on my door, making me jump in fright, and I clapped a hand over my mouth to cover the little shriek that escaped.
My first reaction was that Steele must have gotten Archer to drive after all, but then... A quick glance of the time on my phone showed only five minutes had passed since my call to Steele had ended. Even with the way Archer drove, that'd be impressive.
Just in case, I grabbed my butterfly knife from my dresser and slipped it into my pocket.
Clutching my phone in my hand, I hurried back through my apartment to the front door and used the peephole to check who was there. Of course, with the power out to the whole building, there wasn't enough light to see who it was, just the shadowy shape of a man. Just one man, though, so it was unlikely to be Steele and the guys. I couldn't see Archer and Kody choosing to stay behind at the house. Not when Steele was clearly as worried as I was.
My visitor knocked again, and I clenched my jaw to control my fear.
I wanted to call out and ask who it was but swallowed the words before they left my lips. Better they think no one was home, even if it was one of the Reapers working security.
"Maddie?" the shadow man called out, and the fear drained out of me in a rush of relief. "Maddie are you home? The power's out to the whole building."
No shit, Scott.
With one hand, I unlocked the door to let Scott in, but with the other I hit dial on Steele's number. As confident as I was that Scott was harmless, it didn't cost me anything to be cautious.
"Hey, are you okay?" my friend asked when I swung the door open. "I thought I was going to get stuck in the foyer when the power went out." He gave a short laugh, moving past me into my apartment.
I quickly closed the door and locked it again, breathing deeply to try and calm my hammering pulse.
"I'm fine. What are you doing here, Scott? You scared the shit out of me." Folding my arms under my breasts, I gave him an accusing frown. My phone was still in my hand, tucked under my armpit. I didn't know why I felt like I needed to hide it from Scott, but I did.
"Me?" He sounded surprised, giving a weak laugh. "Damn Maddie, here I was thinking you'd appreciate a knight in shining armor coming to your rescue." His tone was joking but there was something... off.
I took a small step backward. "Scott, what are you doing here?"
He frowned, seeming hurt by the suspicion in my voice. "Uh, I came by to study for my English lit paper. Remember? You said you were going to help me..." He held up his book bag to demonstrate his point, and the tension dropped from my shoulders.
"I did. Shit, I'm sorry, Scott. I totally forgot." Now that he mentioned it, I vaguely recalled agreeing to help him. He'd been talking about it at lunchtime, and when I said I could probably give him some pointers, he'd invited himself over.
I glanced at the screen of my phone, and saw the call was still connected to Steele. I didn't end it, just slid my phone into the back pocket of my jeans.
"Well, I don't think I can be much help right now," I said, giving him an apologetic shrug. "I'm just waiting for Cass to get back and check the circuits. Probably just a blown fuse or something, but until he gets here it's, uh, all a bit dark."
"That's okay, Maddie, I don't mind." Scott beamed at me, but instead of leaving—which was what I'd been angling toward—he headed over to my kitchen and started hunting through my drawers, using the flashlight on his phone for light. "You should probably have a flashlight in here somewhere. Or candles at least."
I wrinkled my nose. "I don't have those things. Why would I have those things?"
Scott laughed, and it made me want to punch him in the teeth. "It was a fully furnished apartment when you moved in, right?"
I took a few steps closer, confused. "Yeah, so?"
"So you didn't need to buy silverware or plates or anything, right? The kitchen was fully stocked with stuff?" He raised a brow at me, and with the shadows cloaking him, it was kind of a scary image.