Page 7 of Forsaken Dream
Chapter Three
Echo
With a sigh I melted into the worn-out cushions of the armchair, tilting my face toward the rotating fan spinning on full speed from the ceiling. The air-conditioning was on but the fan added a nice breeze, and the cool air felt heavenly after spending all day in the heat. Having a shower after unpacking my truck when I got home helped tremendously in calming down my emotions. The lavender and citrus tea in my hand would do the rest, just as it always did.
“What a day,” I breathed, closing my eyes on another sigh.
The house Pam and I had shared that she had left to me after passing was surrounded by wards. I etched those the first week she brought me here, activating them so that none of my kind would be able to cross them. Pam made sure I had a home. I, on the other hand, made sure we were both safe. It was the main reason the anxiety and all the pent-up stress leaked out of me as soon as I walked through the door. Nothing could get to me here.
I was safe.
Lifting the cup to my lips, I blew on it and looked around the modest living room. My home was a far stretch from the palace I was born in. I’d replaced golden thrones for faded furniture with different colored patches sewed in to cover the poking springs, marbled floors for wooden ones covered with threadbare but colorful rugs, and silks were replaced with lacy white drapes over the windows.
I’d never been happier in my life.
The silence was comforting in my small two-bedroom ranch-style home. Here, for the first time, I tasted food without having every bite counted, stuffed my face until my cheeks resembled a chipmunk’s to make Pam laugh instead of scoff at me for being immature, and unbuttoned my top button every dinner while rubbing my belly and singing her praises for the delicious meals. I think I was born again on the day she brought me home.
With a fond smile, I remembered the kind human, who had been more of a mother to me in the short time I’d had the honor to know that my own. I sipped my tea, waiting for my hair to dry so I could go and curl up under the comforter in my bedroom. I almost managed to forget the events of the day when warm amber eyes twinkling in amusement overtook every thought in my head.
My belly clenched.
In the safety of my home, I allowed myself to examine the male who unsettled me. To say he was handsome would be a huge understatement. His features were so proportional and perfect it made him look almost feminine, pretty. Just thinking about him made my fingers tighten around my cup. The need to touch his skin overtook me, and I itched to run my fingers through the dark, silky strands of his hair. The more I thought about it, the more hesitant I became. I had a feeling he wasn’t human. Despite his arrogance and my mortification that came when Proto chose that moment to start singing from his butthole, I couldn’t deny the feeling that the male was other, just like me. And if that was the truth, why did he approach me? Could he tell I wasn’t human either?
What was he doing in this realm?
Could it be that he was like me? That he’d escaped a terrible fate and empty life by hiding among the humans? A vision of him, his strong yet lithe body and the aura of dominance that blasted me the moment he came near dispersed those silly thoughts as they formed. His movements were too fluid, predatory even, like a graceful feline prowling the ground as he matched every direction I took behind the table. After all the years I’d been here, I still lacked confidence, too afraid someone would notice I was different. He didn’t suffer from those doubts. A hollow thump from the porch made me jerk upright from my slouch in the armchair, the tea sloshing over the back of my hand.
Chest drumming forcefully enough to make the fabric of my shirt move in sync with my heartbeat, I scrambled on my feet, lowering the cop on the side-table so I didn’t burn my hand again. Holding my breath, I creeped closer to the window on my right, wiping the tea I’d spilled on my hand on my pajama pants before I caught myself. Wet blotches darkened the white fabric, and tiny yellow daisies were sprinkled over it. Another thump pushed me closer to the curtains, and I forgot all about adding to the pile of laundry waiting on me in the basement.
Darkness met my gaze.
The half-moon barely lurked from the thick clouds covering the sky, just as I barely peeked through the slightly parted curtain. A weak silvery glow left too many dark shadows for my imagination to fill, and fear gripped me in its clutches. I had no animals on my farm because I’d been unable to take on that responsibility with everything else I had to do around there. Wildlife never came this far, the flat grounds surrounding the small town assuring we only had to deal with rats or an occasional stray cat.
“It could be a bird hitting the rafters.” We had a lot of feathered friends, especially owls that had made this town their home.
Trying to calm my wild heartbeat, I strained my eyes, wishing I had the ability to part the shadows and see what was out there. I kept telling myself I needed to install a sensor light, but I never got around to doing it. Without it … well, unfortunately, the darkness hid as much from me as it did from humans.
Unseelie, I was not.
Taking a deep breath, I released it slowly as I moved away from the window. Reaching the middle of the living room, I looked around the few shelves where picture frames were strategically placed, Pam and I smiling in each of them at the many places we’d visited together. As if knowing our time was short, she’d made sure we took vacations, as she called them, often. Car trips were her favorite, where she’d make me sing a list of her favorite songs from the top of my lungs, and she’d drive for hours with a smile on her beautiful face. Seeing that smile again, albeit on a picture, straightened my spine. I would not cower in my own home.
With determination, I headed to the front door, gathering my magic at the palms of my hands. The washed-out colors around me came to life, and my skin prickled from the powers reaching out to me, coming to my aid. I’d blast whatever it was to smithereens for coming here to disturb my peace. Just as I reached the tiny entrance where my rubber boots and flipflops were kicked on top of each other and a lightweight jacket was hanging from the hooked nail on the wall, the door rattled with a hesitant knock.
I froze, my heart lodging in my throat.
“Echo,” a male voice called from the other side, and it was followed by another, louder, knuckling of the wood. “I know you’re home. I can see your truck.”
Teeth clenching, I closed my eyes and prayed for patience as all the trepidation drained out of me. The snotty tone belonged to my neighbor, Josh. All the farms and postures surrounding my property used to belong to his grandfather before the kind old man left it to his grandson. They were mostly breeding horses, but they had other livestock as well, which Josh had gotten rid of the same day his grandfather died. Stinking rich, even for big-city standards, my neighbor thought that money could by him anything he wanted. Too bad it couldn’t buy personality and character, if you asked me.
“Echo!” Josh shouted, the door rattling so hard it pulled me out of my stewing. I glared at the wooden barrier between us wishing he would just go away.
“What do you want?” In two steps I was yanking the door open with a scowl plastered on my face.
The light coming from behind me illuminated his boy-next-door face, the blond hair brushed neatly around his head. His blue eyes rolled over me before his practiced smile lifted the corners of his lips. I swore he thought it looked alluring and charming. In reality, it was creeping me out because it never matched the calculating, leery glint in his gaze.
“I saw you came back sooner than usual from the market, so I figured we’d go to have a bite in town. Go get dressed, I’ll wait right here.” Moving closer, he leaned his shoulder on the doorframe, crowding me.
I fumed.
