He’d just landed in a cat-like crouch atop the railing’s shoulder-wide turn as the metal chair from the bottom floor clanged up the second floor’s stairwell to slam against the landing’s back wall.
When the chair clattered to the floor in the wake of the heavy metal door banging shut below, Drystan jumped to the landing, his face full of fury.
He gripped the railing and tensed, ready to continue his pursuit, but I called from my position a floor above, “Don’t leave, Drystan. Please!”
With a grunt of frustration, Drystan vaulted back up the stairs, reaching me just as my trembling legs gave out and my butt hit the third floor’s top step hard.
“Ow. That hurt.” My voice shook as I began to button my jean jacket, starting at my waist.
Drystan wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me against his side. He rubbed his hand up and down my jacket sleeve. “I’m here, Nara.”
His hand covered mine, halting my movements. I glanced down at my fingers curled around the buttons halfway back down my jacket. I hadn’t realized I was hyper-obsessing until he stopped me. “Breathe. Just…breathe,” he said in a calming voice. As I took several breaths, he released his hold, yet continued to rub his other hand along my jacket sleeve.
As I met his concerned gaze, my cheeks flooded with heat. With my ability, unexpected events and I rarely collided. Yet hanging with Ethan, whose power literally shifted my dreams to him the moment we touched, I thought I’d gotten better about dealing with not knowing events before they happened. Then again, Ethan made sure to keep me safe from things he saw coming via my dreams.
I wish you were here, Ethan.
When I exhaled a deep breath and blinked, his hand stopped moving. “In case I forgot to tell you earlier, you officially have the best timing ever.” My voice rasped as I rubbed my fingers along my sore neck. “Five minutes sooner would’ve been even better.” I paused. “I thought the elevator was broken.”
He lifted my chin and stared at my throat. “Jesus, Nara! I can see red marks.” Pained regret filled his gaze. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t back sooner. I tried to return through the stairwell door, but even though the knob turned, I couldn’t get the door to budge.” He nodded toward the chair in the stairwell. “The bastard must’ve used that to block the door.”
A shudder rippled through me. That meant my attacker knew there was someone in the stack to torment.
Drystan’s hand on my arm tightened. “Since I couldn’t get in, I decided to try the elevator. I was surprised when I pushed the button and it pinged to life right away.”
My eyes widened. “You think it was working the whole time?”
He glared at the stairwell. “I do now. What happened? Did you know him? What did he say to you?”
I rubbed my fingers across my eyes and sighed. “I’ve never seen him before, but the things he said to me…it was like he knew who
I
was, or thought he knew.”
Drystan released me and rested his forearms on his knees, his brows pulling together. “What exactly did he say?”
I closed my eyes, trying to recall. “He said that he wanted a fight, like he expected me to fight him. He seemed shocked when I said I didn’t want to fight. Isn’t that crazy?”
“He sounds bloody mad.” When I nodded slowly, Drystan frowned. “That’s all the bastard said to you? That he wanted to fight? He didn’t say anything else?”
I considered telling him about the guy’s strange interest in my journal, but he’d wanted to fight me
before
he’d seen it, so his motive for coming after me was for some other unknown reason. I curled my fingers around the journal against my chest and shook my head. Several seconds of silence passed and my nerves had started to settle. I eyed him, tilting my head. “You were right, by the way.”
He frowned. “Right about what?”
“Parkour needs to be seen to be appreciated. I’m assuming that’s what I just witnessed in the stairwell. Some of those moves seemed impossible.”
Drystan flicked his hand with a snort. “Not if you do it all the time. I was in total chase mode. Didn’t even think about it.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that something you do all the time? Chasing?”
When his open gaze instantly shuttered, I bit my lip to keep my questions to myself.
Hidden passages. Where’s a good decoder ring when I need one?
I smiled. “It was pretty impressive.”
“Wait ’til I really try to impress you,” he said, flashing a cocky smile. “Are you okay to stand now? I’m assuming they have campus security here?”
I nodded and he grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. “Come on then. Let’s go report this bloke and tell them what happened.”
* * *
After my interview with campus police, I was exhausted, but didn’t want to go home to an empty house. Mom was on her
date
with Mr. Dixon. Dang that sounded weird.
I desperately wanted to call Ethan and tell him what happened, but I didn’t want him to leave Michigan until he was ready. I knew he would the moment he thought I was in danger. I was sore and bruised, but otherwise fine.
I called Aunt Sage. “Inara! I was just getting ready to call you.” A pause. “Oh, I guess you knew that already,” she said, amused.
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t
always
know everything,” I said, exhaling a tired sigh.
“What’s wrong, hon?” My aunt instantly sobered. “The only time you don’t know what’s going to happen is if you’ve changed something.”
I tensed. My aunt just recently discovered that I had her brother’s gift. She’s into all the New Agey stuff and is
all
about preserving the balance of nature, so I’d gotten an earful about not interfering in people’s lives from her already.
Ugh!
“I didn’t change anything,” I began, then trailed off, too tired to defend myself. As far as I knew, the only person’s path I’d changed was mine, by bringing Drystan with me to the library. “I just wanted to spend some time with you and the boys.”
“Of course, sweetie,” she said in a breathy voice. “Why don’t you come for coffee now. I’ll see you in a few.”
What? No dinner?
Before I could tease her, she hung up, leaving me staring at the phone. It wasn’t like my aunt to be so abrupt. Something was up. Tucking my phone into my backpack, I shoved the worries as to why I’d been that guy’s target at the library to the back of my mind, then pushed harder on the gas pedal, heading to my aunt’s house in Barboursville.
When my aunt’s dogs, Bo, Luke, and Duke, didn’t immediately come flying out the dog door to greet me the moment I drove up, I knew something was off. I quickly turned my car off, then dashed to my aunt’s lighted porch, knocking with more force than I meant to. “Aunt Sage!” I called in a high-pitched voice.
She jerked open her door and she looked at me with wide-eyed worry. “Inara? What’s wrong?” she asked, tugging me into a tight embrace.
I gripped her elbows and leaned into her tall, willowy frame. After a couple of seconds, I realized the material felt wrong. I stared down at the cream cable knit sweater under my fingers.
Cable-knit sweater? Where were the loose, silky bohemian dresses she usually wore?
I leaned back to take in her entire outfit: sweater, fitted jeans and tall shiny brown boots. I glanced into her concerned gaze and gave a half smile. “You ah, look wonderful. You should wear skinny jeans more often. They suit you. What’s the occasion?”
My compliment softened her expression before she cupped my cheeks, her hazel eyes searching my face. “What is it, Inara? I won’t leave if you need me here.”
Was my anxiety that obvious?
I gulped. “You’re leaving?” I didn’t mean for my question to come out as a squeak, but Aunt Sage pulled me through the door and into the living room, her brow creasing.
It was strangely quiet without the dogs. The absence of pastries and incense smells jarred my senses into full alert. Not one of her New Age books sat on the coffee table by the couch. There was usually at least a couple. Instead they were all neatly stacked on her bookshelf. Her usually tidy house was even tidier than normal, and the dogs’ beds were missing. My heart began to pound. “Where are the boys?” I looked around, panic starting to roll through me all over again.
“They’re at—”
“Where are you going?” I asked as my roving gaze landed on a roller bag sitting near the kitchen doorway. Only one bag. She would’ve packed more if she were leaving for good. A switch inside me released and the dam opened, flooding my tight shoulders with relaxing relief.
“That’s why I was calling.” She nodded, her curly auburn hair bouncing. “I wanted to tell you I’d be gone for a few days. And don’t worry, the boys are with a neighbor down the road.”
Other than an occasional expo in the surrounding counties she attended every so often to gain exposure for her home-based jewelry business, she didn’t venture far. She never stayed overnight. I frowned, confused. “But you never take trips.” As far as I knew my aunt hadn’t taken a trip out of town—I realized with sudden shock—since my dad left twelve years ago. “Where would I go?” she used to say when I’d ask why she didn’t travel. “Virginia has everything I want right here.” And she’d always looked at me with loving, dedicated eyes.
What could possibly drag her away? “Where are you going?” I repeated, then quickly followed with, “How long will you be gone?” What I really wanted to say was, “Please don’t leave. Not right now!” I couldn’t have two important people disappear from my life. I missed Ethan so much. Not her too!
My aunt gave a secret smile. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about not knowing. Guess my last-minute decision to ask you here tonight when you called
can
make a difference in what you foresee.”
When I scowled at her, she snickered, then hooked her arm in mine. “Let’s have some coffee.”
The familiar routine we’d shared since I was old enough to sit still—sipping coffee and chatting at her kitchen table—eased some of my anxiety. I let her pull me into the inviting kitchen decorated in bright reds, deep teals, and warm yellows. Her kitchen had always felt warm and welcoming.
As Aunt Sage moved around the room making coffee, I watched her efficient movements with a clenched jaw and growing confusion. My normally talkative aunt stayed focused on her task, not looking up once. She was way too quiet. By the time she set my mug on the table, then slid into her seat across from me and cupped her hands around the warm mug, my teeth hurt. When her hazel gaze met mine, I suddenly understood. “It’s about Dad, isn’t it?”
She slowly nodded. “Even without your ability to see your next day, you’ve always read people well. I like to think you got that from me.” A brief smile flitted between us. “I don’t like the answers I’ve gotten from Jonathan’s secretary. She claims he’s out of the country on business.” My aunt snorted, then expelled a frustrated sigh. “I want to look this tight-lipped woman in the eye when I talk to her. I’ll get a better read if I can study her face.”
I took a big sip of my coffee. It burned, but I gulped it down anyway. “What does your gut tell you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
My aunt pursed her lips. I’d only seen her do that once when I was almost seven. Lured by the creek sounds in the woods behind her house, I’d disobeyed her rules and left the yard to explore. She’d been so angry when she finally found me turning over rocks looking for crawdads. In one breath she was furious, then in the next she was crying and pulling me into a tight hug.
“I don’t think I’m being told everything,” she finally said, drawing me out of my reverie.
Despite the coffee warming my body, chill bumps scattered across my skin and my stomach tumbled. Whenever my aunt had said that to me, her penetrating eyes drilling hard, she’d always been right. I just hadn’t always fessed up to my crimes. “Are you also going to his apartment, um, house…er, wherever he lives?”
“That’d be the first place I would go.” Aunt Sage lifted her shoulders, then let them fall with an exasperated exhale. “If I knew where he lived.”
My jaw dropped. I knew my aunt had kept a cool distance from my dad after he’d left us when I was little, but I’d assumed she knew where he lived all these years. All I knew was that he lived in the D.C. area. “How can you
not
know that? What about the monthly check you give us? Doesn’t he mail them to you? There has to be a return address.”
She shook her head. “The return address has always been his office address.” A sly, confident gleam flitted across her face. “How do you think I know exactly where to go to hunt down his secretary?”
I rubbed my forehead, worried. “What are you going to do? March into his office and demand to know where he is?” I frowned when a second realization occurred. “What kind of work does he do, anyway?”
My aunt waved her hand. “Some government job.” She took a sip of her coffee, her gaze hardening. “And yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. No appointments. I don’t want his secretary to know I’m coming. I’ll come back with answers.”
The hitch in her voice concerned me. I ignored the knot that had formed in my stomach and reached across the table to grip her hand. “I know I’ve asked to know more about my powers and only Dad can provide those answers, but right now…” I paused and had to work hard to keep my hand from trembling. “I—I just want to make sure
you
come back.”
“Please, please don’t act on things you dream about, Inara.”
The pleading in my aunt’s voice distracted me. “I’m not,” I answered in a dry tone, even as I mentally finished, …
going to be able to without a painful punishment.
Aunt Sage visibly relaxed. Turning her hand over beneath mine, she squeezed my fingers, her eyes full of warmth. “And don’t worry. Didn’t you know you’re stuck with me forever?”
Tears threatened and I willed them away, giving her a trembling smile. She smiled back, then quickly stood. “Come, I have something for you.”
I followed her into the living room and for the first time noticed the wide black box with a gold lid sitting on the ottoman. Normally that was Bo’s hangout spot.