Page 24 of The Erion Triad

He still held her elbow, and a chill emanated from his touch. Her gut churned. Something was wrong.

She pulled out of his grasp. “What are you doing here?”

“Luke called me when you were late for your shift. He asked me where you were and I told him I had no idea. Where were you, Lucie? For a moment, I didn’t know.” His voice held a hard edge she’d never heard from him before.

She stepped back, clutching her fists to her chest. Hadn’t other hands been on her body? Large and hot, stoking desire she never knew existed. More fog filtered into her mind, so much she could barely think.

She was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. Her hands fell to her sides as her shoulders rounded in exhaustion.

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Grant said. “All that matters is that you’re here now. And they’re really busy inside. They need your help, Lucie.”

With his hand on her elbow, he steered her inside. The door opened. Music, voices, and the smell of burgers and fries assaulted her. She didn’t want to be here. All she wanted to do was sleep.

“Can we just go home? Just this once?” Surely they had enough saved by now that she could just sit out one shift.

Janie rushed over to her and tied an apron around her hips. “Thank goodness you’re here. I need you urgently. Tables five, eight, and eleven need to be wiped down and the family at fifteen wants to order.” She shoved the pen and order pad into her hands.

“It’s also your favorite night, Luce,” Grant said, gripping her shoulders from behind. “Karaoke. Remember the night we met? Once you get through the first dinner rush, you can sing. You like that, don’t you?”

She nodded. Singing was in her veins, but why did Grant need to ask if she liked it? She was born to be on stage singing. It was the only time the world fell away and she could go to her happy place. She’d recently found that happy place again. It wasn’t when she sang though. She couldn’t quite place her finger on exactly when, or how, but it was important. The meaning remained elusive, though. Why couldn’t she think?

Grant kissed her cheek. It took all her effort not to reel away. “You’re tired. Why don’t you bring some burgers home with you tonight? You know I don’t like to eat like that, but I’ll do it this time, just for you, so you don’t have to cook when you get home. See how I look after you? Now, they need your help, Luce. Off you go. I’ll see you when you get back home.”

A rock and roll tune blared out from the speakers. Grant shoved her in the small of her back towards a table filled with mess and children. She looked over her shoulder to see the door closing behind him as he strode outside.

All she wanted to do was sleep, but she couldn’t let Luke and Janie down so she forced one foot in front of the other, pasted a smile on her mouth, and jotted down the never-ending order, wondering if those brothers would come back again to help.

There was something about them.

A crash erupted to her right and the table next to her toppled over as a child overbalanced on the side. The patrons jumped from their chairs, the father snatching the child away before the child could be hurt. Food splattered over the floor and all thought fled as she worked to calm everyone down and clean the mess up.

Chapter Ten

Kyel

The world materialized around Kyel, merging into colors from indistinct shadows. In a moment, his brothers stood at his side. They were inside the diner. Music blared and children shouted. The aroma of the cooking food was pungent.

Lucie darted between tables, balancing meals loaded on a large tray to a table. She unloaded full plates then hurried to the next table to load the same tray to clear away dirty dishes from another table. Various customers hailed her for attention and she rushed from one thing to another.

How had she gotten here like this? One moment they’d been kissing her. Their connection had flared. He’d felt it, the familiar, electric thread that bound them. Lucie had been remembering them. Whatever cloud imprisoned her mind had been losing its hold, when darkness had descended in a blanket of chilled air to purge them out here.

“What happened?” Juliran asked.

“I do not know,” Kyel said, glancing about at their new surroundings. His gut lurched with fury.

Lucie, dead on her feet, had come back to this place to work herself to death. This was her reality. Her life. What sort of a world had she lived in, or was it her perspective that they saw? It didn’t matter. Her days were appalling. She’d said she had a boyfriend. Kyel gritted his teeth so hard his head started to throb. No worthy male would allow their female to work like this.

“This is intolerable. We’re taking her away from this right now, even if this is all in her mind.” He strode towards her. The time for standing back was over. He was going to show her just how precious she was until she never doubted it.

The lights above the empty stage flashed, lighting the raised platform up. Patrons cheered as Luke stepped on stage, along with other humans, picking up various instruments discarded on the platform.

“Now it’s time to do what you’ve all come here for, folks,” Luke said to the patrons. “Time to sing and dance and have a good time. Give it up for our very own, Lucie Jackson.”

Kyel peered about as people clapped and cheered, stopping dead in his tracks. Lucie offered a tired smile and rushed to deposit the tray of dirty dishes on a bench. She wiped her hands on her apron and made her way towards the stage. He had no idea what was going on.

Lucie stepped on stage. Her uniform was stained, her hair slightly out of its tight ponytail, her skin pale, her shoulders stooped but she was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. She smiled at Luke and clasped the microphone.

She turned her attention to the patrons. “Thank you for such a warm welcome. I hope everyone is having a nice dinner!”

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