Forbidden Mate: My Brother's Obsession

Chapter Eight: Questions Without Answers

Ethan wasn't at breakfast. Richard mentioned, distracted and vague, that he'd left early for "practice," and Susan didn't seem to think anything of it, but Lily caught the way her stepfather's eyes lingered a beat too long on the back door before he changed the subject entirely. Whatever had happened last night, it seemed Richard knew more about it than he let on or at least suspected enough to avoid asking questions out loud.

Lily barely tasted her cereal. She kept replaying the image of those glowing eyes, the too sharp teeth, the impossible speed with which Ethan had moved, and by the time she left for school, she'd built up a list of questions long enough to fill an entire notebook.

She didn't get the chance to ask a single one.

Ethan was already at school when she arrived, surrounded by his usual crowd near the entrance, looking so perfectly normal clean, composed, laughing at something one of his friends said that for one disorienting second, Lily wondered if she'd imagined the entire night. But when his eyes lifted and found hers across the courtyard, there was no mistaking the wariness in them, the silent acknowledgment that yes, she had seen something, and yes, they both knew it.

He didn't approach her. If anything, he seemed to be actively avoiding her, steering his friends toward the opposite entrance the moment their eyes met, and Lily was left standing there, frustration boiling low in her chest.

"You look like you didn't sleep," Dana said, appearing at her side with her usual easy smile, though it faded quickly at whatever expression Lily was wearing. "Okay, that bad, huh? Is it the whole Vivian thing? Because for what it's worth, half the school's already moved on to gossiping about the new gym teacher's questionable haircut."

"It's not that," Lily said, distracted, still watching the spot where Ethan had disappeared into the crowd.

"Then what?"

Lily hesitated, the memory of glowing eyes and impossible speed sitting heavy on her tongue, threatening to spill out even though she knew, somehow, that saying it out loud would sound insane. "Nothing. I'm just tired."

Dana didn't look convinced, but she let it go, looping her arm through Lily's and steering her toward first period with an easy, familiar warmth that Lily was grateful for even through her distraction.

The day dragged by in a haze. Every class felt like an obstacle standing between her and the moment she'd finally corner Ethan and demand real answers, and by the time chemistry rolled around the one class they actually shared her patience had worn down to almost nothing.

But when she arrived at the lab table, Ethan's seat sat empty.

"He switched seats," the boy at the next table offered helpfully, when he noticed her staring at the empty stool. "Talked to Mr. Alden this morning. Something about a scheduling conflict. Didn't say why."

Lily's stomach twisted with a sharp, unexpected hurt, quickly followed by anger. He was avoiding her. After everything she'd seen, after the fear in his eyes the night before, after telling her to lock her door like her safety actually mattered to him, he was avoiding her rather than explaining any of it.

She endured the rest of the class in simmering frustration, and the moment the bell rang, she was out the door, scanning the crowded hallway for any sign of him. She found him eventually, near the science wing exit, and didn't hesitate before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the relative privacy of an empty stairwell.

"You don't get to just disappear," she said, voice low but fierce. "Not after last night. I saw everything, Ethan. The men in the yard. Their eyes. What you did to them. I know I didn't imagine it, so don't even try to tell me I did."

Ethan's expression shuttered instantly, something like panic flashing behind his eyes before he forced it down. "Lily, you need to forget what you saw."

"I can't forget it. I need you to tell me the truth. What are you?"

For a long, tense moment, he said nothing at all, jaw working like he was fighting some internal battle, and Lily thought, hoped that he might finally answer her.

Then the stairwell door banged open behind them, and a voice she didn't recognize cut through the tension like a blade.

"There you are," the stranger said, stepping into view, tall, unfamiliar, dressed like he didn't belong in a high school at all, his eyes sweeping over Lily with cold, calculating interest before settling back on Ethan. "We need to talk. Now. And this time, bringing the girl might not be optional."