Aria couldn't shake Kael's words from her mind. Still dreaming of feathers? The question echoed through her thoughts until it poisoned even the quietest moments.
She told herself she was overreacting, that maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe he had heard her mutter something in a half-sleep back in school, or maybe Lena mentioned it without realizing. But no matter how many excuses she stacked in her head, they toppled like flimsy cards.
Kael was everywhere.
On Monday, she spotted him leaning against the gates outside her lecture hall, smiling as though he'd been waiting. On Wednesday, he appeared at the bus stop, earbuds in, tapping his foot to music. And on Friday, when she ducked into the café with Lena again, there he was at the counter, holding a cup of coffee just as she walked in.
Every time, his eyes found hers first. Every time, he offered that same easy smile that made everyone else think he was harmless.
Everyone but her.
"Aria," Lena hissed one day as Kael held the door open for them, "you need to chill. He's being nice. It's not a crime."
Aria's throat burned. She wanted to scream, to explain how it wasn't just kindness, how his timing was too perfect, his knowledge too sharp. But when she tried to speak, the words sounded weak even to her own ears.
Because Kael never did anything outright threatening. Not in front of anyone else.
He was always just there.
And worse—sometimes he really did save her.
Like the night she almost stepped off the curb.
Her mind had been swirling with thoughts, her phone buzzing again with that unknown number. She hadn't even noticed the speeding car until it was too late.
Then a hand closed around her arm, yanking her back hard enough to make her stumble. Tires screeched against asphalt as the car swerved past.
"Careful," Kael murmured, steadying her. His breath brushed her ear, warm and too close. "I'd hate to lose you before you understand."
Aria ripped her arm free, her pulse hammering. "Stop following me."
He tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "Maybe I'm not following. Maybe I'm just where you need me to be."
Before she could reply, he was gone, slipping into the crowd like he had never been there at all.
That night, lying wide awake in bed, Aria clutched her phone like a lifeline. Her contacts were open, her thumb hovering over Lena's name. But she didn't call. What would she even say?
The screen buzzed.
Her heart dropped.
Another unknown number.
Hands shaking, she opened it.
"Stop fighting me, Aria. You're safest when you're with me."
Her phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
And for the first time, she wasn't sure if her fear was making her paranoid… or if her instincts were the only thing keeping her alive.