothing was in my name or my contacts. But it was the point—stalkers.
Titus still looked confused, ignoring the fact that his friend tried to pry into the details of my life. “But my secretary says that I’m considered attractive.Forbescalled the other day, wanting an interview. I don’t understand.”
So not only was he drop-dead gorgeous, but he was also so modest. Part of me wondered if he was seriously innocent. It might be possible. He did sound harmless—
No, Bianca. I had to trust in my instincts—they were all that I had left. I had to remember that this was a ploy. There was absolutely no way thatForbeshad wanted anything to do with the underworld.
I was no fool.
“You have no idea how women work because you never leave your office. You can’t just force yourself into their lives.” Miles put his phone away and rang the doorbell again. “Plus, youcanbe both scary and attractive. Just hope she answers the door, or that she’s even back here yet. Damen said that this was the only professor out on leave. When we see her, we should invite her to dinner. Get her guard down first.”
I narrowed my eyes and only adrenaline kept me upright. Sothat'show they knew. I should have guessed. Stupid Damen. This was his fault.
Of course I wouldn’t answer the door. I was lucky that I hadn’t even turned the lights on yet. If I ignored them long enough, then they would eventually go away. But I had no intentions on going out there.
Get my guard down.They’d have to be insane to believe that I would willingly walk to my death.
They bickered for about another hour before it became boring and I snuck away. Despite being criminals that preyed upon young women, they clearly had never mastered the art of breaking and entering.
I lounged around the living room silently for another hour, reading on my phone, before I eventually wandered back toward the front door. Finally, they apparently gave up and left. However, that didn’t mean that they weren’t hiding somewhere—waiting for me.
But about twenty minutes later, my curiosity got the better of me. It had been silent outside for so long—there was no way they were still around.
Still, I was wary when I opened the front door. Just to make sure.
Nobody jumped out at me, but they hadn’t left without making their mark. There—where they had been standing—was the bouquet and a note.
Sorry that Titus is an idiot. Also, I’m sorry that we laughed. We didn’t mean to offend you. And we weren’t making fun of you—it’s complicated. We’ll explain later.But we want you to know that you’re not alone. We believe you, and we’ll help you if you give us a chance. Please think it over and let Damen know.
I frowned in confusion at the weird note. It wasn’t fair that they’d say it likethat—dangling acceptance in front of me as bait.
How could they have known that I needed acceptance more than flowers or chocolates? It was the only trap that I had the chance of falling into.
Besides all that—what did it even mean to ‘let Damen know’? Let him know what—or when? I certainly had no intentions of seeing him anytime soon.
Wonderful, now I had something else to worry about.
It wasn’t long before my not-so-friendly ghost-friend decided to come out to play. I had hoped that it had given up, because the entire time Miles and Titus were outside it remained hidden. But I sensed its presence again – and where it was at the exact moment, I couldn’t pinpoint.
So now, along with being on edge from feeling I was being watched by the house-ghost, I spent the rest of the evening reflecting on the events of the day. Conclusion? I might have overreacted a tiny bit. Probably.
But it didn’t matter if I had overreacted. While the boys—sans Titus—might have had good intentions, it would simply be too embarrassing to work with them now. Besides, they obviously had a serious issue with my relationship with Finn—and this really offended me.
I had no other choice. I had to end this haunting without their help. So the day hadn’t been a total waste of time, after all.
Asensitive—Damen called me. Of course, I tried to look into my abilities in the past, but nothing came up. How had Damen known? Did he knoweverything? Perhaps he was super smart, like Finn. I had to dig into this again. Hopefully, my trip to the library would provide some answers.
With my planned research topic in mind, I finally went to bed.
Something brushed across my awareness—like the sensation of falling in a dream—and I jerked awake, disoriented. I wasn’t sure what time it was or how long I had been asleep, but it was still night and the house was quiet.
