Page 82 of His Every Move

“Watch out!” Eli’s scream shattered the quiet, his eyes snapping wide with panic.

Adrenaline surged through me as I twisted sharply, instinct saving me from the needle aimed directly at my neck. It missed by inches, the attacker stumbling forward with a frustrated growl and falling onto a couch, knocking over a tripod and sending the camera flying across the room.

My heart slammed against my ribs as I looked around, bracing for a fight.

Shock rooted me to the ground.

Standing there, eyes cold and filled with venom, a syringe clenched tight in his trembling fist, was someone I never expected to see. Someone who was toward the absolute bottom of my suspects list.

It was Zack, Eli’s best friend.

Chapter30

Elijah Grant

It feltlike my world had been flipped upside down. I didn’t know what the fuck was happening. Why was Benji here, holding me in his lap? Why did my head feel like it’d been crushed under a car tire? Why was Zack currently running toward Benji with a needle—holy fuck.

“Watch out!”

The words were ripped out of me. Benji twisted just in time to dodge the needle and stop it from plunging into his neck. The move brought me closer to him. He cradled me almost as if I was a baby.

Memories began to form, to sharpen. My audition. My fear. A cold and sharp pain sinking into my neck before the curtains dropped on my vision.

And now Zack was here? What was he doing here? Why did he have a needle? Why…

I lifted my head and locked eyes with my best friend. He had his back against the wall. The room wasn’t large, but Benji was already getting to his feet, and in one swift movement, he pulled a gun out from a concealed holster.

The room suddenly became a hundred times smaller.

My breath hitched. A gun. I’d never seen one in person before, this close and lethal. He held it out in front of him, feet braced on the dirty ground. Zack’s eyes widened before he looked to me. He had a crazed appearance to him. He wore dirty dark blue scrubs, his hair long and unruly. He was nearly unrecognizable.

My best friend. The closest person to me besides Benji.

He was also my stalker.

Zack was Nomad.

“Why?” I asked, getting up onto my feet. I rubbed at my neck, which was still sore. I hadn’t realized there were tears forming until they slipped down my cheeks, wetting my lips. Benji thrust a protective hand onto my chest and gently pushed me back. Zack’s attention shifted back to the barrel of the gun, pointed directly at his head. My mouth was ash dry, my heart beating like a sledgehammer against my ribs. “This entire time. It’s been you. Why? Why, Zack?”

“Because I love you, Eli! Isn’t that obvious? Because I’ve loved you since we were younger. I fell even more for you once we hooked up. You’d given me the best couple of nights of my life. You were always there for me. You, you, you cared for me. When I felt abandoned and lost, like I couldn’t make anyone around me happy or proud, you lifted me up. Reminded me that—fuck!—reminded me I was worth something. I asked you out, wanted you to be mine, but you kept rejecting me.

“Then I started watching your streams. Eli, I couldn’t get enough. The obsession I have for you is—Eli, fuck, I want you. That’s when I saw Damon commenting, when I saw how much he hated you. That night I came up with the Nomad character—flipped his name backward, thought it would be the perfect way to push you into my arms. I’d be there to protect you from the crazy stalker. But… you didn’t come to me. And if I can’t have you, then no one can. Do you understand that? Do you understand that I can’t see you with anyone else but me?”

Zack looked like a cornered and rabid dog. Spittle foamed at the edges of his mouth. His pupils were blown wide open. I wouldn’t be surprised if he said he’d railed back seven lines of coke before this.

I didn’t recognize my best friend at all. I was staring at a monster. A complete and utter monster, devoid of any heart, wanting to simply feast on mine. A mixture of absolute shock and stomach-twisting nausea washed over me. I wanted to drop to my knees again but somehow managed to keep upright. Benji’s hand held the gun steady.

Jesus fucking Christ. A gun. This could all go very, very badly.

“My apartment… did you break in?”

Zack nodded. “I was going to wait for you. I wasdonewaiting for you. But then you text me to meet up. I changed my mind. Then I thought I could use that moment to get you to stay over. You didn’t.”

“What were you planning on doing to him?” Benji asked. I could tell all he felt was raw anger. His face was red, his attention pinned to a trembling Zack. He held the needle out like a gun of his own. How did this happen? How did we get here? I was just with Zack a couple of days ago.

His knuckles. They were all cut up.

He’d been the one to break into my apartment. Had he planned on dragging me right out of my bed?

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