Their Thief: Redemption

Chapter 25 (Part 3)

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Every time the heat sounded to warm the building, I couldn't help but jump, the pipes in this older part of the library rattling. My eyes snapped in the direction of the sound as I clutched the cart before me. I would have already been done with it if, after each book I put away, I didn't have to give my surroundings a thorough scan to give my mind some peace. The last inspection of my surroundings hadn't ended any different than the countless prior, but still, I couldn't shake the paranoia that I could never truly be alone again; have some privacy. Not until I was free.

Pulling my hand back after placing another book in its rightful place, my eyes darted left and right, searching for a glimpse of the men who were following me in the form of paranoia. There were no signs indicating that they were here except for the unease I couldn't quite shake.

That and the pricking sensation at the back of my neck told me I was being watched. I had every reason to believe it was Luca and Jace. Maybe Alec.

But then again, I had plenty of reason to believe that it had been Eloise and her disapproving glares that had been burrowing into the nape of my neck. Where I had failed to see Alec, Luca, or Jace in the constant glance's I threw over my shoulder, I had caught Eloise nearly a handful of times in just two hours. Though the old grump hadn't seemed to be making any effort to hide her glowering attention. Not with the way she held her head up and stared down her nose with narrowed eyes at me.

First impressions were everything and I had made a hell of a horrible one.

When my eyes weren't in search of the three I was most consciously on the lookout for, they tried to locate Eloise to make sure I continued to avoid her like the plague. There was something about her that made me ashamed to have earned her disapproval. And there was no mistaking that I had. I was on her bad side. I knew it, and so did everyone who gave our brief and tense interactions curious side eyes. She had already sternly remarked twice how slow I was to empty a cart compare to my coworkers. In front of them.

Despite Eloise being the rational answer to the feeling of being watched, I couldn't shake the paranoia that had latched onto me. It had my skin crawling at the thought that my mates were hiding in the shadows just out of sight, watching and waiting for me to screw up. The unease that accompanied the paranoia was enough to have me second-guessing my search for the friendly witch who was yet to show.

But I had no other choice. A public library filled with a constant stream of unknown faces was the closest I was going to get privacy. It was now or never. I had no idea how long I would have the privilege to continue working.

The thought would have had me scoffing if it didn't ring so painfully true. Never had I thought in my pitiful existence that I would consider being allowed to work a privilege. But that's what they had turned it into when they turned everything I knew upside down.

"You didn't show yesterday."

I jumped at the voice as it spoke from over my shoulder, my tightened nerves snapping at the unexpected interruption that cut through my thoughts.

"I thought you might have changed your mind," Lola continued while blinking innocently at the sight of me taking gasped breaths.

I tried to will my heart to beat at a normal rate, needing to place a hand over it in an effort to calm it. Though what I had been considering normal for the last two hours had been a slightly elevated rate that refused to settle. It left me panicky and second-guessing everything. It had been that way since I had gotten into the car with Luca and Jace and only grew worse when they dropped me off. I had lingered by the doors to watch them leave, feeling the unease grow as they left my sights. Even Eloise's less-than-pleasant greeting hadn't been enough to take my mind off the possibility that they had turned around and come back to spy on me. It wasn't a far-fetched idea.