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“The way she talks. Her letter is all about how she felt the first time she saw you, how much your time together meant to her.” He sets aside the letter in his hand to push the photo album toward me. I cringe away from it like it’s moldy bread. “And these photos. You’re smiling in every single one.” He looks up at me, his features severe. “I think she’s taking you on a journey of how she fell in love with you. Now that she’s got your attention, she’s trying to show you how good she thinks you would be together.”
“Well, it’s having the opposite effect,” I state. My expression probably makes it look like I’m about to hurl, which isn’t actually all that far from the truth.
“Have you had any luck finding anyone who knows Mel?” Hawk asks Kai.
Kai’s shoulders drop and he shakes his head. “No one. It’s as though she didn’t exist before Halston. Everything is fake—her home address, the high school she attended, emergency contacts.”
“How is that possible?” I ask, shocked and a little alarmed at how deep this all goes. Who the hell is this woman I shared a dorm room with for four years?
“Her hacking skills go far beyond what we anticipated if she’s been able to erase—or at least deeply bury—her existence. Nowadays, that should be next to impossible to achieve. There should be some lead or digital trace, but she’s done an amazing job of covering her tracks.”
My stomach sours at Kai’s words and I feel physically ill. “So, where do we go from here?” I ask in a defeated tone. With each passing day, it feels as though beating Mel becomes more and more insurmountable. Her sick gifts and our lack of progress are getting to me.
“We need to stop worrying about who this bitch is and where she came from, and focus on getting rid of her once and for all,” Wilder seethes, all eyes snap to him, and my eyebrows raise in surprise at his outburst.
“You’re right,” Kai calmly agrees. “Which is why I think we should stake out your classroom. It’s the only place she’s going to repeatedly, and the fact that she knows when you aren’t there means she’s keeping a close eye on it.”
“What, like set up cameras?” Wilder asks, skeptical.
Kai shakes his head. “No. Mel’s already proven she can manipulate them. We can’t rely on camera footage. What we need are eyes on campus. Send more people undercover, and have a team surrounding the building.”
Hawk nods in agreement with Kai’s plan. Turning to face me, he promises. “We won’t let her slip through our fingers this time.”
I believe they’ll do everything they can, but chewing on my bottom lip, I dare to ask, “And if she does?”
“She’s going to keep doing what she’s doing until she gets a response from you,” Kai states somberly.
My eyes widen in horror. “She wants me to respond to her? How? I have no idea how to find her—not that I have any desire to do so, unless it’s to wrangle her crazy ass into handcuffs and watch her get carted off to the loony bin.”
Kai shakes his head, his focus once again on Mel’sgifts.“I’m not sure,” he says absently, visibly deep in thought. “Nevertheless, she’ll be looking out for some sort of reciprocation, and if she doesn’t get it”—his eyes lift to mine, worry buried in his emerald depths—“her infatuation could turn deadly.”
Chapter9
WILDER
The door handle turns soundlessly in my hand before I step into her room. Her jasmine scent immediately overpowers me. It draws me in like a bee to honey, whispering in my ear to come closer.
So I do.
I pad on silent feet toward her sleeping form, oblivious to the threat that has entered her room. She’s so vulnerable-looking in her sleep. So innocent. It would be so easy for me to take advantage…
Hmm, it’s a tempting thought.
However, that’s not the reason I’m here tonight. Although my dick clearly disagrees, as he strains to get to her—the way he always does in her presence.
Fighting my baser instincts, I move to perch at the foot of the bed, where I can still see her face, but she’s less likely to wake beneath my gaze.
Everything feels… different since I found her in that bunker.
No, that’s not quite right.
Everything has been different since I watched her come in the bath.
That’s what it is.That’swhat changed everything. Watching the way the lines smoothed out on her face and her cheeks flushed with pleasure. Her captivating green eyes, how they shimmered with need and were blown wide with desire. I’d forgotten just how mesmerizing watching her find her release was. It’s the only time Emilia drops all of her barriers. The only time she lets anyone see all of her. Perhaps even the only time she allows herself to truly let go.
And it’s fucking spellbinding. Enthralling. The eighth wonder of the world—and honestly, the only one worth witnessing. Certainly, it’s the only one I’m interested in seeing.
Except that’s the fucking problem right there.
