Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
The east wall is old stone, making it easy to climb. I scale it without sound and drop to the ground. I recheck my grid, and I get an alert from Marco, who is flying high above, letting me know that my predictions of where everyone will be inside the estate at this time are correct; heat signatures cleared.
I start moving toward the main house, my device already connecting to the security system, and I override it with the code I wrote myself. I don’t need to know its weaknesses; I’ll make them, and then I can close them back behind me.
It doesn’t take long before I’m inside.
I really need to talk to Killian about that, but for now I’m watching over the place so it’s secure. Her room is at the end of the corridor. I’m careful with my steps, making sure to go slowly to learn where the floor creaks and where it doesn’t, memorizing every step and sound.
When I make it to her door, I slip right in and lock it behind me. She hadn’t. I lean up against the closed double doors and simply breathe in the air that’s filled with her sweetness.
She’s in bed, turned away from me, hair spread across the pillow. The phone now sits on the nightstand. Her breathing is even, deep, and trusting. She looks so peaceful.
I should go. I should leave now, before I do something I can’t take back. Except I don’t. Those are little lies I tell myself so I don’t feel so bad, but I’m not sure I do. She ran; this is the consequence. Lily has turned me into this person.
I move around her room, getting a better look at everything. Lily’s bedroom is cleaner here, but not by much. Then I enter the bathroom and see where the real disaster is. This mess should annoy me. I hate clutter and disorganization, but it makes me smile. Lily swears when she cleans, she can no longer find anything.
Her shampoo sits on the edge of the tub, cap off, a small puddle dried beneath it. I pick it up and bring it to my nose. Vanilla is her favorite. Before I realize what I’m doing, I start organizing the bathroom sink, picking up her items from the floor and tossing them into a pile. I wonder if she’ll notice. I can’t help the overwhelming urge I have to take care of her, even if only picking up a few items.
I return to her bedroom and sit in the chair by the window. Lily has always been a heavy sleeper. I watch her chest rise and fall. The small sound of her breaths. It’s calming. I have to fight the urge to lie down beside her over the blankets.
Instead, after an hour or so, I force myself to get up, but this time I check the closet. I spot a bag in the corner, the one I know she took from home. She hadn’t taken much of anything, which bothered me more than it should.
I crouch and open it. Only a few things inside. A pair of jeans, a worn paperback, and her charger. And stuffed at the bottom is a shirt. I pull it out. It’s one of my old college shirts I wear when I work out. The gray one with the MIT logo, soft from years of washing.
I unfold it carefully, smoothing the wrinkles with my palms. Then I re-fold it precisely, edges aligned, and set it on the island in the center of the closet. Not hidden anymore. Not stuffed away.
A silent message. A reminder that I’m never far. That I was here. That I’ll always be here.
I step back into her bedroom and cross to her nightstand. My hand hovers over the ribbon that she wore in her hair yesterday. I take it, wrapping it around my wrist under my sleeve, a secret binding.
I turn to leave, and she shifts in her sleep. Lily’s lips part, and she mumbles, my name slipping past her plump lips.
Before I can stop myself, I’m standing over her, and my hand slowly comes down to stroke her hair. I really have lost it… but I find I no longer fucking care.
Chapter Twelve
LILY
Normally this library can perk me up, but not so much today. The smell of sage is heavy in the air. Teddy was pissed about the ending to a romance book she was reading and is now convinced she must cleanse the space of negative energy or we’ll be cursed with only man-ho books or ones with dead exes. The thought gives me a chill. Maybe I should help her.
Except I don’t want to move from my spot where I’m curled in the window seat, staring at the same paragraph I’ve read four times. Teddy tosses the sage into the fireplace before disappearing again. A few seconds later she’s back, wielding lightsabers. Where does she get all of these? And how the heck does she have an unlimited amount of energy?