“He called me a spawn,” I grumbled, stomping into the lobby of my apartment building. “A spawn. That disrespectful, loathsome ass. I hate him so much.”
Even as I said the words, deep down, I knew it wasn’t true. I tried so hard to hate Cole, to no avail. Releasing a long breath, I dropped into one of the armchairs in the lobby. I just had to take a moment to work through my anger before I made the journey up the five flights of stairs to my apartment. The walk home hadn’t been long enough for me to get over my conversation with Cole.
Whenever I was alone in my apartment, I had too much time to think. Doing that always led to feeling depressed and defeated. Afraid, too. In private, I didn’t have to play the tough-girl role, and I often wallowed in terror over what I’d do if the hunters were to find me.
After what the stranger—Adam—told me, I was worried. The older man from last night had been watching me for a while. He had to be a hunter. Maybe he’d gotten orders to watch me rather than kill me. He could be waiting to take me to that man I’d escaped from in Nebraska. Dropping my head into my hands, I shook my head. This was why I hated alone time nowadays. My mind automatically went to the worst places.
I had to stop this. Sitting up, I surveyed the space. It wasn’t a posh apartment building, but it was nice and in a decent neighborhood. It was also affordable, so I jumped at the chance to get a space here. Fortunately, the owner had lowered the price by the time I was ready to rent. It was shocking, but who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? I’d gotten to keep a nice chunk of change, which I needed.
“I should focus on the good things that have happened,” I whispered. Yeah, that was what I needed to do, or else I’d totally lose my mind worrying. “I’ve got a friend.” Macy was awesome. “I’ve got my own place.” I’d never had my own space before. “Maybe I can go back to school.” Dropping out had been a bummer. “Think about the good things. The good things,” I chanted.
“Hello, Sydney.”
Gasping, I looked up and almost fell out of the chair. It was the man from the diner. The older one, whom Adam insisted was watching me. My eyes bulged as I stared at him, paralyzed by shock.