The cold wind whipped across the campus quad, rustling the golden leaves of the oak trees and biting at Mara’s exposed cheeks. She walked fast, her boots striking the concrete path with a harsh, rhythmic urgency. She hugged the heavy stack of library books tightly against her chest, using them as a physical shield against the world.
Her heart was hammering a frantic, uncomfortable beat against her ribs.
She hated being watched. The moment she had spotted Adrian leaning against that pillar in the library, a cold spike of panic had shot down her spine. Her mind had instantly flashed back to her old school, to the suffocating feeling of turning a corner and finding her stalker waiting there, wearing a friendly smile and offering a helpful hand.
Adrian was not her old stalker. She knew that
