13. Izzy

Iwas startled further when I settled my gaze on him, he looked… Different. I wouldn't recognize the man before me if it weren't for his voice. It was unmistakable. The soothing tone once comforted me when I was at my lowest. I fell into it. I believed he was just a kind man.

That wasn't the case at all.

"Mr. York," I greeted stiffly. I forced myself to push down my emotions. It was a technique I used to compartmentalize the parts of my life that were poisoned by this man. He was the reason I learned self-defense, why I left this town and never looked back, why I couldn't fly unless I was ten sheets to the wind.

He would not be the reason I broke down. I wouldn't allow him any more power than he already had.

"Now Bel, you know I told you to call me Sebastian."

The man stepped closer to me. He reached out, sweeping some of my hair behind my ear. I was frozen in place.

In high school, he dressed immaculately. He always wore thick-framed glasses that hid the color of his eyes and kept his hair shaved close to his scalp. Now?

He dressed in a leather jacket and all his uncovered skin was adorned in intricate tattoos. His black hair was touched in gray and fell in waves around his face. His charcoal eyes were on full display without any lenses obscuring their view. He was objectively handsome, but I knew better. His entire aura was opaque, shrouded in darkness. This was not a nice man.

"They allow you to teach like this?" I settled on the words. My legs began to once more function, allowing me to take a step back and put space between us.

Sebastian's eyes tracked my movement like the predator he was. "I quit ten years ago. Worked with my family, and then I moved. Where is your dearest Yara?"

I gulped audibly and glanced around, trying to find Maddox or Oliver, but I couldn't locate either. My emotions were trying to prickle up but I stamped them back down. "Sick. Where did you move to?" I continued the conversation without much thought, contemplating an exit strategy from this man.

"Sorry to hear that about Yara." A mockingly solicitous expression slid across his face. "I recently moved to New York."

My eyes shot to his. "Where in New York?" I asked shakily.

Sebastian's face darkened further, his eyes turned to infinite soulless canyons. "You know where."

Surely, he didn't. He couldn't have found and followed me. Suddenly, I felt entirely too exposed. My eyes landed on Hallie. Fuck. I caught her gaze and waved. This time, I was ready when a hand tried to stop me, and I dodged him as I beelined it to my step-sister.

"Izzy, there you are. No hard feelings, right? Sometimes men just need a little less to hold onto." Hallie wasted no time in her verbal assault, but for once I was grateful for her presence.

Sebastian preferred operating in the shadows, he would not want to make a scene. "No hard feelings," I agreed. "Harry," I acknowledged his existence. He didn't deserve it, but I needed to use their company until I could find Maddox or Oliver.

"Bel, I'm sorry, you know I still love you. If you want to talk to me, I am always here for you."

The cheating pig's voice was reminiscent of grinding brakes. I shivered disgustedly at the nickname. I had told him multiple times not to use it. I found myself once more questioning my sanity. And my choice in men.

"Thanks," I responded emotionlessly.

"You still love her? You didn't say that last night!" Hallie shrilled, but I finally spotted Maddox and paid them no mind.

"Well best of luck to you both." I did not wait for a response, before heading to Maddox. A hand on my wrist had me jerking to a stop and an eerily familiar man was holding my phone. What the fuck? It had been in my bag the entire night. Which was, of course, somehow now unzipped. And what was with everyone manhandling me?

"You dropped this." I followed the phone up and up and up to a pair of hooded caramel eyes.

I yanked my wrist free from his calloused fingers and grabbed my phone. I searched for a name tag on the mystery man but didn't see one. I didn't have the patience or energy to put anymore into this interaction, even if he was sexy as hell and hauntingly familiar. Especially his eyes. "Thanks." I murmured the word, before continuing my path to Maddox. I felt the strange man's intense stare on me the entirety of my retreat.

When I was finally within Maddox's reach, I pushed myself into his arms. "I need to leave. Butterscotch."

Maddox stiffened. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Those aren't the rules." Butterscotch was the word I could use to leave a situation with no questions asked.

Maddox gave me an indiscernible look but wrenched out his cell phone and typed out a message furiously. "Let's go, Oliver knows we're leaving."

I gave one more backwards look to the towering man with the caramel eyes. I was shocked to see he was still watching me. He raised his hand and brought a finger to his lips before disappearing out of sight.

Confusion swept through me as a chill crept across my skin, but it wasn't in fear. It was something else entirely.