Chapter 191

Asher and I continued scrolling through the thread, reading post after vile post of Joseph and Lamar plotting. They had it all laid out.

Lamar would endear himself to me, become my friend and eventual lover. Then he would take embarrassing photos and videos with which to threaten me.

You must really hate her, Lamar had typed.

Joseph had replied, That’s my kid inside of her, and she refuses to hand it over for my parents to raise. Like she can raise a kid alone! She only wants to keep it so she can hold it over my head the rest of my life.

Lamar had inserted a laughing emote, then wrote, Sounds like she has this coming then. Turnabout is fair play.

You don’t know the half of it, Joseph had typed. This wasn’t my first attempt to get her to see reason, and if we fail here, I have many more plans in motion. All I have to do is say the word.

You are brutal. Lamar had added three more laughing emotes.

Joseph had written, I’ll do anything to keep this bitch from ruining my life.

Beside me, Asher began to growl.

“I’ve seen enough.”

Asher reached over me, took control of the mouse, and closed the web browser.

I hadn’t realized I was shaking until I wasn’t holding onto the mouse anymore. I clasped my hands together in my lap.

“He really does hate me.” I wasn’t surprised by this information, exactly. I’d known for a while from Joseph’s repugnant treatment toward me that he didn’t think kindly on me or our child.

But this? This was a whole new level. To plan to have someone deceive me and worse…

If Asher hadn’t arrived when he had, I might have been…

I couldn’t name what Lamar would have done to me, not even in my thoughts.

My whole body trembled. I wrapped my arms around myself.

As he stood, Asher’s hands formed fists. “Joseph thinks he can get away with this. I won’t let him.”

The dark promise in Asher’s words pulled me from my thoughts.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

Asher looked at me. His eyes were entirely frozen over, cold and deadly. “I’m going to kill him.”

Without another word, he started for the door. I jumped from the office chair and gave chase. I threw myself in front of the door before he could open it.

“You can’t,” I said. “I won’t let you.”

Asher’s brow furrowed. “You would protect him?”

Of course not! “I’m protecting you. You would regret it –”

“I would never regret anything that helped you be free of this monster.”

“But you’d be in prison, Asher. And who would protect me then?”

He seemed like he’d wanted to argue, but how could he? I’d hit him where he was most sensitive: keeping me safe.

Sensing that his resolve was bending, I stepped closer to him and placed my hand on his forearm.

“I need you here, Asher. With me.”

Finally, he exhaled, and some of the tension slipped away.

He glanced over to the clock on the wall. “It’s late.”

A question hung unsaid within those two simple words.

I hadn’t been alone since the attack. Asher would walk me back to my room if I said I wanted to go home. But I was hoping he wouldn’t mind if…

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

If I returned to my room and sat alone in the dark, I doubted I would get any sleep. Here, with Asher, I might stand a chance against the nightmares sure to come.

Here, I wasn’t quite so afraid.

He reached out and tugged me into the safety of his arms.

“You are always welcome here.”

I hadn’t brought any pajamas, so Asher lent me a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

I joked, “Soon I’ll have more of your clothes in my wardrobe than my own.”

He made a deep, satisfied rumble. “Good.”

I changed in his bathroom, and brushed my teeth with a spare toothbrush.

“Keep that toothbrush there next to mine,” Asher said, when I opened the bathroom door. “Just in case you need it again.”

Heat rose in my face. When I did as he asked, placing my toothbrush next to his in a cup on the sink, it felt like something a couple would do.

Then I followed Asher to his bed. He got in first, then held open his arms for me. I slotted perfectly against him, the small spoon cradled in his warm embrace.

He was so gentle with me, holding me without any demands or expected favors.

He kissed the back of my head.

“You are safe with me. Get some sleep.”

Slowly, encouraged, I closed my eyes.

Sometime in the night, I jolted awake. I could feel Lamar’s too-firm grip on me. I could hear his voice.

You say anything but my name and you will suffer.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Lamar’s face, staring back at me.

And I screamed.

Immediately, Asher jumped from the bed. Seeing Lamar standing over me, he acted at once, diving over the bed and tackling – straight through Lamar and onto the floor.

“What the…?” he grumbled from the ground.

I was frozen in fear in the bed. My fingers clawed at the blankets. I wanted to hide under them, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away.

If I so much as blinked, would Lamar advance?

Would he try to hurt me again?

But then, suddenly, Asher stepped through Lamar, blocking my view of him. Asher placed his face near mine so that I had to look him in the eye.

“It’s a projection, Cynthia. It’s not real.”

I tried to focus on Asher and his words, even as wild fear had my heart racing.

“It’s just you and me in this room.” Asher kept his voice so calm I wanted to wrap it around myself.

“He’ll… hurt me…”

“He won’t. I’d never let that happen.” Concern shone bright in Asher’s eyes. “He’s in jail, remember? We went to see him?”

We did.

I started to remember now.

This was Asher’s room, with Asher here beside the bed.

The real Lamar was in prison. The one in this room was only an apparition.

Closing my eyes, I searched for the mental tether I had made, binding the apparition to the real world, and cut it.

When I opened my eyes again, Asher and I were once more the only figures in the room.

“Good,” Asher said.

“Asher, I’m so sorry –”

He brought his hands up and cupped my cheeks. “It’s not your fault, Cyn. Nothing about this is your fault.”

I nodded, yet the weight of my sorrow still pressed down on my chest. I hated feeling so helpless.

“Do you think you could go back to sleep tonight?” Asher asked me.

I shook my head as best I could, with my face in his hands.

He ran his thumbs along my cheekbones. “Okay. Why don’t I make you some herbal tea? To help you relax.”

I nodded.

Releasing me, Asher rose and walked to the kitchenette, flipping on the overhead light as he went.

The bright light chased the lingering shadows from my mind.

Standing up, I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and joined Asher.

I reminded myself, Lamar is in prison.

But what about Joseph? He had been the mastermind behind all of this. Shouldn’t he carry some of the blame?

And what about those other girls on the website? Didn’t they also deserve justice?

They did.

I knew then, what I had to do.

“Asher.”

He set the kettle on the stove, then looked back at me.

I took a steadying breath. “I want to report that horrible website to the Academy.”