Page 5 of Shadowed By the Alien
“Cedar and cloves.”
“What of them?” he asks, his voice rising a notch. He’s worried.
“That’s how I think of you every time the wind carries your scent to me.”
“Drekk,” he mumbles.
“What’s drekk?”
“A curse in my language.” He stops walking. “Why aren’t you scared of me?”
“You could have harmed me by now if that was your intent.”
“I would never harm you.”
Good to know, but I need answers. “Why are you following me?”
He’s quiet again.
“I hate when a person falls silent. It’s unsettling.”
“I will try to remember that. And I haven’t been following you. I’m in law enforcement. I patrol to keep this area safe.”
I’m not sure I believe him, but it would explain things.
“So, you know all about me?”
“Basics. You like to walk and spend time in the park, listening to the younglings laugh and run, but you do not have employment. You are Raven, named after a predatory bird. And you like to whistle when you walk in the rain. ”
That’s a lot right there.
“Though I do not think your name fits you. You are not predatory, but gentle and kind.”
Do I have a stalker? He doesn’t sound crazy or dangerous. In fact, I feel rather safe with him.
I loop my arm back through his and continue walking. Clearly, my instincts have checked out, leaving it up to me to figure out what I’m doing here with this man who’s been watching me and keeping his distance without introducing himself. Formonths.
“It almost sounds like you have a crush on me,” I say in all seriousness, mixed with an ounce of playfulness. I want to know more about Renikk.
“I find you fascinating and brave,” he says in that deep, sultry voice of his.
This is not how I expected this evening to go, but I’m ecstatic to meet the man who I started believing was a figment of my imagination.
“I swore an oath that I would keep you safe, Raven.”
“What? Why?”
“You have a lot of questions.”
“And do you have the answers, or will I have to guess?”
He inhales long and slowly. “You wandered into a dangerous area. I had to turn you around. I didn’t want to lie to you, but it was the best way.”
“Meaning you had no intention of revealing your presence?”
“Correct.”
“For how long?”
