His brow furrows. “For?”
My breath puffs out, another small laugh. “You.”
He stills, a hint of wariness entering his expression. “Pardon?”
“Do you believe in fate, Lee?”
He turns to face me fully now, on guard. I don’t worry about it. I know he won’t run. His voice is calm and steady, despite his visible caution. “What do you mean?”
“Fate,” I say again. “I knew you’d be here.”
“Right… And, uh, who are you again? I haven’t seen you around.”
“I’m Caspian. I just moved here.”
His hand flicks momentarily toward his pocket. Where his phone is, maybe? His eyes never leave mine, even as I stay perfectly still. “Are you a threat to me, Caspian?”
I bark a laugh. “No. Never that.”
“How’d you know I’d be here?”
My smile is weak. Strained. “I just did. You don’t have to be scared of me.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not making a whole lot of sense.”
I know. I’ve been hearing that my entire life.
He shifts subtly, keeping a respectable distance between us. “You knew I hiked here? Yet you didn’t know my name?”
I shake my head slowly. “No, I didn’t.”
“But you were waiting. For me.” He glances toward the diverging trails that lead away from here, most likely deciding his safest course of exit. “Why?”
I let out a slow breath. “You have a pacemaker, isn’t that right?”
He goes still, his entire body tense. “What?”
“There’s a pacemaker nestled against your heart.”
“How do you know that?” His words are spoken ever so slowly. Carefully. There’s a flicker of fear on his face now, butstill, I know he won’t run. And I need him to understand. To not be afraid.
Of me.
Of this.
I clear my throat. “In two minutes, your pacemaker will fail, Lee.”
He blinks at me, his chest rising and falling. “What are you talking about?”
“It’ll fail.”
“No. It’s in perfect working order. I just had a check a couple weeks ago.”
I shake my head, licking my lips and wishing I had my own water bottle in hand to wet my throat, but I don’t dare grab it now and risk startling him. “I’m sorry, but it’ll fail.”
“Look… I don’t know who the fuck you are or how you know private information about me you shouldn’t, but stay away from me, all right? I’m going to go, and—”
“You won’t,” I tell him, sure of it. I know it in my bones. I’d bet my very life on it. “You’ll stay right here with me, and you’ll go into cardiac arrest in just over a minute. But I promise you it’ll be okay. I wish I could explain, but I don’t have the time. I’ll tell you everything when I can, but for now, I need you to stay calm, and I think it would be wise if you sat down.”
