Whispered Shadows

Chapter Seventeen

A Tangled Web

Noa

The drive back to the hotel is thick with silence, the kind that feels suffocating rather than peaceful. Ryder's jaw is clenched so tightly I half-expect him to crack a tooth. His hands grip the steering wheel like it's the only thing keeping him grounded.

He escorts me back to my dorm only to pick up Piper because he knows I won't leave her alone overnight. It was only a few minutes and then we were back in the car.

I steal glances at him, my mind racing with questions and fears I don't dare voice yet. The images of the room—the photos, the note, and the eerie sense of being stalked—swirl in my mind like a storm I can't escape.

"You don't have to be mad at me, you know," I say quietly, breaking the silence.

Ryder lets out a sharp breath, his knuckles whitening further as he grips the wheel. "I'm not mad at you, Noa."

"You're acting like it," I counter, crossing my arms over my chest. "You've been stonewalling me since we left the house. If you have something to say, just say it."

He pulls the car into the hotel parking lot and kills the engine. For a long moment, he doesn't move, just sits there staring at the windshield.

"I'm not mad at you," he repeats, his voice lower now, almost pained. "I'm mad at myself."

That catches me off guard. "Why?"

Ryder finally turns to look at me, and the raw emotion in his jade-green eyes makes my breath hitch. "Because I brought you into this mess, Noa. I thought I could protect you, and keep you safe while we figured this out. But tonight—seeing that room, those photos—it made me realize how much worse this is. Shadow isn't just watching us. He's targeting you, and I wasn't ready for that."

I blink, his words sinking in. Ryder's anger wasn't at me; it was at his own inability to control a situation that felt completely out of control.

"I'm not helpless, Ryder," I say softly but firmly. "I know this is dangerous. I know how messed up this whole thing is. But Gia's out there—or at least, I have to believe she is—and I'm not going to back down just because Shadow is trying to scare us. Plus I brought you here. I called you."

Ryder leans back in his seat, scrubbing a hand over his face. The stubble on his jaw catches the dim light from the parking lot, making him look even more rugged and tired than usual. "You're braver than you should be," he mutters.

I almost laugh at that. "I don't think it's bravery. Just stubbornness."

His lips twitch the ghost of a smile breaking through his frustration. "That tracks."

We sit there for a moment, the tension easing slightly but not disappearing entirely.

"We should go inside," Ryder says eventually. "Get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll go through the evidence and see if we can figure out what Shadow's note means."

I nod, unbuckling my seatbelt. But as I reach for the door handle, something makes me pause. "Ryder?"

"Yeah?"

I hesitate, unsure how to put my thoughts into words. "Do you think Gia... do you think she knew how dangerous this was? That someone was watching her, too?"

His expression darkens, and he doesn't answer right away. "I think Gia knew more than she let on," he says finally. "But I don't know if even she realized how far this would go."

His words send a chill down my spine, but I force myself to nod and step out of the car. We walk silently up to his room together.

Ryder declares that he is going to take a shower. Piper curls up on the bed, her tail flicking lazily as she watches me pace back and forth. I can't shake the feeling of those pictures, the weight of Shadow's message.