Page 30 of Tempest’s Torment

Fair enough. "What else?"

Rogue folds his arms across his chest. "Sniper stopped by Petals this morning."

I straighten. "Lilah alright?"

"As far as he could tell,” he says, and I let out a slow breath. "He spoke to Cara while he was grabbing coffee next door."

"And?" I urge, wondering what was said.

"She mentioned Lilah received flowers."

My brows knit. "What flowers?"

"A bouquet of sunflowers arrived yesterday morning."

My stomach sinks. "No card?"

He shakes his head. "Anonymous, a delivery kid dropped them off and left."

"Lilah keep them?" I ask.

"No."

I look at him. "Cara said Lilah went white the second she saw them."

That doesn't surprise me.

"Cara got rid of them, and she said that Lilah was relieved." Rogue looks at me, and I see the worry in his eyes. "I don't believe in coincidences."

I shake my head. "Neither do I."

"You still don't want to tell her?"

I think about it, she already knows something's wrong. I saw it on her face, but walking into her apartment and confirming it before we've got answers isn't going to help her. "Not yet."

Rogue nods. "I figured that's what you'd say."

I knock my fist against the table. "Keep digging."

"I will." He turns back to his keyboard. "I've got a feeling we're about to find something neither of us is going to like."

CHAPTER FIVE

lilah

I sleep for maybe three hours, the rest of the night spent staring at the ceiling, watching the numbers on my alarm clock change one minute at a time.

Two eighteen. Three forty-seven. Five oh-six.

At some point, I must drift off because the next time I open my eyes, pale morning light spills through the gap in the curtains.

Six thirty.

I groan and scrub a hand over my face. I feel worse than I did when I went to bed. For a few seconds, I just lie there, trying to convince myself the past few days weren’t as bad as it felt.

Maybe the SUV really was waiting for someone, maybe the flowers were exactly what Cara said they were—a wrong delivery, or even a mistake.

My stomach twists; I don't believe either of those things.