As soon as I shut the door behind me, Faye asks, “He doesn’t know that Garrett was here last night, does he?”
“Shh!” I shake my head and grip her by the upper arms, moving away from the door, “No, and I’d prefer it to stay that way, Faye!”
“I know, I know! Sorry! Look, I know it’s the last thing you wanted to hear, but I had to tell you. I only met Garrett once the night when he came over for drinks, but last night really freaked me out. You should’ve seen him, Willow. He was just sitting in his car, looking at your apartment balcony, and he had this look on his face, like he was annoyed or angry or something.”
I pull my hands away from her to rub my temples. To say I’m stressed is putting it mildly. Last night, after my phone had charged and come back to life, I saw the text from Faye about Garrett. At that point, it was nearing midnight and I had to delete the text because I was so paranoid Caz would see it and wreak havoc. I tried ignoring it last night and even checked the parking lot this morning, pleased to see there was no sign of Garrett.
“I seriously do not need this shit right now,” I mutter. “If he shows up here, Faye, I can’t guarantee he won’t be murdered for it.”
A grin splits Faye’s face in half, and her eyes bounce around like she’s gathering a ton of impractical ideas. “Two guys fighting over you. Gotta say, that’s kinda hot.”
“No, Faye. You don’t understand. Garrett wasn’t supposed to be in the parking lot. In fact, he shouldn’t be anywhere near me because I literally never want to see him again.”
She straightens her back. “Wait…why not? What did he do?”
“He…put his hands on me.”
Her eyes stretch with shock as I rub my upper arm. “What the fuck? Why would he do that?”
“The day after I came back from Caz’s world, he…grabbed me. Like, really hard. And he called me a bitch because I said I didn’t want to be around him anymore. I haven’t wanted to be with him for a long time, and I finally called it off. Now, I’m assuming he’s pissed about it and is trying to find a way back in, but there is none. I’m done with him.”
Faye’s eyes are nearly bulging out of her head. “Does Caz know about Garrett? About you not wanting him around?”
“Yes. I told him when we were in Vakeeli.”
“Oh.” She swallows hard, smashing her lips together. “So, when you say you can’t guarantee he won’t be murdered for it, you really mean that?”
“Yes! It’ll be bad if Caz figures out who he is. We just need to figure this Tether thing out, and when it’s all said and done, I’ll call the cops, let them know…put up a fucking restraining order or something if I have to. I don’t know.” My eyes are hot and misty. I blink the unshed tears away and shift on my feet.
“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Faye coos, reeling me in for a hug. “Don’t even stress over that worthless hijo de puta.” She’s quiet a beat. “The fact that he put his hands on you…” She lets out an infuriated sigh. “Maybe Caz should know Garrett is hovering around. Any man who hits a woman is pathetic and worthless and doesn’t deserve to live.”
“No, Faye.” I pull away and stare at her with serious eyes. “We don’t need to be put into anymore chaos. Caz means well, sure, but he doesn’t realize our world isn’t like his. He could go to prison. I need him to keep a low profile if he wants to get back to Vakeeli.”
“Right. Right.” She blows a breath then tilts her phone, checking the time. “Well, let me know what you decide about Phil Patterson. If you go, I’ll go with you guys and just take some time off. I have to run errands with Abuelita today, so keep me posted.”
“Sure, but you don’t have to go with us if you don’t want to, Faye. This is a lot to take in.”
“Girl, shut up! I want to!” She puts on a big, dazzling smile. “Believe it or not, I find all of this Tether shit fascinating. I can’t believe it’s happening. I mean, I think I’m still wrapping my mind around it…and maybe I haven’t fully accepted that this world is so much bigger than any of us realize, but it’s interesting. If I ever get around to writing my memoir one day, or if all the universes decide to collide like some Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse level shit, I want people to know that I was one of the first to find out about the Tether and all this portal stuff.”
“Oh my gosh. You are a mess.” I huff a laugh and collect her in my arms again. “I’ll see you soon.”
She plants a quick kiss on my cheek and walks down the stairs, heading to the parking lot. When she’s out of sight, I turn for the door but as soon as I open it, I bump into something—or someone, rather.
Caz is on the other side of the door. He pulls it open wider to let me in, and I frown. “Oh my God. Were you eavesdropping?” I ask.
He raises a brow, face hardened. “Where do I find Garrett?”
My heart stutters over the next beat. “What?”
“That Garrett fucker. Where do I find him?”
“Caz—”
“You’re right. I was eavesdropping. Garrett put his hands on you again, and now he has the audacity to stalk you. I want to put an end to it. Now where do I find him?”
I don’t even have the words right now. How dare he listen in on our conversation? Where is the trust?
“Caz, this is not Vakeeli! You can’t just—”
“Willow, I swear on all of Vakeeli and every fucking universe out there, I will find him, whether you tell me or not.” I drop my eyes to his fists and their clenching. His knuckles are bone white beneath the thin skin.
I swallow the lump in my throat, staring into his eyes. He can’t possibly be serious right now. There are much bigger things to worry about, like Decius, our Tether, his family—even getting him back to his world. So much is at stake! We don’t need this.
I fold my arms across my chest. “I don’t know where to find him.”
“You’re lying.” He steps around me, grabbing his hoodie from the coat rack.
“Where are you going?” I demand.
“To find him.”
I scoff. “How are you gonna do that?”
“Where’s your cellphone?”
I feel the weight of it in my back pocket. “You’re not getting my phone.”
“Fine. I’ll find someone else’s and demand them to let me use it.” He’s stuffing his feet into his shoes now.
“Caz, you can’t be serious. First of all, that’s a really stupid plan! No one is just going to give you their phone, especially if you’re demanding them to.”
He cuts his eyes at me.
“Secondly, you’re not here to find Garrett. You’re here because you got a second chance at defeating Decius before he can get to us.”
“We will do that once I handle Garrett. Why the hell are you even protecting this fucker? He put his hands on you, Willow!”
“Look…okay, listen to me.” I grab his hands and squeeze them, forcing his attention on me. “If you get in trouble here, they will send you to jail, Caz. They’ll arrest you and lock you up, and you’ll never get to see your family again. Do you get that?”
“Oh, I get it. I just don’t care. They won’t catch me.” He pulls his grasp out of mine, moving across the room to collect his gun. He checks the chamber for the number of bullets, then closes it before tucking it into the waistband of his pants.
“Well, you should care because if you do something to him—like kill him—then they’ll come looking for me, Caz. They’ll ask me questions and interrogate me, and there’s a chance they’ll assume I did something to him.”
He pauses then, side-eyeing me. “Why would they come to you?”
“Because there are people who knew Garrett and I were a thing, and the last time I spoke to him, I was angry. There were people around to witness how angry I was who can prove we were in a heated disagreement. That’s just what the police do here, Caz. They dig and investigate until they find out what happened. And if you’re with me after he goes missing or they find his dead body, they’ll drag us both to jail.”
His jaw ticks, then he drops his head, cursing beneath his breath. His grips the gun tight again, swaying it.
“What kind of idiotic shit is that?” he growls. “Why not just take matters into your own hands? What the hell do we need the cops for?”
“I don’t know, but that’s just how it is. Think of the cops as The Council in Vakeeli. I know the rules are dumb and unfair, but please, Caz, I’m begging you. We don’t need this right now. It’ll only set us back.”
I move toward him, reaching for his hand that has the gun. Carefully, I take it away, placing it on the side table. He stands there, body rigid, breathing hard through flared nostrils.
“I want to kill him, Willow. I don’t know him, never seen him, but I want to murder him. He’s tormenting you!”
“I know, I know. But you can’t.” When I wrap my arms around him, some of the tension melts from his body. Finally, he sighs and encloses me in his arms too.
“Earth and its restricting rules. Bloody ridiculous.”
I laugh. “Yeah, some of the rules do suck a little.”
There’s silence, only for a moment. “If he shows up while I’m here, I can’t promise I won’t hurt him, Willow. I mean that. If I see him, I’m putting every bullet I have in his head.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so instead I raise my chin and plant a warm kiss on his lips. “Can you just promise me no violence while you’re here?”
His brows pucker. “That’s an unreasonable thing to ask of me.”
“Caz.”
“Fine.” He holds me closer. “No violence on Earth. For you.”
I smile as he buries the tip of his nose in the crook of my neck. “Good. And we are going to see Phil. Sure, he might be crazy, but he could have answers. If we’re going to be traveling, we need to get you more clothes, so how about we go shop a bit? Take your mind off of wanting to murder people?”
His lips twitch. “Whatever you want, Willow Woman.”
