CRAVES

THE WALK HOME

The walk to Amelia's apartment should have taken twelve minutes.

With Bryan beside her, it somehow felt longer.

She was aware of him in a way she hadn't been before. Not because he was doing anything unusual. He simply walked beside her with one hand in the pocket of his coat and her bag hanging from the other.

He hadn't asked permission before taking it.

She hadn't asked for it back.

The city moved around them.

Cars passed over wet roads. A bus stopped at the corner. Someone hurried out of a grocery store carrying two paper bags against their chest.

Amelia kept her eyes ahead.

She could still feel the warmth in her face from their brief touch at the café.

It annoyed her.

Mostly because she didn't understand it.

Bryan glanced at her.

She caught him.

He looked away.

A tiny smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

She frowned.

"What?"

His smile disappeared.

"Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes.

He continued walking.

She let it go.

For about thirty seconds.

Then she noticed the way he was holding her bag.

Carefully.

As though the thin canvas could somehow break.

She almost laughed.

"You know it's just a bag."

"I know."

"Then why are you carrying it like that?"

His gaze dropped briefly to the bag.

"Because it is yours."

The answer was so simple that she didn't know what to do with it.

She looked away.

They continued walking.

A few minutes later, they passed a small flower shop.

The owner was outside pulling down the metal shutters.

Amelia slowed.

Her eyes went to the buckets of flowers arranged along the pavement.

Bryan noticed.

He stopped too.

She looked at him.

He looked at the flowers.

Then back at her.

"You like them."

It wasn't a question.

She shrugged.

"Flowers are nice."

He stepped toward the shop.

The owner had already begun locking the door.

Bryan knocked once against the metal shutter.

The man looked through the narrow opening.

Something passed between them.

A few words.

Amelia couldn't hear them.

A moment later, the shutter lifted again.

Bryan walked inside.

She remained outside, confused.

The owner emerged carrying a small bundle of white flowers wrapped in brown paper.

Bryan took them.

Then returned to her.

He held them out.

She stared.

"For me?"

His expression remained perfectly straight.

"Unless you know someone else standing here."

A laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

She accepted the flowers.

They smelled faintly sweet.

"Thank you."

Bryan nodded.

They resumed walking.

She looked down at the flowers.

Then at him.

"Why did you buy these?"

He didn't answer immediately.

His gaze remained on the road ahead.

"I saw you looking."

That was all.

Something warm settled in her chest.

She hugged the flowers a little closer.

Neither of them spoke again.

...

The street leading toward her apartment grew quieter.

The shops thinned out.

The sidewalks became almost empty.

Bryan's pace changed.

Slower.

More deliberate.

Amelia noticed.

She also noticed that he had stopped looking at her.

His attention moved constantly.

Windows.

Rooftops.

Alleyways.

Parked cars.

Every few seconds, his eyes returned to the road ahead.

She finally understood.

He wasn't distracted.

He was searching.

Her fingers tightened around the flowers.

"Are you expecting someone?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

She looked at him.

He didn't elaborate.

A few more steps.

Then a car turned into the street.

Bryan moved without warning.

His hand caught her elbow and guided her to the inside of the pavement.

The car passed.

His hand remained around her arm for another second.

Then he released her.

"Sorry."

She looked at his hand.

Then at him.

"You've done that twice today."

"What?"

"Pulled me away from things."

His expression softened slightly.

"You weren't looking."

"I can look."

"I know."

She raised an eyebrow.

He almost smiled.

Almost.

They reached her building.

Amelia stopped beneath the entrance light.

Bryan handed her bag back.

She took it.

Their fingers brushed.

Again.

Neither moved immediately.

His eyes dropped to her hand.

Then returned to her face.

Something in his expression changed.

So small she might have missed it if she'd been looking anywhere else.

He let go.

"Goodnight."

She nodded.

"Goodnight."

Bryan turned.

He took two steps.

Stopped.

Looked back.

She was still standing there.

A faint smile touched his mouth.

Then he walked away.

Amelia watched him disappear around the corner.

Only after he was gone did she realize she was smiling too.

She looked down at the flowers.

"Ridiculous."

The flowers offered no opinion.

...

She entered the apartment and locked the door.

The first thing she did was place the flowers in a glass jar.

The second was move the jasmine plant from the kitchen counter back to the windowsill.

She checked the window lock twice.

Then the balcony door.

Then the front door again.

The fear from the previous night hadn't completely disappeared.

But it was quieter.

She changed into an oversized shirt and comfortable trousers before returning to the kitchen.

The flowers stood beside the jasmine.

White petals against green leaves.

The little arrangement looked almost too beautiful for the small apartment.

She found herself staring at it.

Bryan had noticed.

That was what bothered her.

He noticed everything.

When she was cold.

When she was tired.

When her bag slipped from her shoulder.

When she looked at flowers.

When she didn't eat enough during long shifts.

She didn't know what to make of it.

She opened the refrigerator.

There wasn't much inside.

She sighed.

Tomorrow.

She'd shop tomorrow.

Tonight, she would settle for bread.

She placed two slices on a plate and sat at the small kitchen table.

Her phone lay beside her.

The screenshot she'd taken earlier was still there.

She opened it.

He can't protect you.

Her appetite disappeared.

She locked the phone.

A soft knock came from the window.

She froze.

Another.

She slowly turned.

Nothing stood outside.

The sound came again.

Three gentle taps.

She approached the window.

Her hand stopped inches from the curtain.

Then she pulled it aside.

A small stone sat on the outer ledge.

She stared at it.

There was no balcony on that side.

No tree close enough to have dropped it.

She opened the window carefully.

Cold air entered.

The stone rolled toward her fingers.

Something was tied around it.

A narrow strip of black fabric.

She untied it.

A symbol had been drawn onto the fabric in silver ink.

A raven.

Her stomach tightened.

She had seen that symbol before.

On Bryan's ring.

She dropped the fabric.

For several seconds, she couldn't move.

Then she picked it up again.

Her mind raced.

Was it from Bryan?

Was someone pretending it was?

Was this another warning?

She reached for her phone.

Her thumb hovered over Bryan's name.

She hadn't saved his number.

Of course she hadn't.

The thought almost made her laugh.

How was she supposed to contact a man whose home she barely knew anything about?

A shadow moved across the street.

She looked up.

Nothing.

She closed the window.

Locked it.

Then pulled the curtains completely shut.

...

At Ravenwood Manor, Bryan stood in the entrance hall.

He had barely removed his coat when Cassian approached.

"You went to her apartment."

Bryan looked at him.

"Yes."

"Alone."

"Yes."

Cassian's expression tightened.

"You shouldn't have."

Bryan handed his coat to Benedict.

"I did."

Cassian followed him into the library.

"There were two watchers near the building."

Bryan stopped.

"Two?"

"One on the roof. One across the street."

His face hardened.

"Where are they?"

"One disappeared before we could reach him."

"And the other?"

"Dead."

Silence.

Bryan slowly turned.

"Who killed him?"

"We don't know."

Cassian placed a small black object on the desk.

A ring.

Silver.

A raven engraved across its surface.

Bryan stared at it.

He didn't touch it.

"This was found beside him."

Cassian's voice lowered.

"It bears your family's crest."

Bryan's eyes darkened.

"That crest belongs to my bloodline."

"I know."

"Then someone wants us to believe Ravencrest is behind this."

Cassian nodded.

"Or..."

Bryan's gaze lifted.

"Someone inside Ravencrest is."

The room went silent.

For the first time that night, Bryan thought about the woman sleeping in the small apartment across the city.

About the flowers he'd left in her hands.

About the way she'd smiled.

About how easily that smile could become a memory if he failed.

His jaw tightened.

"Bring everyone in."

Cassian looked at him.

"Everyone?"

"Every member of the household."

"And the council?"

Bryan's gaze returned to the raven ring.

"Not yet."

He picked it up.

The metal was cold against his fingers.

Someone had taken his family crest.

Someone had entered Amelia's world.

And someone was trying very hard to make him look in the wrong direction.

Bryan closed his hand around the ring.

This time, he wasn't going to wait for them to make the next move.