Page 16 of His UnBearable Touch

Who did she think was going to answer her?

“Please, stop.”

She flung her hand out, never more aware of how lost she was without her sight, when sound could be wielded like a weapon. Somewhere in the darkness was the source of her torment, but she was at a loss at how to discover it on her own.

Her fingers searched the nightstand beside her bed and her questing fingers triggered the talking clock that barked out the hour amidst the rampant piano accompaniment to her splitting headache.

She swept her hand and knocked the clock to the floor. The recitation of the time was cut short, gone silent in a heartbeat before a heavy clunk hit the ground. A second thump hit her like a slap.

“Damn phone.”

Turning on her stomach, Allegra reached her hands down and started to pat the floor beside her bed looking for the phone with her sensitive fingers.

* * *

Valerio sat up on the edge of his bed, pushing his hair back from his face. He turned to look at the phone beside his bed and stared at it as if it could answer his unspoken question.

But it sat in silence, staring back at him.

His bear lunged at him from the darkness, pushing him up and onto his feet. The wardrobe was steps away and easily opened under his hand. Clothes were pulled from the drawers and pulled on with efficient movements as the bear padded back and forth through his consciousness. Every so many steps of his legs, the bear would turn his massive head and give Valerio a pointed stare. His midnight eyes bled into Valerio’s with a practiced ease that spoke of how close his bear was to the surface.

Pants, shirt, jacket, then buttons, layers before details. Nameless worry over specific fear.

His hands reached for his keys and stopped.

The phone jolted to life, the display bright and easy to read.

Bringing the phone to his ear he fought the bear out of his throat. “I’m on my way.”

Doors slammed open, lights turned on, and by the time Valerio had wrenched open the front door Uberto was on his heels. Salvatore urged them on, staying behind to deal with alarms and remain with Natale. Valerio would call if he was needed.

The door to Allegra’s apartment came off the hinges like the heavy metal was no more than paperclips, unbent and snapped in two. Uberto stood in the doorway, his back to the apartment, ready and willing to stop anyone that came after his family. The smallest of the three, Uberto was not small by human standards. His form was more compact than his older brothers, but his power came from his explosive nature and the wild fury he held deep inside.

Valerio pushed through the apartment, his ears focused on the sounds present in the room. He’d dropped his cell phone into his jacket pocket when they’d approached the apartment door, needing his hands free, but as he approached the back room which served as both bedroom and practice studio, he heard Allegra’s voice calling out his name.

“I’m here.”

He stepped through the doorway just as she began to apologize. “You didn’t have to come back. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“You can have whatever you want from me, Allegra,” he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms.

She went willingly enough even though she kept telling him to go.

Valerio pressed a kiss to her forehead before brushing her hair back from her face. “What happened?”

Turning her face up toward his, she shook her head. “Chopin,” she mumbled, “he always wanted us to play the Chopin. Cello and piano. I heard the piano piece tonight, the music came from,” she made a strange stilted gesture in the air before covering her ears, “it came from everywhere. Inside my head, all around the room. It wouldn’t stop but I couldn’t wake up. It felt like,” he looked down and saw her hand fisting in his shirtfront, “like I was stuck in the nightmare, but I was already awake.”

He drew her closer, tucking her head under his chin. “You were frightened and you called me. I could never stay away when you needed me.”

“I don’t want to be afraid.” She trembled in his arms. “I want to put it all behind me.”

He heard something unspoken in her words, but there would be time to worry about it later. There were other things to do first. “Then that’s what we’ll do, but right now there’s a problem with your door.”

“My door- Hey,” she sat up a little, confusion written across her features, “how did you get inside?”

“That’s the problem with your door.” He eased his hold on her body and smoothed his hand over her back. “I didn’t have a key and I had to get to you.”

“The door-”

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