Page 104 of My Vigilante Valentine

More focused, somehow, even though losing my focus was what I was initially afraid of.

Maybe it was because I was no longer carrying the weight of the city on my shoulders alone. Or because having people I cared about made doing what I did even more important.

Sure, I still worried. But Luna could handle herself, and more importantly, I trusted her to follow instructions and work together to keep each other safe when it really mattered.

I reached for my phone to check the time, knowing I needed to head back to the shop soon for the party.

But the second I saw the screen, my stomach dropped.

Three missed calls from Luna…

And a text that made my blood run cold.

Luna: He knows who you are. He knows we’ve been trying to trap him. I’m coming over. Something feels wrong.

The timestamp showed it was from less than an hour ago—while I’d been sleeping.

If Luna had come over... where was she now?

I was on my feet in an instant, and then, there—by the door. A splash of red caught my eye, and I moved closer, my body tensing as I recognized what it was.

A vintage Valentine’s Day card.

One ofhiscalling cards.

The paper was aged, yellowing at the edges, and my hand shook as I picked it up. Inside, written in an elegant script that seemed to mock me with its formality:

Love makes us weak.

Let me prove it.

I think she’ll last longer than

most before the fear sets in.

Come find her where

broken hearts go to die.

-VV

The card crumpled in my fist as rage surged through me—hot and violent and all-consuming. But beneath it was something worse.

Fear.

Cold, paralyzing fear that wrapped around my chest like a vice.

Luna…

I burst out of my apartment at my full, enhanced speed, the hallways blurring around me as I raced out of the building.

The streets were empty at this hour, which was good because I didn’t bother to hide my abilities as I blasted over to Wilde Brew like a freight train.

Let them see. Let them wonder. Let them post their blurry photos on social media about the shadow that moved too fast to track.

None of it mattered if she was?—

No.

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