Page 33 of In the Light of the Moon

“Sylvie, Sylvie, Sylvie…” I hummed her name to myself, since I was alone and free to do it. It just felt so curling and delightful to say, and my thumbs tapped against my fingers in time with the syllables.Syl-vie, Syl-vie, Syl-vie.

While my phone was turning back on, I shoved my legs into my jeans and my arms into my shirt. Still bobbing my head to the rhythm of her name, I put on and laced up my boots. Would she like for me to cook for her? Was this the right time to ask her to come over to my house? Would shelikemy house?

My left hand continued its tapping when I finally picked up my phone. I had just enough time to make it to the event on campus I was obligated to attend, and then I would see her. Maybe I could suggest some things I was confident in cooking and see how she’d feel about it. That was what couples did, right? Were we a couple?

I shook my head again. Two minutes back in human form and the uncertainties were already in full force. Though it was all tinged with excitement, I felt a pang of longing in my chestfor the ability to be what felt like my true self with her. So that I could have both forms of peace.

“Fuck,” the air left my lungs and my heart began hammering in my chest. I felt hot and cold all at the same time.

Six missed calls, and under that, multiple text messages from Sylvie.

Orion?

Are you okay?

Hello?

I launched myself into my car and called Sylvie while I drove toward the main road. My hands were clenching the steering wheel so hard that the leather squeaked loudly in protest. When I told her that I was going out of town, I didn’t think she’d… do whatever this meant.

The phone rang for a moment then went to voicemail the first time. Then just straight to voicemail the next.

This was not good. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I smacked my palm on the steering wheel, needing to put my anger at myselfsomewhere. I messed up. I could see that now. And I had two hours before I could rectify it.

I pressed my foot further on the gas. Make it an hour and a half.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sylvie

“Ican’t believe this,”I mumbled over the damning page pulled up on my phone. Just as I was about to hop out of the car to inquire about a part-time position at the small boutique shop where I’d purchased my last set of tarot cards, the sound of the new email was like a gunshot.

After taking the civics exemption exam earlier this week, I knew it was only a matter of time to get my results. From what I could tell, I didn’t have any seer abilities, but by the pit in my stomach, I already knew what I would read.

I clutched my phone tightly in my hand and almost tripped getting out of the car. Sweat immediately started beading on my forehead while I stomped up the sidewalk. An unexpected death rattle of summer was upon us, and I was irritatingly dressed for much cooler weather. With another submission rejection just below the evidence of my most recent failure in my inbox, I hyped myself up to get this done before I could retreat home.

The smell of lavender and sage helped me feel a bit better, at least, and the employee at the register was kind enough when Iasked about any job openings. They handed me a little card with an email address to send my resume to, and I painted a broad grin on my face before scuttling out of the door.

I didn’t even feel like hopping across the street for a coffee—that’s how abysmal my mood was. My lids furiously blinked back the prickling of tears while I committed to putting one foot in front of the other to get back to my car and wallow at home. While I loved my grandmother and was grateful to spend time with her now, she was a bit shit at comforting anyone besides her plants. Her method was a few hesitant rubs on the back and steering us both to spend some time outdoors amongst the flowers or the wood.

But, I wanted to bask in a pile of my own self-pity. Without thinking about it, I pulled my phone from my pocket and began to text Orion. He’d sent a brief message that he was on his way out of town, and then I hadn’t heard anything else. He did warn me that he wouldn’t have signal where he was going, and maybe I would have had a more positive attitude about it if I were in a better place.

I had to force myself to close out the text message app. No, I wouldn’t be that sort of person.

My sneakers gritted on the sidewalk, and my loose hair was making a full on sweat break out on the back of my neck. Thankfully, my car was just half a block away now, and I wove around everyone else that was out and about on this Friday afternoon, heart perking at the thought of crawling in bed, drawing the curtains, and burrowing under the covers with a slasher movie. Yes, that sounded divine.

However, the universe had other plans for me, and they weren’t good. My thoughts had been spiraling with having to make plans for a make-up exam, wondering what Orion was up to, adding the job application to my to-do list, and figuring outwhat to order for dinner tonight when an arrogant body stepped right in my way.

I almost ran into the person, side stepping at the last moment, but then they flinched that way, too, and committed to blocking my path.

Irritation and that familiar bubbling of rage hit me square in the chest, but I tried to outrun it by stepping quickly in the other direction. My pursuer, however, anticipated and blocked that, too.

I took a step back, my hands raising and readying for something, and finally lifted my gaze. Graham Thompson stood before me, mouth quivering with a barely suppressed smile, and I wanted to claw it right off of his face while I cried stinging, angry tears. With his windswept hair and t-shirt and jeans, he exuded an air of calm and cool, but I could smell what was underneath. His green eyes were nothing like Orion’s. They were mixed with a golden brown that would’ve been pretty on anyone else. Because he was looking at me the way he had a few weeks ago. Like I was nothing but a piece of… something. Not a person, and definitely not someone that deserved respect. It was similar to how Jasper had all but leered. But I had never been afraid of him.

Graham’s head tilted in contemplation, stare running down my body brazenly. I wasn’t really even scared, now. More so startled with the realization of what it felt like to be prey.

“What’s goin’ on Sylvie?”

“What do you want? And how do you know my name?” I seethed, trying to make my way around him, but he kept blocking my way. I wasn’t a small woman at five foot eight, but, like Orion, Graham was quite a bit taller than me still. And where my boyfriend was all lean and strong, Graham was stockier, broader. He crossed his arms at his chest, and I saw the size of his fists. No, I would need to avoid those if the time came.

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