Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy) (10 page)

             
"
Pet?
"
That had stung. Neither El nor Terra were anything but her only friends that she can completely trust.
"
Listen, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Let me try to explain,
"
she said calmly, putting her hand up.

             
"
No more explaining. You stay the hell away from Terra, you hear me? She doesn’t need you!
"
His face turned beat red, and she could see the vein pulsing in his neck.

             
"
I suppose you know what she needs then?
"
The burst of anger made her feel lightheaded.
"
That’s why she was so happy at home? You couldn’t take care of her!
"
That hadn’t been exactly how she meant to put it, but she certainly wouldn’t back down to him.

             
"
Don’t you dare try to blame me for this.
"
He pointed his finger at her.
"
I’ve been trying to think of how you got your nails into her, and I still haven’t figured it out, but let me tell you something. I’m going to make sure she see’s you for what you really are. She’ll be running back home faster than you can blink. You got it?
"
He was close to her now.

             
"
What I really am is someone who is helping your sister. She came to me; I didn’t come to your town and steal her away from you. There are some things you can’t protect her from, but I can,
"
she said with determination,
"
and I will.
"
She turned on her heel and headed toward the gate.

             
Just as she reached out to open the latch he grabbed her elbow and yanked her back toward him.
"
Are you telling me she’s in trouble? Did you put my sister in danger?
"
His eyes bore gaping holes into hers. She blinked and looked away from him.
"
Look at me!
"
His hand tightened on her arm.

             
She couldn’t speak for a moment. His eyes had turned from wild fury to concern, making something click in her mind, rendering her speechless. At that moment the heaviness in the air cleared, along with her head.
"
I didn’t put her in danger,
"
she said with a sadness that she hadn’t meant to, looking him in the eye so he would know that she spoke the truth.
"
Let go of me Blake,
"
she said as coldly as she could. He released her and she stormed down the block. Once she turned the corner and was out of sight she stopped on the sidewalk and leaned against the fence. Her fingers went to her temples and applied pressure, trying to force the throbbing headache away.

             
His eyes. It was his eyes in her dream. Although, in her dream his eyes were warm, kind, and worried for her. Not the fierce anger they held for her tonight. She groaned as she put her head back to look up at the sky.
"
What the hell does this mean?
"

             
Aylin waited for El in the kitchen. When she had been on the street, forcing Blake from her mind, El had sent two balls of lights to her. When they had rested in her palm she had a sense of
ease
wash over her. She didn’t know what happened, but El and Terra were all right. They were safe. Even so, when El walked in the back door Aylin let out a sigh of relief.
"
She is alright?
"
Aylin asked.

             
"
Yes,
"
El laughed.
"
She wasn’t even in danger. I found her sitting on a park bench so engrossed in a book that she jumped a mile high when I sat down next to her. I don’t think they know about her yet.
"
She hoisted herself up to sit on the counter.
"
So what went down with you and Blake?
"

             
Aylin glowered at El.
"
Let’s just say he is going to be a huge problem. And, there is nothing we can do about it.
"
She opened a cupboard looking for something to distract her, and found nothing. She slammed the cupboard shut and left the kitchen, leaving El grinning from ear to ear.

CHAPTER TEN

             
Aylin had barely slept through the night. She spent the night tossing and turning in bed in fits of mounting anger. The argument with Blake the previous night had escalated to a level that had her hands shaking for hours afterwards. She couldn’t figure out how could someone as gentle as Terra be related to such a stubborn, thickheaded jerk. She didn’t want to even try to figure out why he was the man from her dream. The fight had left a bad taste in her mouth that couldn’t be washed away. Even her morning coffee’s bitterness didn’t compare to it. So, she found herself in the stockroom, expending her energy organizing boxes of tissue and ribbon. She planned on attacking her office supplies next.

             
Jordan peaked her head into the small stockroom.
"
Is that you making all that noise?
"
The only response from Aylin was slamming a box on the floor.
"
Just watching you is making me work up a good mad.
"
Jordan sat down on a stool just inside the door.
"
Are you really going to make me ask, or are you going to get on with it?
"

             
Aylin turned to face Jordan. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. Her hair was in a knot on top of her head with a few tendrils escaping around her face, giving her a look like a woman gone mad.
"
Jordan, I’m still too angry to talk about it. But thank you for the offer.
"

             
Jordan nodded slowly.
"
I’ve never seen you quite so worked up. Must be that man that came by yesterday looking for you.
"

             
"
He came here?
"
Her hands tightened on the box of order forms. She couldn’t believe that he came into her store looking for her, or Terra. She almost snorted at the idea of her hiding Terra in the back, away from him.
"
What did he say?
"

             
"
Not too much, really. He asked if you were working and I told him that you’d left early for some personal business to attend to. He wasn’t too happy that he’d missed you. I gather he finally found you.
"
Jordan sighed.

             
"
Oh, he did.
"
Aylin grimaced.
"
He is Terra’s older brother, Blake. He has a major problem with her and I being friends. He actually thinks I have some hold over her and won’t let her go home with him. It’s like he has no clue that I didn’t first speak to her until after he had arrived on the island. Plus, why would I not let her go home? She is certainly free to do what she pleases. It’s absolutely ridiculous! But he’s blaming it all on me.
"
Her cheeks felt hot and she had to pause to calm her breathing. For not wanting to talk about their argument, the words came out quickly and easily.
"
It’s just so frustrating,
"
she ended.

             
"
Now, why is it that he would even think that you and Terra are withholding something from him?
"
Jordan, as always, speared straight to the heart of the turmoil with Blake.

             
Aylin leaned against the shelving.
"
That’s just it, Jordan. His issue really is with Terra because she has been pulling away from him. He cares too much for her to unleash his anger on her. So he uses me instead, and he has a lot of anger.
"
She closed her eyes.

             
"
And you are willing to take the brunt of it. If only he knew that you are protecting her as much as he is.
"
Aylin opened her eyes and peered at Jordan. Jordan shook her head with a look of mild amusement.
"
Don’t seem so surprised that I know you so well. I have known you since you were ten, and you always stood up for those who were close to you. No matter the consequences.
"

             
Aylin let herself smile. Jordan did know her well. Jordan didn’t know that she’s a faerie, and she might have taken notice to some strange behavior from Aylin and El, but she didn’t ever ask. It made it easier for Aylin to be around her so much when she turned a blind eye to some odd behavior that might not qualify as human.

             
One time, not too long ago, Jordan cleaned out the back room cooler from a shipment of half wilted flowers. After Jordan had gone home for the day Aylin returned the flowers to the cooler, and the next morning the flowers looked as fresh as if they had been cut that day. Jordan didn’t comment, only made a number of large arrangements, some of her best yet.

             
Jordan also knew that Aylin had always found it right to stand up for her friends, even when they wouldn’t do it in return. She didn’t have any close friends now, except El and Jordan.
"
Thank you Jordan,
"
she said quietly.

             
"
It doesn’t help either that he is so nice to look at.
"

             
She let out a laugh.
"
Yes, and it only gets better when he’s angry.
"
She stopped herself and stared at Jordan, not believing what had just come out of her mouth. She hadn’t even been thinking it.

             
Now it was Jordan who began laughing.
"
Oh, I could see that. Come on.
"
She stood and opened the door to the stockroom.
"
You have been banging around in here all morning and there are orders to be done. Don’t let one argument get the best of you. It will be all the more frustrating for him when he sees that your little tiff didn’t get to you.
"
She winked and led Aylin out into the work area.

             
Aylin found a small stack of five different floral arrangement orders. It was an average amount of orders: two birthdays, one anniversary, and two more for a baby shower. Only one of the orders asked for specific flowers and it had been one of the birthday orders, they asked for a dozen yellow roses. She did that order first, since it was the easiest and least creative arrangement she would do. The others only asked for bright, happy looking arrangements.

             
She worked out the remaining arrangements after she took a lunch break with Jordan, who had brought sandwiches from the café. She let the front clerk know that she would be heading home for the day when all the orders were filled. When she walked out the front door she found the air to be warm, an average summer day.

             
Downtown was now bustling with tourists. There were kids running along the sidewalks, some carrying white paper bags that would be full of candies from the sweet shop. The air had been scented with sun block lotion and greenery, depicting an average summer day. She stopped to look into the bookstore, and found it was busy. Terra stood at the counter, checking out a line of customers, and she didn’t look up. But, Aylin stayed and watched her for a little while, wondering what she would have to do. She couldn’t fight with Blake every time she saw him, it would be draining on her, and Terra would get very upset.

             
As she watched Terra she realized she was focusing on the wrong problem at hand. She had been attacked on the beach. The attack had been so close to her dream that it couldn’t be a coincidence. She needed to find a way to see what this means. An attack with enough force to drain her strength so quickly couldn’t have come from just one witch, but had to be multiple witches. That means they were no longer completely safe on the island. They knew her identity, but that didn’t frighten her nearly as much as the thought of Terra being in danger and not knowing it. Terra would be the most vulnerable, not knowing her own strength or any basic skills to defend herself with. Aylin was going to have to move quickly to bring Terra up to speed with her and El.

             
The thought of the fog inching along her flesh brought on chills and had the hair on her neck rising. It had been a horrible feeling not being able to move or barely breathe. The thought of El not coming to her rescue at that moment, or if she had been a moment to late, disturbed her deeply. She couldn’t think like that, she thought shaking her head. El had been there and the witches backed off immediately. They wanted her alone. She could take that as good news, if that meant they weren’t strong enough to face two of them.

             
She tore herself away from the window and continued walking. She had gotten to the end of Main Street when she spotted El across the street, leaning seductively against a wooden bench, flirting shamelessly with an attractive man. She’d never seen him before, and she decided he must be a tourist, and seemed to love the attention from El with the way he watched her and smiled every time her eyes met his. Her laugh traveled across the street and Aylin couldn’t help to smile. That had been one of the reasons she liked to be around El, she always cheered up Aylin when she really needed it. By the looks of it Aylin decided she should plan on having dinner alone, so she made a detour to the grocery store.

             
She had been about to open the entrance door to the grocery store when she saw someone walking out, and she darted behind some tall plant stands. The man that
came out of the store was older with
his
gray hair
stuck
out in every direction, and once kind face was distorted into a permanent grimace. His clothing was disheveled, and he only wore one loafer.

             
The sight of him had Aylin feeling light headed. His name was Robert O’Neil and he was her constant reminder of how careful she always had to be. She had learned it the hard way.

             
Six years ago, when she had been twenty, she was still learning what the extent of her capabilities had been. Her mother lectured her on only practicing her talents when she was alone or with her mother, never in public. Aylin thought she had been alone on the beach, and even if she thought she wasn’t she hadn’t realized what she had done. She sat on a boulder, watching the waves lap the shore, and quietly sang to herself. It was a song that her father sang to her over and over in her childhood, and it soothed her.

             
She hadn’t realized Robert had been walking in the shadows, watching her. Not until he stumbled over a rock and knocked his knee. She whipped her head around, her mouth open in shock that she hadn’t heard him before. He smiled at her and asked her to sing again. This time she only hummed the melody, watching him carefully. His eyes glazed over, and he had such a silly smile
like he was drunk
. He asked her to hum for him for hours, and even followed her home.
             

             
Robert became a different man after that night. He had run the local hardware store, but became incapable of doing his job. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He spent his days in fits of anger and frustration. When he would catch sight of Aylin he grabbed her and shook her, demanding her to sing to him.

             
One night she hid in the shadows as he sat on her rock. He would hum the first few notes of her father’s melody and then get angry when he couldn’t remember the rest. When she ran home and told her mother this, her mother was furious. She was never to sing or hum ever again because it charmed humans. Humans will become forgetful, will hear a few notes of the tune, and then will be driven to insanity when they can’t finish it.

             
Robert walked by, not noticing her. When he was a few feet away she swore she heard those three notes that had driven him insane. Robert would haunt her for the rest of her life.

             
Inside the grocery store, she picked out a filet of salmon when she heard a familiar voice near her. It was a deep voice, but she had only heard it with an angry tone and now it was
light
and friendly. She looked around and spotted Blake making conversation with Vanessa, the girl that worked in the bakery. Vanessa laughed easily with him, and he smiled genuinely at her. Yes, he did have a great smile, she realized. She’d never seen it, and for a moment felt a hurt that she couldn’t quite understand. An odd feeling came over her like a rock in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t the type to get jealous; maybe she just wondered what it would be like to have a civil conversation with him. She liked Terra, maybe if she could get past the wall that he built up when she was around, she could see that Blake and Terra were more alike than she knew.