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His jaw tightens, and then he looks past me. I know the exact moment he spots Locke. The expression is almost familiar enough to make me tired. Disgust first, then offense, followed by the familiar certainty that somebody has done something specifically to him. Anger comes right behind it.

“You’re really doing this.”

I hold his gaze. “Doing what?”

“Walking around town with that thing like you’ve lost your mind.”

His voice carries. Conversation thins in the few feet around us, and Shannon stops talking behind me. Trent either doesn’t notice or assumes the audience belongs to him.

I keep my attention on him. “You came all the way down here to tell me you disapprove?”

“I came because somebody has to get through to you.”

“No.”

The word comes out before I think about it.

Trent blinks. “No?”

“No. You don’t get to decide what I need to hear anymore.”

His face goes still except for the pulse jumping along his jaw, which has never been a good sign. That used to be the moment I started fixing things. I’d soften the sentence, explain what I meant, offer him some small victory so he wouldn’t need to take a bigger one.

I do none of that.

Behind me, Locke says something to Tom. I can’t hear the words, and I don’t turn around.

Trent steps closer. “You think this is funny?”

“No.”

“You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“I’m having a nice day.”

“Rachel.” He says my name in that old low, controlled way, two syllables that used to mean I had already gone too far. My body remembers it before my mind does, and my hands go cold while the muscles in my arms tighten.

Then another voice says my name.

“Rachel.” It’s Locke. Not a warning. Not a command. Only my name carrying across the few feet between us.

I look at him. He’s a few feet closer now, no longer beside the bear. Every part of him is focused on Trent, his body held so still that the effort shows in every line of him. He isn’t stepping between us or answering for me, but there’s nothing passive about his attention. There is no doubt in my mind that if Trent moves toward me, Locke will move too. The cold in my hands is still there, but my feet feel planted on the pavement again. Music carries from the stage behind us. This time, hearing my name doesn’t make the rest of the world disappear.

I turn back to Trent. “You don’t get to say my name like that anymore.” The old fear is there, but I don’t scramble to fix what I’ve said.

Trent stares at me, then laughs once without humor. “That is what you left me for?”

I nearly answer before realizing the question doesn’t deserve one. He looks at Locke again. “You actually think that thing wants you?”

My friends are moving closer now, not dramatically, but enough that I notice. Tom is beside Shannon. Blair is half a step behind them, already furious. Locke remains where he is, but I can feel his attention on me.

Trent points toward him. “He doesn’t even know what he is.”

“She’s already told you no.”

Trent’s head snaps toward him.

“You don’t get to keep asking because you don’t like her answer.”