Chapter 54 New mystery.

Chapter 54 New mystery.
Zoe's POV

The inn cafeteria was quiet that morning.

Just me. My hot herbal drink. My diary open on the table in front of me.

I needed to think. About all that happened yesterday. About what I did. About Jeremy's face when he looked at me.

All I did after retiring to my room yesterday was have a hot shower because I was badly shaky and cold. Goddess help me, I was blank and just threw myself under the blanket without food. The moon knows how I survived the night with all those nightmares and whispers in my dream.

I was so deep in my own head that I didn't hear the footsteps.

Didn't notice anyone approach.

Until a chair scraped back across from me.

And someone sat down.

I looked up.

A man. Smiling. Relaxed. Like we were old friends meeting for breakfast.

"Hello, Zoe." He said it easy. Casual. Like my real name was nothing. Like dropping it in a public place was perfectly fine.

My blood went cold.

I looked around. Fast. Scanning.

No staff at the counter. No waitress by the kitchen door. No movement anywhere. The whole cafeteria was empty. Just us.

How did I not notice that?

"Oh, everyone?" He followed my eyes around the room. Still smiling. "They're not here, Zoe. You must have been so far inside that pretty head of yours that you didn't notice when I walked in." He tilted his head. "I asked them all to disappear. Just for a little while. So it's only me and you. My dearest Zoe."

The way he said my dearest. Like he owned the words. Like he owned me.

My fingers tightened under the table.
"Who is Zoe?" I kept my face blank. Innocent. Empty.

He looked at me for a long moment. Then he laughed. Low and quiet. The kind of laugh that doesn't reach the eyes.

"Oh. That won't be necessary, my dear. When it's only you and me you can be real. Okay?"

"You need to stop this madness." I said. But did I really mean that? A part of me wanted him to continue speaking because something in me really wanted to know who this crazy man was. This man who boldly knew this much about me.

"Powerful. Large. Explosive." He said, leaning forward slowly. Folding his hands on the table. "You mind telling me how you got so powerful? I saw how you saved Jeremy yesterday." He nodded like he was impressed. "Really impressive. Truly. But I'll be honest... I'm still trying to figure out why." His smile didn't move. "Why save someone you want dead?"

"I don't know what nonsense you're saying." I said flatly. "And I don't know who you are." Now I was scared. If I was being real. Whoever he was. He knew a lot. Too much.

"Oh." He sat back. Touched his chest lightly. "My bad. I skipped the introduction, didn't I?" He extended his hand across the table like we were at a business meeting. "Benjamin. Nice to meet you, Lady Margaret."

The name hit me like ice water.

Benjamin. I had never heard that name before.

I mean as a name yes, but anyone bearing it. No one.

I didn't take his hand.

"Benjamin." I kept my voice flat. "Whoever you are. I need you to listen very carefully." I looked him dead in the eyes. "I don't know you. I don't know what you think you know. And I don't know anything about what you're saying."

He watched me. Patient. Unbothered. Like a man who had all the time in the world.

"I think you really need to chill." He said softly. "Lady Margaret. Oh, I mean Zoe. Whoever you want to be today." He smiled again. That same dark easy smile. "I'm not the enemy here. We actually want the same thing."

"I told you I don't know what you're talking about."

I stood up. Grabbed my diary. Ready to leave.

"How interesting would it be..." His voice dropped quiet. Almost gentle. "...if Dawnmoon heard about this new development. I'm saying...If Alpha Ryan found out how his beloved dumped him to come for her old lover. Or old enemy. Forgive me. My brain is not just sticking to one."

I stopped.

Turned slowly.

He hadn't moved. Still seated. Still smiling. Hands folded. Calm like a man holding a loaded gun he hadn't pointed yet.

I walked back. Stood over him. Looked down.

"I don't know who you think you are." My voice was fire. "Or how much you think you know. But let me be very clear. Don't get in my way. That's all I care about. Stay out of my way and let me do what I came here to do."

"Fire." He stood up slowly. Closed the small distance between us until he was right there. Looking down at me. Eyes still dancing. "I love it." He said quietly. "I knew I chose right. I knew I didn't save a fool."

I frowned. "Saved? What are you talking about?"

"Easy, tigress." His voice dropped even lower. Softer. More dangerous. "That's not how you speak to someone you owe the rest of your life to."

"What nonsense—"

"Yes." He cut me off gently. Like correcting a child. "Your life, my lady. You had a whole beautiful plan, didn't you? You put it all together from the beginning. From training. From waiting. From sneaking into Lakewood to kill Jeremy." He paused. Let that sit. "But everything that happened after that bullet went into your body? After Jeremy threw you out into that river with a bullet in your body?" He touched his chest again. "That's me. All me."

I stared at him.

"I pulled you out of that river." He said it simply. Like he was telling me the weather. "You were in the water. Drowning. Almost gone. I pulled you out. Oh, I should not forget. I had a very powerful breath stimulator. I put it all over your nose to sustain your breathing until you got there." He tilted his head. "Then I paid the Dawnmoon traveler. Confidentially. To take you there." He smiled. "I thought you were their Luna actually. Funny coincidence. But then I heard the news she was taken and I thought... well. Even better. You could be the substitute."

My mouth was dry.

"I watched you." He continued. "Even from a distance. I saw the fire in your eyes. I knew you'd come back. I knew you wouldn't stop." He spread his hands. "And look. Here we are. Right where I knew we'd be."

The room felt smaller suddenly.

"So when I say I own your life." He said quietly. "That is exactly what I mean."

My mind wouldn't stop pounding. What was this? What was this new revelation that was threatening to ruin all my plans?

My heart was loud. Too loud.

"What do you want?" That was all I could say at this point. I had a mission but this one person looked like someone who could ruin all if I don't take care of him now.

His smile widened. Slow. Satisfied.
"Now." He said softly. "You're speaking my language."