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Turned out Tia was right. The killer was actually the main character. He had taken the victim (whom the reader thought was the killer) to a set of underground train tracks, where he revealed his entire agenda moments before a valiant rescue attempt by the victim’s mother. It sounded like a great plot with interesting characters, but could I really be blamed for not wanting to read about a bloodthirsty serial killer?
Nah, I didn’t think so.
“Guys want SweeTARTS?” Noah asked, leaning over and shaking the box in front of Gabe and me.
I declined, but Gabriel’s hand slipped from mine and turned palm up as Noah shook some colorful treats into his hand. “Thanks,” he said, popping them in his mouth all in one go before his fingers slipped back through mine.
Hundreds of little lightning bolts zapped across my skin everywhere we touched, spreading outward. I squeezed his hand, feeling the big fingers with their rough callouses encase my thinner, smoother fingers. I didn’t exactly make it my life’s mission to hit the gym that often, and typing on a keyboard wasn’t the kind of profession that would make your hands weathered and worn.
We were the perfect fit. Two souls that matched in the physical realm, too. And after last night? Holy fucking shit, there was no denying it. Gabe and I were made for each other.
His thumb traced reassuring patterns over my knuckles, grounding me amidst the booming acoustics of the grand auditorium, made more impressive by the orchestra that played a song I didn’t recognize in the slightest but could still get lost in. It helped with the ebb and flow of my own turbulent emotions.
There were moments I felt myself swell on a rush of ecstasy—inlove. I was in love with the perfect man, and he was in love with me—and then, seconds later, I’d come crashing down to reality, splattering myself all over the concrete. I was being stalked, my life was in danger, he could be in this crowd. Those thoughts were the ones that snatched the air right out of my lungs.
I leaned in and kissed Gabriel’s neck. We were in a packed theatre, not a dark alley. I was safe here. I could relax and try to enjoy the night, bask in the glow that still emanated from last night’s heartfelt confessions.
Love. Fuck. It had felt so right to say. Like I’d been meaning to say it since the second we met, no matter how messed up the circumstances had been or what kind of guardrails we placed between us. It felt weird to think about, but I guess there was a silver lining to being stalked by a serial killer?
Gabe looked past me, down the row at an empty seat. “And Steven?” he asked.
“Couldn’t make it tonight,” Eric answered. He looked like an extra-sharp teddy bear, wearing a navy blue sports jacket that made Colton’s eyes pop whenever he leaned over.
“I was going to invite Evan,” Yvette said in onewooshof words, if she needed to get that confession off her chest. The music from the opera was beginning to reach past the ceiling, signaling the show was close to starting.
“Seriously?” Tia said. She sat in the row behind us with Jess. They both looked like celebrities out on a date in the town. Tia wore a designer leather jacket with a shining eagle on the back and breast, paired with a simple but still-designer black T-shirt underneath. Jess opted for a little more color, her dress a formfitting emerald green that made her look like a walking forest.
Damn. I had some really good-looking friends.
“Yes, I had a moment. I don’t like being alone, okay?” Yvette put a hand on her face, shaking her head so that her curls bounced in small waves. “But he’s gotten really weird. Kind of aggressive.”
“Really? How so?” Gabe asked. His protective streak didn’t stop at me; it extended to my friends, too.
As if this man couldn’t be any hotter.
“He’s been calling me nonstop. And he’s started to send letters to my house, but what really made me nervous was that he started sending them to my parents, too. He never even met them. I don’t know how he figured out where they live. That’s not even the worst of it…”
“What?” I asked, seeing the fear in her eyes magnified by the theatre lights.
“He said he moved somewhere in Midtown to be closer to me. I found him. He moved to Eric’s building. He saw him in the elevator just the other day.”
“It’s fucking weird,” Colton said, shaking his head and fiddling with the pearl necklace he wore.
“I’ll take a look into it,” Gabe said. His jaw was set, hard lines highlighted by a twitch of determination. If he ever looked like a bodyguard, tonight would be the night. He wore a black suit over a black button-up, his muscles nearly ripping through the fabric with any move he made. He didn’t wear a tie, instead leaving the top two buttons undone, revealing a thin and tight golden necklace sitting against his tanned skin, a spattering of trimmed hair going down his chest.
“Oh, you don’t have to,” she said.
“I will. Don’t worry about it. He’ll stop by Monday.”
Yvette put a hand over her chest, her bright red lips curling into a genuine smile. “Thank you.”
We sat back into our chairs just as the theatre’s grand chandelier dimmed, casting its last glowing aura over the audience. That was also when Gabriel’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and read the message.
I watched the joy in his eyes fade, replaced by a cold steeliness.
“I have to leave, Trist,” he said, a note of apology edging his otherwise firm voice. The music was beginning to fade out, the audience breaking out into a loud cheer for the orchestra.
“What happened?” But I already knew. There’d be only one thing important enough to pull Gabe away from my side. “Is it the Midnight Chemist?” I asked, my heartbeat threatening to overpower the clapping and cheering from the crowd.
