Chapter 112: The unseen guest
The security tape continued and continued, stiff and useless loop, throwing shivering blue shadows on the smooth study walls. I was angry because it did not show us what we needed. I then wondered what the point of spending a lot of money on the devices if they can be this useless. Caspian stood beside me, his broad shoulders hunched up under his open cotton shirt, the muscles of his forearm swelling as he gripped the edge of the desk. His knuckles were tugged white.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
No malevolent presence lurking behind the scenes. No sign that someone had invaded. Just the foul realization that someone had been in our home—in my bedroom—while we slept. The image chilled me, the sensation of unseen fingers running down the back of my neck.
Caspian blew steamily out of his nostrils, the stinging plain. "It doesn't compute," he growled, voice low but rough with feeling. "The system should have caught something. What a bloody waste. Then of what use is the entire setup if we can’t depend on it in a time like this. I might red to get a new one from a new brand."
I swallowed, tracing the lines of the photograph—the one that had been moved from the dresser to my nightstand. The one with the image of the figure in the mirror. The glassy cold face of the frame against my skin gave a sense of solidity. "Maybe he's managed to get out of the line of sight of the cameras."
Caspian's gaze cut over to me, cold and disapproving. "You actually think it's him?. Because we have to be sure it’s a particular person doing all this nonsense"
It was not a question.
I didn't say anything. I didn't need to. Nathaniel was always so careful back when we were still together, so there is no harm in thinking he carried over that precision into this thing that he was trying to do to us. He was always planning. He'd never give a hint unless he wanted one to be left behind, to keep you on your toes knowing that someone is watching you. That was the worse part—the realization that it was a game with him, his own game, his rules. His own twisted and broken was of doing things to get what he wanted.
A knock at the front door broke the dense silence between us, and I leapt, my heart skipping. Caspian's hand dropped to the back of my hips, hot and calming even through the thinness of my top. His was a soothing touch, reassuring, but his fingers wrapped around me had a new degree of possession—possessive, almost.
"Stay here Lily, don’t follow me," he said, already moving toward the door.
I didn't listen to what he said.
I discovered Caspian in the open doorway of the house, the package clutched tightly in his fist—a small box with no return address, wrapped in brown paper. His face was grim as he turned it over in his hands, his jaw set.
"No return address," he whispered softly..
My stomach knotted. "Open it."
He hesitated, his eyes darting to mine. For an instant, I saw the fight in his eyes—the desire to defend me pitted against the knowledge that I would not be dissuaded, that I couldn't be. I wasn't some fragile thing to be guarded. Not from this.
And then, with sudden urgency, he tore the box open.
The aroma came before it. Black, floral, irresistible. A black rose within, petals smooth and unblemished, stem wrapped with a ribbon of silk the hue of dried blood. At the bottom, a piece of paper and a single line of script so close to me, so lovely:
"Did you forget how well I know you Lily?
A chill ran down my spine. It was the line from one of the letters Nathaniel wrote to me, years before, when his addiction had masqueraded as love. When I hadn't yet discovered love wasn't a prison. And now, it was all crashing down on me so fast that I could barely hold my breath.
Caspian's hold on the box tightened, his knuckles white. "That's it. We're redoing the entire security system. No more deliveries without scanning. No more—
"No," I interrupted, my tone smoother than I was. "If we do change everything, he'll know he's succeeded in getting to us."
Caspian's glare ignited mine, burning and unflinching. "He already has,Lily."
The air between us crackled with the live wire feel of fear and anger, and something deeper down beneath it all. His eyes dropped to mine, for a moment, but long enough to make a shiver of heat work up through my skin, pushing out the cold that clung.
He stepped back, running a hand through his dark hair so it stood on end. The movement tugged his shirt tight against his chest, and I was caught staring when I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away.
"I don't want to lose you to him," Caspian rasped, the harshness of his tone stealing my breath.
I hadn't yet had a chance to respond before he turned around and strode toward the security panel, his muscles quivering with contained rage. I froze, my breath caught.
He was correct. Nathaniel was coming for us. Just not as he'd envisioned.
It wasn't fear that stood between Caspian and me now—something else. Something still and charged.
And holding that black rose cradled in my hand, I finally got it:
Nathaniel wasn't just breaking and entering our house.
He was breaking and entering and he was playing weird mind games with us and I really wondered who was going to come out on top of this whole mess.
We had to find a way to beat him at his game, there had to be a way to force him out and end this drama. He has gone too far and I was angry at myself because I thought I could give him a chance, give him the benefit of the doubt. But he had ruined that.