Page 2 of Fall

“That’s a nice way of putting it.” I sigh, giving them both a guilty, apologetic smile as I lean against the closet again. “She’s right. I have a history of some mental illness issues and, umm, she needed to call a wellness check on me once before that went a little not-great.”

Not greatis an understatement, but I’m sure they already know that from looking at my file. I smooth my hair back over my ear, still forcing myself to keep my relaxed and casual facade. “But luckily, this isn’t that kind of thing. I was at a haunted house last night and I met, uh…” I trail off and give themthe look,figuring that partial honesty is my best policy. “I met a new friend.”

Both of them grin, sharing in my little inside joke. “I wouldn’t have thought a haunted house on Halloween was a good time to make new friends.” The shorter one chuckles. “But do your friend a favor and keep her informed, would you? She was pretty worried about you.”

“I am so sorry.” I have the grace to look mortified, and I give them both another apologetic smile. “Seriously, I didn’t mean to make you waste your time. I know you have better places to be. But yeah, I’m all good. Just uh, pretty tired, you know?” I tilt my head to the side and bite my lip, still going for the same facade that I’m pretty sure will get me out of this.

“All good,” the nicer, shorter man assures me.

The taller police officer looks like he disagrees with his partner’s words and glances flatly at me with a sigh. “Just try to keep better communication in the future,” he grumbles, turning and opening the door. I can tell he’d rather be anywhere but here, listening to me allude to the sex I had last night. But it was a pretty solid tactic, judging by how fast I’m able to get the two officers out of my apartment.

“Thank you!” I call, leaning on the door. “Sorry, again!” The shorter man waves back at me, but his partner just stomps to the car and gets in, slamming the door behind him hard enough that I wince in sympathy for the car.

Well, at least that was easy to deal with. If they would’ve pushed the wellness check, then today would’ve been significantly worse. And I don’t feel like having the shoelaces yanked out of my sneakers or the drawstring cut out of my waistband today.

Especially not with two murderers in my apartment who may or may not have ransacked the place by now. Though I’d like to think that if that were the case, I would’ve heard them doing it. A huff leaves me as I close my door, and I take a few moments to rest my forehead against the fake wood as I listen for any sound and try to figure out what to expect when I walk up the stairs.

Unfortunately, I can’t hear anything, and my brain is unhelpfully blank. I trudge up my stairs, eyes fixed on the top, where I can see my orange and white cat sitting and washing a paw. Bagheera, my sleek black cat, is probably under the biggestpiece of furniture he can find, while Clearwater clearly doesn’t mind the intrusion of strangers in our home.

In fact, when I get to the top of the stairs and see Harrow on my sofa, I’m pretty unsurprised to find Finn stretched out on his lap and purring while the man strokes his ears. I stop at the landing, next to the half-wall dividing the stairs from the small kitchen, and stand there.

I just…stand there.

Because what am I really supposed to do with the two of them in my apartment? I feel like I’m stuck on buffering, so why not stand in place and let Clearwater use my legs to rub against? At least then I’m being useful tosomeone.

“So…” My heart races a little, reminding me of all the things that happened at the haunt last night. It’s hard to look at Harrow and not think of his hands, his boots,his voice, but I manage to just look at him.

Because I hadn’t been able to last night.

“Do you guys, uh, have names?” He looks at me halfway through the question, causing me to stumble over the end of it. I know I look like an absolute idiot, but I can’t help the nervousness, the anxiety.

The anticipation.

“You don’t think our parents named us Ravage and Harrow?” His voice is soft as he looks at me with dark, almost black eyes.

I rise to the balls of my feet and drop back to my heels. “Not at all.”

A small smile twitches at his lips, never fully forming and definitely never meeting his eyes. His fingers don’t stop moving on Finn’s ears, and I can see the cat plotting to keep him here until he says otherwise, clearly. “Kieran,” he answers, drawing my attention back to his face. “Nice to meet you, Noa. I’m Kieran.”

“I'm Val.” Ravage strides out of my bedroom, an arrogant grin slashing over his lips. “Well, if you want my full name, it’s Valentin.” There’s a bit of an accent in his words as he says it, though it’s not present in his everyday speech. “Just don’t look me up because that’s also not my legal name.”

“Yeah, let me just…hack into some government database and hunt you guys down with first names only.” Finally, I force myself to walk to the kitchen, and I move to the counter to hop up on it, my heels tapping lightly against the cabinets under me with every twitch of my legs. I can’t sit still, and keeping my distance feels like the safest option.

As safe as I can be with both of them here, in my apartment, with me.

Alone.

2

My phone buzzesin my pocket and I ignore it in favor of studying the two men while listening to the unsteady, nervous thumping in my chest. At least until my phone buzzes again, prompting me to drag it out of my pocket with a huff.

You okay??? Was it the wellness check?I can feel Sierra’s frantic worry even through text, and I snort as I consider telling her the truth.

Not that I plan to.

“So my friend sent the cops to do a wellness check on me,” I tell the two men awkwardly. I have no idea if there’s some unwritten script I should be following, or if I should be looking for a knife in the drawer beside me to protect myself.

After all, I really know nothing about these men. My gaze strays to the drawer, my hand inching towards it just in case.

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