51 — OF AUTONOMY AND VENDETTA

ANAHERA I watched the scene before me slowly unfold as Noel set the tray on the bedside table, put a hand on my forehead to check my temperature.Too frozen to warn him, I could only wait for him to realize that my brother was in the room with us.Hoping he didn’t do anything like, I don’t know, try to kiss me again. I half expected my brother to attack him from behind and pummel him to bits. But after a while, Noel let out a dreary sigh. “Are you going to say something or just continue to hover in the corner like a haunting ghost?”Then he fixed a glance straight at Dominik.Oh shit.He knew Dominik was in here yet chose to dangle himself as bait. My gaze cut to my brother who looked too calm for what was happening. He looked back at me. And a calm Dominik was the worst thing. His gaze drifted to the tray on the bedside table then back to me. “I gave you a week,” he began. “A whole week to cool your head and think about what you said. To prove you were mature enough to make

52 — OF FINAL STRAWS AND EXPOSURE

ANAHERA To say I was taken aback by Dominik’s words paled in comparison to what I truly felt after hearing him. So loud. So confident about something he was so wrong on.He’d let his hate for Noel become an obsession that overrode every good quality he used to have. Appalled, I hissed, dropping my voice low. “You can’t go around accusing an innocent person of murder.” His eyes narrowed, glinting with malice. “It’s not an accusation if it’s true.” Now that was where I crossed the line. “Noel never did anything to our parents. If you want to blame anyone for ruining our perfect family, blame me!”The memory remained evergreen, living rent free in the back of my mind. How could I forget? We were a happy little bunch, a family of four before everything went downhill because of me. “If I’d listened and stayed put, I wouldn’t have fallen into the lake and mom wouldn’t have come looking for me.” The lump in my throat had increased to several sizes, refusing to budge no matter how

53 — OF DOUBTS AND DEVOTION

ANAHERA “I cannot for the life of me figure out why there are photos of us on my brother’s phone. Has he been spying on us?”The slight raise in my voice earned us the attention from the next table. We were seated in the private lounge in the place Noel had drunk-dialed me from weeks ago. Somewhere called Honey and Rye. He looked as relaxed as ever in his chair with one arm draped over the back of mine. Only I knew that he was anything but. The look of alarm that crossed his features after my reveal said otherwise. “And you said the number matched with the one sending you threats?” He took my phone, peering at the screen. “Interesting.” “Interesting? This freaks me out, Noel!” Then casting a furtive glance, I suppressed a shudder. “The stalker could be anywhere in here, watching us.”His eyes roamed around as well before settling back on me. “Either your brother is paying someone to watch you or it’s one of my crazy exes.”I didn’t like his flippant tone when he mentioned his e

54 — OF RISKS AND REPUTATION

ANAHERA If a microphone was placed against my chest, everyone would hear for themselves how ferociously my heart was pounding. And not like he’d done too much. Words. Words were all he used to affirm the things I wanted to hear. ‘I’m yours if you’ll have me…’It’d taken me every sheer will in my two hundred and six bones to not catapult myself into his arms and done something I’d probably be regretting now. But they were just words. Shawn said enough words and yet walked away without any. A tap on glass booted me out of my reverie. I looked to the source, slightly surprised to see Noel there. “Eyes on me, princess.” Then with a wink, he skated away to join the rest of his teammates. If I wasn’t seated in the front-row glass seats behind the home bench, I’d have melted on the goddamn floor.I didn’t know what he really meant. Was it eyes on him to watch him play? Or eyes on him for his movements?Either way, no one said I couldn’t do both. As a professional, I looked closely

55 — OF RESTRAINT AND DESIRE

ANAHERA By the time I walked into a grocery store the next day, Emilia’s confusing words had been filtered out of my mind. I strolled through aisles, picking up the things I needed according to the list on my phone. A blizzard was approaching in a few days. What better way to prepare than to get locked in? I slowed to a stop in front of the meat freezer, lip pursing when I couldn’t find the item I was looking for. “Excuse me?” I called to an attendant nearby. “The chicken breasts used to be on this aisle.” “That’s because they were moved to the front, smarty pants. The label says so,” he replied dryly. I considered laying a complaint about his bad behavior and then on second thoughts, paid no mind to his rude tone. He could already be having a bad day. There was no need to pile dealing with the HR on his list of worries. Just for today, I’d let this one go. “Will that be all?” The cashier asked, without looking up from her screen where she calculated the total

56 — OF CHEERS AND CHOSEN HEARTS

ANAHERA When game night rolled around, I ditched my sweats for a cream cable-knit sweater, dark jeans and knee-high boots.A little mascara, lip gloss and a quick ponytail later, I grabbed my purse and headed out.Thunderous cheers met my hearing when I pushed open the door that led to the arena for the game. Despite the chilly air, my fingers were moist with anxious heat. My whole body in fact.I looked at my card, wondering if I’d ever be able to figure out my way in this crazy maze. Just as I turned, someone bumped into me as they walked past. The string of insults that had bubbled up suddenly felt useless against my tongue when I realized it was an elderly man.The greying salt and pepper hair peeking from under his hat gave him away.“I’m so sorry, miss.” I caught onto a flash of green orbs before he tugged down his cap and walked away. “Okay, weird.” But who was I to blame him? The whole place thrummed with anxious energy, energy I knew would soon infect me. I just needed