I Am an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #2)

Chapter 12

Eliza's POV

For the first time since Vincent entered the living room, I pause. Normally I would immediately discard the idea of sharing my past with anyone, but with Vincent... With Vincent, I discover that the logical side of my brain is keeping quiet, while the emotional side is actually urging me to tell him, if only so Vincent reveals what connection he and Tim share.

To distract myself from the temptation, I turn to our charges. They are busy working on their history project, but while Denise is typing something into her computer, Charlie has his ears perked into two sharp points. The boy is obviously eavesdropping on my conversation with Vincent.

"What will it be?" Vincent asks.

With a deep inhale, I turn back to him. I'm determined to tell him that I'm not that curious about him after all. The moment my eyes meet his dark brown eyes, however, my mouth makes a twist of its own.

"She's the reason I'm here today."

When I realize what I let slip, I whirl around and stride to the nearest pile of cardboard boxes. There I swing myself on top of the tallest one and plop my ass down. I expect Vincent to follow me, but instead, he crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans against the armrest of the yellow armchair Charlie is sitting on.

"You mean she's the reason you're dead?" Vincent asks.

"Yes... No... She's the reason I'm a Guardian."

"Which—" Vincent begins, but I beat him to it.

"No, your turn. How do you know Tim?"

Vincent looks like he has at least a dozen questions on his tongue, but one by one he swallows them. "Tim and I know each other from our past lives."

"I knew it." I smirk. "Did you cause his death or he yours?"

"He's the one who left me behind." Vincent averts his eyes and focuses them on the pile of boxes beside me. "That led to me being later executed for murder."

My jaw sinks at his words. I know that as Guardians we're all hiding dark secrets about our past, but I didn't expect Vincent's to involve murder.

"I know what both of you are thinking." Vincent glances between me and Charlie, who I only then notice is also openly gaping at Vincent. "You're wrong, though. It was a false accusation. I might have done my share of bad deeds, but I never killed anyone."

"What kind of bad—" I begin, but this time Vincent cuts me off.

"No." He shakes his head with a lopsided smirk. "It's my turn. How did you die?"

Without even trying to stiffen my instincts, I turn my eyes to Denise, who is still obliviously staring into her computer. "I was executed for harming my employer."

"Were you also falsely accused?"

"No," I snort and smile at the memory that resurfaced not long after I realized that Denise is the reincarnation of someone from my past. "To her, I did everything they accused me of."

I can almost feel Vincent and Charlie exchange a worried look, but I ignore them. Instead, I keep my eyes on Denise and hold the memory of her screams close to my heart.

*

"This is the last one," Grégory says as he lifts the last cardboard box off the floor inside the living room. Without a backward glance, he exits the now empty room.

"Then this is it." Julie nods, but opposite to her husband, she stops in the open doorway and turns toward the staircase. "Denise, let's go!"

"Yeah, hurry up!" I call out from where I'm leaning against the empty wall across the room, waiting for the Princess to drag her lazy ass downstairs.