Page 59 of Aïdes the Unseen
That stopped me.
Because it didn’t sound like a line. It sounded like something older. Like something I’d heard before, maybe in a dream. Maybe in dirt.
Or maybe in a book, I scolded myself. “Shall we take our conversation elsewhere?” I motioned to the hall and guided him away from the front. While I might not take him on a tour, Ididn’t need to continue the interaction with our avid audience, and Mindy hadn’t taken her eyes off him since I arrived.
The puppy padded out of my office before we were even halfway down the hall, tail wagging faintly and nose twitching.
Kassian dropped to one knee, completely unbothered by putting his pressed suit trousers to the tiled floor. He extended his hand again this time to my puppy.
“Well now,” he murmured. “Aren’t you something rare?”
The dog didn’t move at first, just stared. Then, slowly, he stepped forward and sniffed. He didn’t lick, didn’t nuzzle, just stood there with his nose barely an inch from Kassian’s fingers as if weighing the scent he detected.
Kassian didn’t force it when the puppy made no further moves. “Apparently, he’s no more interested in taking my hand than you were.” He rose, then brushed imaginary dust from his trousers as he turned to face me.
“Neither of us know you.” Not that I should have to remind him of that. Part of me was pleased that the puppy didn’t just wiggle in happiness for the man.
“It’s funny,” Kassian said. “Dogs usually love me.”
“Maybe he has a different palate,” I suggested, folding my arms.
“Or perhaps he’s cautious, likeyou.” He glanced down the hall leading toward the exhibit. “There’s nothing wrong with caution, Ms. Bloom. I find only the careless act without it.”
Somehow, that wasn’t a comfort.
“Tell you what,” he said, turning back. “Let me buy you a drink sometime. You can vet me properly. Ask for references. I’ll even bring a notarized document assuring you I know the difference between a moss wall and a mood board.”
Was that his idea of a joke? I stared at him. “Or, you could do something inventive, like just tell me what you’re actually looking for.”
“You,” he said, lips curving. “Obviously.”
“Then you should make an appointment.” It came out far snippier than I intended. But Kassian Harpe seemed like a man who rarely heard the word “no” and should probably have it drummed into him.
“I’ll do that.” His smile deepened, and he inclined his head before he strode down the hall back toward the atrium and the entrance. “You’ll hear from me.” His promise floated back and left me even more unsettled than I’d been before.
When he disappeared through the door the puppy whined once. Soft. Low.
I felt it again, that tug behind my ribs. Not fear. Not desire. Just—something stranger. A memory. What kind of memory?
I had no idea. The lack of answers might drive me mad.
Two men in four days.
Two.
Both impossibly composed. Both saying too much and not enough. Both watching me like they were looking for something specific. And both of them were here forme. Or so they said.
That didn’t land right.
I was hardly the kind of person people just… showed up for. I organized, I curated, I moved things into harmony and made them run smoothly. I didn’t attract mysterious men with cheekbones sharp enough to draw blood and voices that sounded like rain sliding down iron. That happened to other people. People who wore flawless cosmetics, styled their hair perfectly, and didn’t second-guess the way they walked into rooms.
I glanced down at myself—loose linen shirt, soil-stained pants, sneakers with scuffed toes. Not exactly cursed with main character energy.
Still, it had happened.Twice.
I half-laughed under my breath as I dug into my desk drawer for a granola bar. My fingers brushed over my phone, and without thinking, I picked it up and hovered over the call screen.
Mom.
