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“So like, if they all are going after Blaire, then he got sidetracked. Which ended up in all the roses, notes, and all that jazz.”

“So you’re saying the stalking behavior has nothing to do with trying to get to Blaire through me? It’s separate?”

“Yes! That!” Riley snapped her fingers, pointing at Charlotte. “You get it!”

“Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I did,” Riley said, looking puzzled. “Weren’t you listening?”

Charlotte’s phone chiming in her pocket saved her from playing ring-around-the-point with Riley any further. She gasped when she saw the sender.

“What is it?” Riley scrambled to her feet, moving over to peer over Charlotte’s arm. “Ew. Why is he texting you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, voice low. She swiped the screen.

Noah:

I owe you an explanation.

“No, he doesn’t. He’s a rogue, working with other rogues who hurt you. Block him.”

Before she could do that, her phone rang, Noah’s name flashing on the screen.

“Put it on speaker,” Riley said, hitting the button to accept before Charlotte could decide if answering was worth the hassle.

Tapping on the speaker icon, she held the phone in front of them. “Noah?”

“I didn’t want you to find out about me that way,” he said in a rush.

“That way? Did you plan to tell me what you were?”

“I…”

“That’s what I thought. No one was going to tell me anything,” she said, a bitterness to her voice she couldn’t mask. It still irked that she was kept in the dark. She didn’t think she would ever be okay with it, but she accepted it as the necessary evil to keep her safe.

“Charlotte,” he said, pleading. “You don’t know what my kind does to humans who know the truth.”

“Actually, I do.”

“What?”

“Memory wipe. I know everything.”

A beat of silence.

“How do you know?”

“She’s my brother’s Korrena, asshole,” Riley interjected, a smug smile on her face.

“You have a Korrena? You’re human.”

“Apparently that isn’t a thing, except with one friend of mine.”

“Blaire,” he said. He already knew; she didn’t have to acknowledge it. “Who’s with you? Who is that talking? Who’s brother?”

“It’s Aiden. The guy you met in Athens. And she’s a friend—his sister.”

“He’s your Korrena?” He blew out a sharp breath. A stilted laugh filtered through the phone’s speaker.