Chapter 165

A week passed without anything happening. I put everything back to the way it was, and I only found that one scarf to be missing. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

The more time that went by, the more that Jeffrey insisted that I should talk to the police or to Andrew. I knew that he wanted me to be safe, but I only wanted to forget that the entire incident had even happened. I kept pushing him off, telling him that we would wait and see if something more came of it.

However, I could not shake the feeling that someone was following me. There was nothing tangible to prove it; I would only feel as though a pair of eyes were watching me, just to turn around and find that no one was there.

I kept telling myself that I was being paranoid from the break-in and my previous trauma. It would make sense, given everything that I had been through. Still, that didn’t stop me from being jumpy even around Andrew, who was growing increasingly suspicious and concerned over my behavior.

Then one night, I had to work late at Ever After Weddings. We were short-staffed from several employees calling in sick, and with multiple major weddings coming up, I had no choice but to come in. At the end of the day, I volunteered to close so that Terri could go home on time.

As I locked the door to the shop, Jeffrey stuck close to my side. Even though he normally stayed invisible and out of my way, he had not strayed more than a couple feet from me all day.

Curious, I turned to him and asked, “Why so clingy tonight?”

He held his finger up to me, effectively silencing me as his ears twitched. His eyes darted about, and he sniffed the air cautiously. He lowered his hand but kept his eyes on the darkness as he spoke.

“Someone has been following you,” he said under his breath.

My eyes widened.

“You’ve felt it too?” I whispered.

He nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Act naturally,” he said, just as quietly as before. “Just walk to your car and do what you would normally do.”

I did not know how to respond, so I started walking to where I had parked my Honda Civic. Silence fell like the darkness wrapped around us. Only the sounds of our footsteps echoed down the street.

A scuff on the cement scraped against my ears. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up. My hands curled into fists, but I did not stop walking.

As we were about to reach my car, Jeffrey disappeared from my side.

I stumbled, barely catching myself before I fell to the sidewalk below me. My chest rose and fell rapidly. My head swiveled left and right, searching for my guard.

“Jeffrey,” I whispered his name.

No answer.

“Jeffrey,” I said, slightly louder this time.

Still, no answer.

“Jeffrey!” I said in a whispered shout, not wanting to draw the attention of whoever was following me.

Suddenly, I heard the scuffling of two men nearby. Grunts and growls left me uncertain as to who was dominating, and my heart raced at the thought of Jeffrey not winning. I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to face off with someone who could overcome Jeffrey.

Then Jeffrey stumbled beneath a streetlamp, holding a scruffy, bloodied man in a headlock.

“Jeffrey?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

“This is your stalker,” Jeffrey grunted, struggling to keep his hold on the man. “Alexander Chevalier, the Bloody Knight. He’s the most well-known assassin in the werewolf criminal underworld.”

Jeffrey pulled something out of Chevalier’s pocket and tossed it to me. The smooth fabric was immediately familiar. My favorite scarf.

“What are you doing with this?” I asked, trembling.

Chevalier did not answer. Jeffrey tightened his chokehold on the man, and Chevalier’s sapphire blue eyes narrowed threateningly at him. Even with the rest of his face turning red, those eyes cut a spine-tingling glare.

“Ms. Blanchard asked you a question,” Jeffrey growled. He punched Chevalier square in the gut. “Answer her.”

“It made for the perfect scent sample,” Chevalier spat.

“You know that is not what we mean,” Jeffrey replied. “Why have you been following her? Why did you need her scent?”

Chevalier licked his lips. His eyes shot from Jeffrey to me, where they stayed. I shifted uncomfortably, and he seemed to take pleasure in my unease.

“I was hired to kill her.”

He chuckled as I trembled.

“I was told to kill her and then cut her hand off and bring it back to my client as proof that she is actually dead.”

The nonchalant attitude—no, the almost thrill—with which Chevalier conveyed his orders made my stomach churn. I nearly dropped my scarf from how hard my body shook at the idea of what this man was told to do to me…to my body.

“What would your boss do with my hand?” I asked, my voice nearly squeaking as I spoke.

Chevalier tried to shrug but couldn’t in the position he was in.

“As long as he doesn’t get me caught, not my problem.”

“Who?” Jeffrey barked, turning mine and Chevalier’s attention to him. “Who hired you to do this?”

Chevalier smirked, blood trickling down his chin.

“I’m afraid that he’s paying me too much to reveal that.”

“Then I’m afraid that the police will have to get it out of you themselves,” Jeffrey replied, “or Andrew Dubois.”

“I don’t think so.”

Chevalier elbowed Jeffrey in the gut. With the guard temporarily distracted, he grabbed the arm not wrapped around his neck and, transforming into his wolf-man form, ripped out a chunk of Jeffrey’s flesh. He then yanked the other arm off of his neck and forced it around Jeffrey’s back, before shoving the other man to the ground.

In a flash, Chevalier stood behind me, a silver knife pressed to my throat.

“Don’t move,” he hissed to me. “I’m faster with a blade than any maneuver you might be thinking of.”

Jeffrey stood to his feet and immediately took in the situation. He pulled out his silver pistol. Chevalier pressed the blade closer to my throat, the metal glinting in the light of the streetlamp.

“Don’t shoot and don’t get any closer,” he told Jeffrey. “I assure you that I can slit her throat quicker than you can shoot me, and you can’t shoot me without shooting her.”

Jeffrey reassessed the situation. He did not lower his gun, but he did not shoot, either.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Chevalier continued, “Ms. Blanchard and I are going to go for a walk. You will not follow, and you will not call for help. I will come tell you when our walk is done, and you will tell no one who went on her walk with her, or you’ll be next.”

Jeffrey’s hands gripped his pistol tighter.

“I will make sure that you pay for this,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Chevalier began to walk backwards. My heart thumped hard in my chest. For the first time since I was surrounded by the vampires, I truly felt as though there was no way out for me.