Page 36 of A Violet Obsession

I settle deeper into my seat and keep watching. The parking lot is quiet again. Lily’s curtains stay dark.

I’m not leaving.

12

LILY

My hand pats the sheets for Hera before I’m fully awake. I hear a low growl from the foot of the bed, and my eyes snap open. Hera is on her feet, spine arched, fur standing in a rigid line from her shoulders to the base of her tail. She’s facing the bedroom door.

Something is wrong.

Please, just let it be Finn being overprotective.

I know it’s not.

The monsters always come when I’m sleeping. They always have.

My palms are tingling, and there is a buzzing in my ears. I don’t know if everything in my body is going haywire or⁠—

The bedroom door flies open, and the overhead light snaps on. Two men in dark suits stand at the end of my bed. Holding guns.

I scream, but the sound barely leaves my throat before one of them is dragging me from the bed, his arm banded painfully around my waist. My hip catches the sharp corner of the nightstand, and pain flares hot and immediate. I open my mouth to scream again, but his hand clamps over my jaw, squeezing until my teeth cut into the inside of my cheek.

“Don’t do that.” The growl is low and mean.

Hera launches herself at the man’s leg with a yowl that could wake the dead, claws raking through his pant leg. He curses and kicks, but she dodges and darts under the bed, hissing from the shadows.

Good girl. Stay hidden.

The second man grabs my arm, and together they haul me into the living room. I’m barefoot, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and the apartment air is cold against my skin.

I should never have tried for a few hours of sleep.

Alaric Voss sits in a chair, one leg crossed over the other. Two more men stand guard around the room. There are too many people here for my small apartment. It feels claustrophobic and oppressive, and my lungs aren’t inflating properly.

One of the men is standing at my kitchen window, holding the curtain aside, staring down at the parking lot.

Finn.

The comfort I’d felt earlier knowing he was out there vanishes, and I’m immediately swamped with regret for putting him in danger.

“Don’t worry.” Voss follows where I’m looking. “We haven’t harmed your friend. Though I did ask you to distance yourself from him.”

“You sent the messages?” I ask, buying time, trying to get my heart rate to slow so I can think clearly.

“Of course.” He adjusts his cuff. “I appreciated your following directions. Mostly. The fact that GI Joe is still sitting in your parking lot suggests you weren’t entirely persuasive.”

“I tried. I didn’t tell him anything, I swear.” My pulse is hammering so hard I can hear it. “He’s not a threat to you.”

Voss cocks his head and purses his lips. “I’m not sure about that.” Then he smiles. “Unfortunately, I’m not a patient man. I didn’t want to wait for him to leave.”

He glances at the man by the door.

“Leave him alone. Please.” The words come out in a desperate rush. “He has nothing to do with this.”

Voss’s smile widens, but his eyes stay flat. “I’d love to oblige you. But I need something from you first.” He spreads his palms.

I swallow against the dryness in my throat. “I’d tell you where it was if I knew.”