Had he moved? If so, how did I not hear him? The floorboards of this old home creak when you tiptoe.
“How... how did you do that? You didn’t move.”
“What?” he asks, a little too smug for my liking. “The lights? That’s easy—”
“Who are you and why are you in my bedroom?” I cut him off, no longer caring about the hows. I’m more interested in the why.
The corner of his mouth tips up. It should terrify me, but itdoesn’t. There’s nothing sinister in his smile. Irritating, but not sinister. “Billy Garet, ma’am. I’m here because you called for me.”
“I what?”
“You know,” he says, lifting his right arm, palm up. “You said... ‘Garrett, I’m open.’ ”
I gasp, recalling those very words from Cori’s. “You’ve been stalking me?” My voice is high and shrill, panic rushing through me. “Ohmygodohmygod...”
“What are you babbling about? Are you having a mental break?”
“Are you going to kill me? Or... worse,” I screech.
The man’s head jerks back as though I slapped him. “Whoa, lady. I’m here becauseyousummoned me, not the other way around. There will be none of any ofthat. Yuck,” he says, shaking his head and shoulders simultaneously. “Besides, even if I wanted to kill you—which I don’t—” he supplies quickly, “I couldn’t. I haven’t even mastered moving objects.”
“Stay where you are. Do not move, or I will hit you with this,” I say, wielding the lamp like some deadly weapon as my eyes scan the room for options for escape.
The door to the hallway is directly across from the bed, but he’d be able to get to me before I could make it out of this room.
The door is still closed... and locked. I twist to the windows, and they’re all shut.
My head snaps back to the intruder. “How did you get in here?”
Billy crosses his arms over his chest. “You really need to get your shit together. I’m trying to communicate with you because there’s something you need from me. Either you wanna talk or you don’t.”
“I don’t,” I snap. “I don’t want you in my room. I don’t want you anywhere near me. I don’t need a damn thing from you.”
I no more than say the words and Billy Garet vanishes.
“What the...”
I leap out of bed, falling to my knees and peering underneath it. He’s not there. I rush to the window to find that it’s locked. He couldn’t have escaped that way. I spin in circles, inspecting every cranny from my current spot. There is no obvious way he entered or exited this room.
He disappeared. Like a ghost.
I rush from the room, down the stairs, and out the front door as soon as I can get it unlocked. Gnarly lightning streaks across the sky, followed quickly by a crash of thunder. I jump, but don’t stop, running across the lawn in the pouring rain.
Fists raised, I pound on my neighbor’s door.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been outside, yelling and causing a scene, but I’m soaked from head to toe and shaking like a leaf.
I’m about to go to the next house when the lights inside flip on and Nick’s sleep-husky voice calls out, “Damn it. I’m coming.”
When the door swings open, Nick’s eyes lift into his hairline. “Alyssa. What the—”
I push past him, inviting myself into his home. The adrenaline coursing through me begins to dissipate and the shaking commences. My knees buckle under my body, and I collapse.
Nick’s arms fly out, wrapping around me, pulling me flush to his firm, bare chest. He’s the only reason I’m not a crumpled mess on the hardwood floor.
“What’s wrong, Alyssa? You’re freezing.”
Nick’s gruff voice brings me back to my senses, and I practically crawl out of my skin at the way I melted in his arms.
