Page 16 of When Death Whispers

Tonight officially broke my brain.

There’s no other way to explain it—no reasonable box I can shove this into that doesn’t end with me questioning realityandmy own sanity. Shadows shouldn’t talk. Sandwiches don’t eat themselves. And mustard sure as hell doesn’t spell out creepy-ass love notes on its own.

And yet… here I am.

Staring at the counter, where a sandwich that Iknowneither of us touched has a giant bite taken out of it.

Nope.

Nope, nope, fuckingnope.

My brain is screamingleave, run while you can, but my legs aren’t listening. Not yet. I’m stuck here—frozen—watching Parker hover like she’s waiting for something worse to happen. And maybe she is. Maybe she always is.

She looks… wrecked. Tense and pale, her fingers gripping the edge of the counter like it’s the only thing keeping her upright. She doesn’t even look real. Like she belongs to another realm. Untouchable. Ethereal.

And fuck, she’s beautiful.

I’ll never admit how often Parker has dominated my thoughts and dreams—some innocent, most decidedly not. Seeing her scowl at me from behind the bakery counter always feels like a challenge, one I willingly accept every shift. Earning even the slightest smile from her feels like winning the goddamn lottery.

And that smile? Fuck, that rare, haunted, angelic smile stops my heart every damn time. It’s like she hoards her joy, rationing it out only to those deemed worthy.

I so desperately want to be worthy.

But this? This thing with shadows, voices, and mustard notes?

I’m in over my head.

She saved my life tonight. More than once. And all I could do was stare like an idiot while her world—this secret, terrifying world—cracked open in front of me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with any of this. I don’t know what I’m ready for, but it sure as hell isn’tthis.

I push away from the counter, my throat dry, heart thudding like a war drum. Every part of me is screaming to get out of here—to run. Because if I don’t, I’ll either lose my grip on reality, or I’ll fall harder for a girl wrapped in darkness and a past that clearly wants to devour people.

“Hudson?” Parker’s voice stops me. Quiet. Unsteady. Unlike anything I’ve ever heard from her.

I turn slightly, glancing at her over my shoulder. Her arms are wrapped around her middle like they’re the only things holding her together.

“Please,” she whispers. “Just stay until the sun comes up. So I knowhewon’t follow you home.”

Her voice cracks on the wordhome,and it’s like a fist punches me square in the chest.

God. Somehow she’s still standing.

After everything that’s just happened—the man in black, the voice, the fucking sandwich—she’s still here, holding the line like it’s second nature.

And me?

I’ve been joking around like a fucking idiot. Calling herSnow Pealike it was funny. But now I can hear that voice—hisvoice—rasping that nickname.

Snow Pea.

I’m such a dick.

No wonder she asked me to stop.

I want to fix it. I want to be someone who’s strong enough to face whatever nightmare stalks her.

But the truth is, I’m barely holding it together. I feel like prey. Like the second I close my eyes, something will sink its teeth into me and drag me into the dark.

“I… I don’t know what’s going on, Parker,” I say, voice rougher than I mean it to be. “But whatever this is—it’s clear you don’t need someone else tangled up in it.”

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