Alysana stood in the doorway looking wide awake and shocked. She stared from me to Linden over and over again before stepping into the room. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, trying to stay as far from Linden as possible.
“Are you leaving?” she asked, keeping her eyes on me.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I have to.”
She looked at Linden hesitantly, then took a step forward. “Meryl came back this morning to talk to Rene. Rene didn’t want to tell anyone, but I hid so I could listen.” I waited for her to go on as she paused. “Did Omar—Meryl wasn’t lying?”
“Why would she lie about that?” I asked bitterly, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.
Alysana shrugged. “I kind of hoped she was stretching the truth.”
“Well either way is bad, isn’t it?” I said, my voice rising.
Linden put a hand against my side. “Careful.”
I reigned back and continued whispering fiercely. “I can’t stay here, not now. So I’d appreciate it if you put yourself in my place for a second and try to realize what it would be like coming home.”
I turned, about to go to the window, but she rushed forward. “Hang on.” She was my only ally at this house, so I stopped. “Are you staying with … him?”
Her eyes briefly flicked to Linden as he stood beside me.
“Yes,” I replied.
“I’m Linden, by the way,” he said, sticking his hand out. He just watched Alysana evenly, looking prepared to be ignored or acknowledged. Surprisingly, Aly slowly put her hand in his, shaking it for a second.
“Alysana,” she whispered.
Some of the thick tension seemed to dissipate then, and I relaxed a little. “We should go … but I’ll probably see you soon. I think Rene knows where I am, too.”
“Maybe. I won’t say if she doesn’t though,” Aly replied. I smiled graciously and hugged her quickly before turning to the window. I shut off the light and crawled out, watching her exit my room and close the door again.
“She seems nice now that she doesn’t hate me so much,” Linden commented when we were totally clear of the house.
“She is nice, I think you just scare her,” I replied.
“Do I look that imposing?”
“Mm, maybe a little, but I think it’s mostly about being an Elemental.”
He sighed. “Yeah it all comes down to that these days.”
I chose to ignore this off-putting comment as we walked the rest of the way back. There was enough negativity everywhere, why emphasize it?
When we walked back into the house, I was definitely starting to feel exhaustion take over. I went straight up the stairs to the bedroom, dropping my bag near the bed. Flopping on top of the mattress, I waited for Linden to finish guzzling his customary two glasses of water before bed. While he was taking a while, I pulled out my pajamas from my backpack and hurriedly started to change. I got on my cutoff shorts and had just taken off my shirt when I heard Linden in the hall. I quickly turned my back to the door, holding my shirt against my chest.
“Wait a second,” I said before he stepped in.
“Oh—sorry.” He turned around and waited as I pulled the thing on as fast as I could.
“Okay, you’re safe.”
He turned back and sauntered in, toeing off his shoes before lying on the bed. “I need to start sleeping more.”
“Sorry I kept you up,” I said, going towards the door to turn off the light. “I just didn’t want to chance being caught.”
“And luckily we sort of did,” he replied, “but like you said, I think Alysana’s trustworthy.”
In the dark, I made my way back to the bed, almost tripping over some of the things on the floor. I landed heavily on the mattress, immediately scooped up beside him. He turned onto his back, smoothly pulling me on top of him. For I second I thought I might be too heavy, but his breathing remained unchanged.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, settling against him.
He looked at me and grinned. “Liar.”
“Okay, I’m not totally fine, but better than I would be. I just … I just want to put this behind me.”
He nodded, pushing my hair to one side. “Right. Well don’t let it eat you, you know?”
“I know. That’s my goal,” I replied. “But he was my friend before so … it’ll be weird.”
“It will,” he said gently, kissing my cheek. His hands lightly stroked my neck and shoulders while his lips roamed across my jaw, and I tried to hold back a shiver.
“There’s a lot of people helping you out though; you’ll get through it,” he mumbled, lips beside my ear. I nodded and whispered a thank you, trying to see his eyes in the dark. They were always a comfort in my head when he wasn’t around, and just seeing them inches from my face was enough to have me ready to do anything for him. Instead, he settled for kisses, in which I was happy to oblige.
That night was falling asleep to kissing. I was soon by his side, lips barely touching as I was gradually falling asleep. When I was finally out for good, the dreams I had were stark and vivid, enough to keep me on the verge of what felt like a nightmare.
I must have been journeying to some extent. Still, I didn’t remember most of it when I awoke later. There were some things that stuck out in my mind, like Rene apparently telling me something very important in the same grove I always visited. There was a child that spoke to me as well, one I had never seen before, and a very old woman who spoke in a rattling, grating voice. She was the last of the three and the one that scared me the most. Though I was sure what she said wasn’t something to be afraid of, just her appearance was enough to freak me out a little. She was shaking her hands at me and chanting when she suddenly yelled, “Name!” and I was jolted awake.
I was absolutely wide awake. Looking up at the ceiling, I felt a little uneasy as I moved. I must have been tossing and turning, because the sheets on my side of the bed were balled up near the edge. Linden didn’t seem phased, but he turned over in his sleep, lying on part of my pillow. When he started to mumble, I wondered if he was actually awake.
“Linden?” I whispered, but he didn’t respond. Did he talk in his sleep regularly? Granted, I’d only slept here once before, but I hadn’t noticed then.
I watched his lips move for a few minutes, when he suddenly spoke very clearly. “Talise Aislin.” And then he said nothing.
This had to have all been the visions and journeying I was supposed to do the night before. For reasons I couldn’t explain, it didn’t happen. The dream-journey I had—though unclear now—had to be the one I was expecting, but no one said my true name … had Linden?
I repeated what he said to myself and found the words very comfortable on my tongue. Somehow they fit, and it felt right. I didn’t know what it meant yet, but that would come in time. For now it jut seemed strange to know, and even stranger that Linden had been the one to say it. I could only fathom what that meant.
Feeling a little better, I pulled the blankets up to me again and settled into the mattress. The last few days had been so overwhelming in a million different ways and I was ready for a break. Hopefully I would be able to just relax in this huge home. My other worries could come in the morning, and I closed my eyes in finality, hoping I wouldn’t unwillingly journey again.
RELATIVE THINKING
I was pretty deep in sleep when the phone rang loudly next to my head. My whole body jolted in surprise, and Linden rolled over, squinting around the room as if not knowing what the sound was. It rang again and he sat up, reaching over me to the floor where the phone lay.
“Hello?” he mumbled, still half asleep. He paused, listening, and seemed to wake up a little more. “Yeah, it’s going fine. I went through the attic a while ago for some sketches and stuff … no, not really. She is? Wow, that’s a new one—I’m not sure if I will. Give me a call in a couple days and we’ll see—okay, I will. All right, love you too.”
A
s he hung up I tried to feign disinterest. Really I wanted to know who it was, but manners kept my mouth shut.
“Uncle just checking up on me,” he said, tossing the phone to the floor. Guess I didn’t have to ask anyway. “He does that out of the blue sometimes.”
“What’d he say?” I ventured to ask.
He shrugged. “He just asked about the house and what I’ve done with it, mentioned some relatives were coming back home. He wanted to know if I wanted to visit.”
He was being vague, which got me a little suspicious. Maybe he didn’t like his relatives or something. “You should go, I take it you don’t see them often.”
His reaction wasn’t exactly what I expected, and he made a face before turning onto his stomach. “I’m fine here, but we’ll see.”
I didn’t pry him anymore after that. He obviously wasn’t into talking about it at the moment, and he’d let me be when I didn’t feel like talking.
“Do you talk in your sleep?” I asked, suddenly remembering.
He looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “I don’t know, do I?”
“You did last night but … I don’t know what you were talking about.”
“What’d I say?”
“I think you were just raving.” I decided if he didn’t remember, I shouldn’t tell him. A true name was something only you should know. Anyone else who knew it could use that kind of power against you.
“Sorry if I kept you up with my ravings then,” he replied, finding it no big deal. He stumbled out of bed and headed for the hallway while I debated trying to get back to sleep. It was already ten, but going to bed around three didn’t leave me with enough sleep. I had closed my eyes to start dozing when the doorbell rang.
“Are you serious?” I heard Linden say from the bathroom. He appeared in the doorway and pointed at me. “This is all your fault,” he said jokingly, and rushed to the door.
“Sorry,” I called after him, smiling as I huddled onto his side of the bed, still warm. For the moment I didn’t care who was at the door, though I sincerely hoped it wasn’t Rene.
“Alysana’s here,” Linden shouted up the stairs.
I sat up fast, fearing the worst. Either she’d come to convince me to leave or … who knew what else.
I hurried out of bed and went into the hall, hearing their quiet voices coming from the living room. Alysana looked uneasy sitting on the couch as Linden stood waiting. It was a weird scene; I never thought I’d see it.
“Hi,” I said, trying to smooth out my hair. It seemed bad enough I was living here for the time being, but I didn’t think she could handle seeing that we slept in the same bed.
“Hi.” It was a flat statement, laced with a little anger. I just sat down next to her anyway, waiting. “Sorry I came by so early.”
“No, it’s fine, we—I was awake,” I replied.
She glanced at Linden, who smiled at her, and she looked away quickly. “I just wanted to let you know what’s been happening. I found out some things last night.”
I swallowed, not sure what to expect. “Okay.”
She took her time before speaking again. “I guess—I guess Rene knows what happened. She heard it from Meryl and spent most of yesterday in her room. And Omar’s gone.”
My heart seemed to throb to a stop. “What?”
“He wasn’t at home last night, and he’s been gone all morning. But all of the cars are still at home.”
A mixture of feelings were going through me. Relief, some worry, fear … mostly fear.
Linden seemed to realize what I was feeling as he stepped up. “He can’t come near this house. I’d know it if someone was nearby.”
“No that’s—I’m not worried about that,” I said, trying to pull myself together again. I didn’t know what I was worried about, but was it definitely a scared kind of worry. Alysana seemed to feel it too, and when she looked at my wrists her eyes widened before I could hide them.
“God, Riley,” she said, carefully taking my arm. She turned it around, looking at every mark. “I didn’t know he could do this … I mean, no one thought he would do anything like this at all.”
“I know,” I said, taking my arm out of her hands. “It’s not his personality or whatever. But he still did it.”
She was quiet for a long time as Linden patiently waited by the window. He occasionally glanced out the windows, then seemed to gaze into space in thought.
“I don’t think you should stay here,” Alysana said quietly.
“Aly—”
“Why not?” Linden asked harshly. He was getting tired of this kind of attitude very fast.
“Because this is the first place he’d look for her,” Alysana replied forcefully, looking straight at him. “I don’t think he’d be dumb enough to try to hurt her again, but she needs to stay away. And you can’t keep her locked in here forever. She does still work.”
I was surprised that Linden backed down. His jaw was still set hard, but he didn’t say anything. I opened my mouth to refute her, but couldn’t think of anything to say. She was right about most of it.
“But like you said, I don’t think he’s dumb enough to try anything again,” I said. “And I don’t have to go back to work for a while. Meryl’s there, she wouldn’t let anything happen.”
Alysana wasn’t fazed, and Linden didn’t seem to be looking so positive anymore.
“Linden?” I looked at him hard, wanting him to back me up on this.
“She’s right, Riley,” he replied. He bit his lip. “This is the first place anyone would think to look for you besides home.”
“You both act like he’s some kind of dangerous criminal!” I said, laughing in disbelief.
“That’s pretty much what he is!” Alysana insisted. “Did you already pretend to forget about it? He hurt you, Riley, he tried to rape you.”
The reality and truth of her words hit me hard. The air was pushed from my lungs as if I’d been punched in the sternum. I hadn’t been able to even think the word to myself, and hearing it out loud was ten times worse.
Alysana looked at me sympathetically as I bit the inside of my cheeks hard, trying to stop any tears. I was so tired of crying.
“Aidan offered you a place to stay with him. He’s been at the bed and breakfast on the other side of town,” Alysana told me. “It would be better there. Don’t you think?” She looked to Linden when she said this, but he didn’t respond, keeping his eyes on me.
I shook my head hard. “No—no, I’m staying here.”
I stood and left the room, going upstairs without listening to Alysana try to call me back. The idea of leaving this house was ridiculous, especially to go hide out with Aidan, who I barely knew. Did Aly still not believe that Linden could take care of me? I wondered if Rene had somehow put her up to this; it was possible. And why was Linden agreeing with her? Being an Elemental, I wouldn’t think a simple warlock—as he might call it—could scare him.
I went to the end of the hall, skipping the bedroom. I opened the window leading to the roof, neglecting the steps in the wall. It was still chilly outside, but I shut the window behind me and stood amongst the plants. I considered the place where I had sat with Linden before, but then turned around to look at the rest of the roof. It was at a slant, being over the attic, but at one of the higher windows it leveled off to a perfect place to sit.
It seemed easier in bare feet, so I pulled my socks off before carefully going up the roof. I imagined falling would be awful from this height and strictly told myself to keep my eyes on my goal. I reached it within a few more steps and sat on the even space. Going down would be a totally different endeavor, but I was content to never get down.
I wondered if Omar could really be dangerous, but I considered that night. He had had a lot of wine and my reaction to his insistence probably didn’t help. That doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t have done anything, I thought. I repeated that very real word that Alysana had used and it brought on memories. Omar’s crushing weight, the way his
hands burned into my skin and the things he was saying. I tried to clear my head when my eyes blurred with tears. Nothing could be done now, and I would fight to stay in this place.
Far below, I heard the front door close. Alysana must be leaving. I was surprised to see her walking along the road; she must have left her car behind. I didn’t like to see her go, but at the same time I didn’t want her interfering. I had every right to my word in this, and I hoped she hadn’t put any ideas in Linden’s head.
It was a few minutes before I heard the window open. Linden stepped out, looking worried when he didn’t see me in the garden. Relief took hold when he turned and saw me sitting above him. I didn’t look at him, staring off at his neighbor’s house while he climbed up to me.
“I was kind of worried you’d left,” he said as he sat beside me.
I shook my head, arms encircling my knees as I rested my chin on my upper arm. “Do you want me to go?”
His brief hesitation worried me. “No … but Alysana has a point.” He watched me closely for a reaction, but I kept my face neutral. “We don’t know what he can do.”
“Nothing. He can do nothing. You’re an Elemental, that’s intimidating enough,” I said.
“That’s only intimidating if he doesn’t try anything,” he explained. “I can’t do anything to him.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a personal decision. Actually a lot of Elementals do it, too. There’s a vow to never use our power against a—one of your kind.”
“Well isn’t that helpful,” I mumbled bitterly.
“I never said I couldn’t do anything otherwise.”
“Throwing a punch couldn’t stop some kind of spell,” I said. “So you were lying the other day when you said you’d drown him?”
“Wishful thinking,” he replied, smiling wryly.
I just sighed and looked away from him, fuming with some anger towards him and towards my general situation.
“I don’t want you to leave. Okay?” Linden said, edging closer. “But if anything ever happens, we’ll have to do something about it. Deal?”
The Evensong Page 19
