I Have an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #1)

Chapter 35

Samuel's POV

I search for a sign, any sign, of recognition in Lucien's expression, yet all I notice is the sharp point he flexes his jaw into. We're still sitting at neighboring tables inside the café, with Brooke sitting at Lucien's table and Olivia preparing Brooke's order behind the counter.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lucien shrugs. "As Guardians we can't remember our past human lives. You should know that by now."

An itch shoots up my arm, telling me to smash my fist against Lucien's dull face, but I fight against it. The last thing I can afford right now is to be forced to leave Olivia's side.

As if sensing my thoughts, Olivia returns to our two tables. She carries over a cup of coffee, but just when she's about to set it onto the table in front of Brooke, she freezes. The sudden action causes the brown liquid to spill over the edge of the cup. The coffee slides down Olivia's hands until drop after drop it stains the top of the table. Olivia, however, doesn't move a single muscle. Instead, she continues to stare at Brooke with wide-open eyes.

I jump to my feet and begin to reach for her, but one raised eyebrow from Lucien forces me to slump back into the wooden chair. His observant eyes tell me the chance of Olivia and me not being caught would be minimal if I went over to help her. This is why despite my instincts, I force myself to remain seated and passively watch Olivia's every move.

"Are you insane?" Brooke yanks her hands away from the growing puddle of spilled coffee and narrows her eyes at Olivia.

My charge, however, blinks a couple of times and then sets the cup onto the table. She ignores the drops still sliding down her hands and instead props her hands against the edge of the table.

"I remember you," Olivia says. "You were part of that night."

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asks, still eyeing the spilled coffee with an upturned nose.

"The night of the car accident. You called me. You invited me out for coffee."

"I..." Brooke snaps her eyes up to Olivia's but then averts them a second later. I also don't miss the way she grips her side of the table; squeezing it as if she's holding on for dear life. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. We hadn't talked for the last few months of the school year—almost since the date I set you up on—so there must be a reason why you called me that night."

"That's... That's because I... I felt sorry for you."

"What?" Olivia pulls back from the table, straightening her back.

"I felt bad because I know you think I'm your closest friend. I called you to take pity on you, but you never showed up." Without another word, Brooke jumps to her feet, ignores the half-spilled cup of coffee she hasn't paid for, and storms out of the café.

"This is getting more and more interesting," Lucien muses as he slowly rises from his chair and turns to follow his new charge. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again. I can't wait until then, Olivia dear."

With a backward wave, he follows Brooke out of the café, which leaves Olivia and me wordlessly staring after them. While I hadn't managed to convince Lucien that Olivia isn't able to see him, I learned something else. Brooke's defensive reaction when Olivia mentioned the night of the accident tells me there's something more behind it than the simple call Olivia seems to remember.

*

Olivia's POV

Samuel glances at his pocket watch for the fifth time and then snaps it close with a loud groan. "What's taking him so long?" He peers up and down the road.