Page 20 of Morning's Light

CHAPTER 6

Elon parked his Karmann Ghia across the street from the old stone mansion, where he had a beautiful view of the row of houses he couldn’t be able to afford even if he saved for two lifetimes. Aisanna wouldn’t appreciate his coming to check on her. She would appreciate even less the handful of flowers he’d gathered from her stores at the shop. The blush-colored camellias stared at him from his passenger seat. Mocking him.

What are you doing? they asked. She won’t want to see you.

When he’d heard about the car accident, his world came to a full stop. Aisanna couldn’t be hurt. It wasn’t possible. He’d maintained the business for her the best he could before calling it quits and flipping the sign to closed with an apologetic note taped to the glass along with it. This wasn’t something he could handle on his own. And Aisanna wouldn’t appreciate his bumbling efforts if it meant there was more work for her when she recovered.

Elon would have settled for a phone call. Should have, he reminded himself, except something was clearly going on.

Yeah, he’d thought the news stations lately were on their way to insanity with obsessive coverage of strange weather events, crazed predictions from television personalities, and signs of “the end.” Some were blathering on about witches and magic and the apocalypse. He flipped through each station, scoffed when appropriate, and tuned in to the most exciting sports game nine times out of ten.

Then he’d seen something. Something following Aisanna after he found her sitting in her car. It was nothing concrete, nothing he could put a finger on or fit into a nice, logical box. He could feel it, by looking at her. Recognizing the shadow following her wherever she went.

It surprised him as much as it caused him concern.

And now, everything he’d been sure about before, he began to question. He’d come to Aisanna’s parents’ house because he had a feeling that refused to leave him alone. Maybe some of the weird things he’d been hearing lately were true. The most important thing was that Aisanna might need his help. She might be in real danger, if reports of her brake lines being cut were any indication. He wasn’t anyone special to her. But he was still her friend, and he intended to be there when she needed him. Even if it was something as simple as keeping the store open while she was out of commission.

Elon expected to catch a glimpse of her moving around inside the house before venturing his way through the imposing iron gates blocking the driveway entrance. He hadn’t expected to see her walking around the yard, a large red hat blocking her head from the worst of the weather.

He caught sight of her and his heart stopped beating for one second. Two. She stood near the fence, which reached above her head and then some, her hands taking hold of the iron and wind blowing through her hair. She looked ready to burst through. Like she was escaping a prison.

“She’ll catch her death,” Elon muttered to himself. “What is she doing out of bed? Aisanna!”

He was out of the car and racing away from the street toward the gate. Luck was on his side when he reached out and found it wasn’t locked. He yanked on the latch when the pieces refused to budge, frozen together, and wobbled dangerously on the slick sidewalk.

Aisanna glanced over when he called her name a second time. Storm clouds darkened the sky and turned the world to shades of gray. Elon saw a flash of black ink staining her face. Crisscrossing her forehead in symbols he didn’t recognize. Wouldn’t recognize even without the distance.

What the hell was going on? And what could he do about it?

“Aisanna, wait for me.” He ran across the lawn over sleeping gardens and rapidly freezing garden paths. When he got closer, he slowed to a walk. “Wait.”

She stood, her deep reddish-brown hair whipping around her face. Whatever skin was not covered had pebbled with the cold and her face was a mishmash of yellow and purple bruises. No ink, no script. Nothing out of the ordinary.

“Elon.” Her teeth chattered together though she kept her hands on the fence.

“You’ve got to be freezing. Here.” He shrugged out of his jacket, holding it out to her before placing it over her shoulders.

“Now you’ll be cold, too.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted. “For crying out loud, you shouldn’t be out taking a walk. Not three days after you were in an accident. What are you, a superhero? I’m surprised they let you out of the hospital.”

“You didn’t need to come check on me,” she said. “I was taking a walk because I needed fresh air.”

“I wanted to see you for myself, and you don’t have to explain yourself to me.” His hands in his pockets, Elon shrugged against the tiny pinpricks of sleet coming down at a forty-five-degree angle. “How about I walk you back inside?”

She turned to stare at him, and there was something dark in her eyes. Foreign and alien. “I have enough problems without you coming here.”

“I’m a problem, now?”

“No, not a problem. I’m just…I’m sorry, okay? My head—”

Jeez, there he was pressuring her when she’d been through a traumatic experience. Stupid! “The police said someone cut your brake lines—”

“No one cut my brake lines,” she insisted, her voice weak. “The brakes were working fine when I got in the car. The media lies sometimes, Elon. Don’t trust everything they say.”

His head tilted to the side. “I know you’re shaken up.” Then her eyes rolled back into her head and her knees buckled. Aisanna went straight down, her hands slipping from the fence. Elon lunged forward to catch her in time. “Whoa, there.”

He gathered her carefully into his arms and, without thinking, turned to carry her into the house.

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