Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
After showering, then lying in bed for a while, I got back up. I couldn’t sleep, not until I knew where they were. Padding barefoot from the kitchen to the living room, I curled onto a couch and then reached for the remote control. I’d never been one for television, no one in my family had been. Humans were…entertaining enough to me, but before I turned on the machine I was distracted by a buzzing sound. I searched through some bags and then through a few kitchen cupboards until I found a cellphone vibrating in a small drawer. Kellan’s name was scrawled over the screen, and I answered it, “Hello?” That was when I realized I had no idea where mine had gone. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d even used it.
“We’re coming back, and we have another guest.”
“How’s Aumae?” I didn’t even care about the other guest. Kellan wouldn’t bring anyone he didn’t trust. “When will you be here?”
“We’re turning in right now. How’s the new layout look?”
I heard laughter in his voice, and everything relaxed in me. It was then that I realized how much I depended on Kellan. Not too long ago, I hadn’t trusted him with what I painted and now I was fearful to step foot out of a house without him. Before I started pondering whether that was a good thing or not, I hurried to the door and flung it open when I saw a pair of headlights approaching underneath the trees. One lifted up its roots, and Kellan drove through, underneath to park beside our other car.
As he got out first, I came down and asked, “Where’d you get the new car? And why are you even driving?”
He flashed a grin and then opened his back door, bending inside. As he came back out, Aumae was in his arms. “I couldn’t transport as we normally would. She’s too weak, but she’s better. She needs to rest for a few days.”
Relief washed over me.
Kellan turned and nodded toward the passenger door. “And the car’s his. He decided to join us.”
Damien got out of the car and smiled at me. He stayed there and asked, cautious, “Is this okay? I don’t want to overstep my boundaries.”
“It’s okay with me as long as Kellan’s okay with it.” I looked over with a question in my eyes, but Kellan nodded before he held Aumae tighter against him and started toward the house.
Damien held back and walked around to the other side of the car. He slid his hands into his front pockets and leaned back, giving him the same aloof quality he had the last time I’d seen him outside of the school. “You’re sure it’s okay?”
His eyes had such uncertainty that I reached over and squeezed his hand. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
He shrugged. “Things have changed between you two. I can feel it. It’s much stronger and I’m…not a part of that. I wasn’t sure if you’d want me here or not.”
“Kellan trusts you, otherwise he wouldn’t have let you step foot in the car.”
“It’s my car.”
“He doesn’t care.” We turned for the house, walking side by side. “Do you have news from home?”
He sucked in his breath and stopped before he reached the door. His eyes grew somber, everything in him stiffened. “That’s why I came with Kellan. You need to hear some things.”
A knot formed in my gut, once again, but I knew we couldn’t hide forever. “Does Kellan know?”
“He probably guessed, but he wanted both of you to hear at the same time.”
“Okay. Let’s get this over with.” And I showed him inside.
Aumae insisted she would be a part of the conversation. We congregated in a room on the basement level. One wall was made of glass with the water on the other side. The bottom of the pond was real, but the house had built around it so we were able to see the rocks, fish, and even the seaweed beside us.
“It’s beautiful.” Aumae rested a hand on the glass as she had been positioned in the corner of a couch by Kellan. She wanted to sit up, and no one argued, even though we all felt she should’ve been resting.
“Yes, it is.” I squeezed her other hand as I sat on her other side.
Kellan stood in a corner. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone, nor did he speak. He merely stood there, turned halfway to the corner so we couldn’t judge his face, and waited until Damien stood in the center of the room.
“Your father’s in town.”
It took a split second before I realized that Damien had spoken, and he’d spoken to me. With a quick jerk, I pulled my gaze from Kellan to the other messenger and watched how his eyes looked clouded over. They weren’t as bright as normal and his voice was sad, resigned, but there was another touch of something else in his voice. I narrowed my eyes, concentrating, when I realized what it was.