Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy)

by Anne Haley

  "Blake," she whispered. "Do you feel that?" The space between them felt like miles, and she yearned to be closer.

  He smiled down at her, and pulled her closer like he had heard her thoughts. He took her other hand and pulled them up between them. "I do." He kissed her hands sending waves of heat through her.

  "Hey!" El called from the door. The sound of her voice had Aylin jumping out of his reach, and her heart racing. She shivered, feeling his warmth seeping out of her. "What are you two doing?"

  "Be right there!" Aylin called, her voice shaky. She looked at Blake, who was still holding out his hands to her. He dropped them to his sides. "I have to go." She turned quickly and ran up the stairs to the door.

  "Aylin!" he called after her. She turned back to look at him, and she was smiling. "We need to continue this later."

  She nodded and disappeared into the house.

  It had been a chilly and restless night for Aylin. She rolled around the bed twisting the blankets into a pretzel. She couldn’t stop thinking about Blake. The emotions in him were so strong, so powerful to her that it left her unsettled. She wasn’t upset, or afraid of him, but just on edge. She hadn’t been prepared to feel that. She hadn’t felt anything like that before.

  The relationships she’d had before were never serious. How was it possible for her to become seriously involved with a man, she had wondered many times through the night. But Blake wasn’t just any man, he knew her deep dark secrets and didn’t run away. No, he came looking for her and hadn’t been frightened of what she was.

  Aylin flung the remaining covers off and sat up to dangle her legs off the bed. The lightening darkness out her window told her sunrise was on its way. She quickly changed into jeans and sweater and flew out her bedroom. She pulled on her jacket while she knocked on the other’s doors. "Come on you two! You have thirty seconds to get up and dressed!" She heard El’s loud groan and grumbling. Terra’s door cracked open and she peered out at Aylin. Her hair spiked up in odd directions from deep sleep.

  "What’s going on?" she asked quietly.

  "Get dressed." Aylin smiled at her. "Hurry!"

  The two came shuffling into the kitchen, and El was fighting to keep her eyes open. "What the hell Aylin?" she groaned. "I just went to sleep."

  "It’s almost sunrise." Aylin smiled and winked at El.

  El blinked a few times at her, and then sighed, "Okay okay."

  "What?" Terra was close to yelling.

  "You’ll see." Aylin nudged her toward the deck door off the kitchen.

  "Outside? It’s cold!" Terra whined.

  "You won’t even notice," Aylin said behind her and nudged her again.

  The air was crisp, and a breeze traveled through the forest, rattling the dead leaves and underbrush. She led them down to the backyard, near the forest. It was dusky gray out, and the sun would be peaking around the hills soon. Aylin sat down on the hard earth and folded her legs under her. She patted the spot next to her for Terra, and El sat on the other side. Aylin put a finger to her mouth, to keep Terra from asking questions.

  She held her hand up, with her palm facing Terra, and waited for the slow heat to come. It spread to her fingertips giving her hand a slight glow. She placed her hand, palm down, onto the earth and closed her eyes. She counted to five and cracked open her eye to peak at Terra, who was placing her hands on the earth. El was already breathing deeply, off in her own thoughts.

  Aylin lifted her hands off the earth and silently moved in front of Terra. She placed her hands on top of Terra’s and closed her eyes again. She wanted to see what Terra would feel.

  It took a few seconds to clear away the clutter of thoughts in Terra’s head. They slowly ebbed away, and her breathing deepened. A pulse traveled through her hands, up her arms, and into her heart. Terra gasped, but Aylin held her hands firmly to the ground. As quickly as she was startled, she was searching now. That pulse opened her to the earth.

  First she felt the trees, tired and sleepy from a hot summer, waiting to go dormant. Some clung to their leaves dearly, afraid to let go, afraid they wouldn’t wake again from the harsh winter. She let the power she felt in her travel into the trees, promising them to awake in the spring, full and fresh. No damage would come to them, they would awaken refreshed and alive.

  There was something close and it had a steady heartbeat. Terra moved on from the trees, through the thick brush, onto a tiny opening where a deer was sleeping. It was a buck, and its antlers stood heavy on its head. Its sleep was light, waking slowly with the sunrise. The heartbeat was picking up and the eyes fluttered under the lids. Any second now, it would wake to spend another day grazing the last bit of greenery it could find.

  Something shone through the trees, something that held a deep glow. She moved on from the deer, toward the crest of the hill. There, over the treetops was a deep pink and orange glow. The sun was seconds away from rising. The earth held its breath the last seconds, and the tip of the sun peaked out. Spears of light shot through the tree branches, and landed on the ground in front of them. The current ran through the ground and up their arms, awaking their hearts. A sweet melody sang in her head and the birds began chattering, carrying her song throughout the forest.

  Terra let out the breath she was holding. "Wow," she whispered.

  Aylin smiled and touched her finger to Terra’s tip of her nose. She looked at El, who was smiling at them. "All right, I suppose that was worth getting up for."

  Unable to stay away, later that morning Blake sat in Terra’s kitchen tucked in the corner at the small round wooden table. The bright morning light striking the counter tops and wood cabinets lit the kitchen. Blake always liked this house, with its handmade furniture and cabinets. Terra had been generous when he bought his own house and gave him a few pieces that he had always admired. One was an armchair that had many worn spots and scars on the armrests. It was their father’s favorite chair. Terra hadn’t hesitated when she parted with it because she knew what it meant to Blake.

  Blake always liked the feeling in her home. She kept it clean and it had a warm cozy feeling to it. She didn’t have anything big and expensive to her name, mostly hand-me-downs and handmade items. She had an eclectic style with the mix of pottery platters and wood, glass vases and metal candle lanterns.

  The smell of frying eggs and bacon and coffee filled the entire house, and he enjoyed it while sipping on the black coffee. Under El’s watchful eye, he felt a little more confident that they would be edible. Aylin walked in, her hair wet from the shower and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling when their eyes met. "Good morning."

  "Morning." He nodded.

  "What brings you around?" She opened the cupboard and found a mug for coffee.

  "I thought I would let you all know what I have found so far in that book." Blake watched her. Her eyes widened and he gave her a slight shake of his head. She let out a breath and continued pouring her coffee. "It has been more interesting than I thought."

  "Oh, really?" El set napkins down on the table.

  "Yeah. It seems history keeps repeating itself over and over. There has always been three that guard The Rune," his eyes moved to Aylin again. "The witches have been around for centuries, and I am guessing your kind has been even longer."

  "I don’t think any one really knows how long we’ve been around," Aylin said, looking at El who was watching her and Blake with curiosity. "It’s not documented anywhere. What I heard was that our ancestors were conjured by a tribe that had previously held the task of The Rune. When the tribe realized they were not strong enough for this responsibility, they turned to their shaman who summoned them, or us." She shrugged. "But that’s only one out of many legends of our kind. I’ve even heard that some believe we came from the depths of the ocean, released after a large earthquake."

  "You’re forgetting my favorite myth," El said from the counter. "That we are evolved maggots that came from a giant’s rotting corpse."

  "Gross!" Terra wrinkled her nose.


  "Damn it Terra!" El cursed from near the sink.

  "What?" She walked over to peer into the sink. "Oh gross! Get them out of here!" she screamed.

  "What?" Blake jumped up and was at the sink in two short strides. Wriggling around the bottom of El’s empty juice glass were a few maggots. "You have maggots?"

  "Terra can’t control herself sometimes." El scowled at her and grabbed the glass and headed for the door.

  "I think I’ve lost my appetite." He turned to look at Aylin, who was covering her mouth to keep from laughing.

  "Come on, be a man. It’s just some bugs," El said when she came back inside, glass empty.

  "Are there bugs in those eggs?" he motioned to the frying pan.

  El walked over and stuck her nose over the eggs. "Nope."

  "Interesting." Blake shuddered and sat back down. He took a drink of coffee and forced the gag reflex down that he felt rising. "I think it would help if we could get some more solid information." He frowned into his mug. "I mean The Seanchai does have a lot of history in it. Some of it is pretty interesting. For example, after the last of the three protectors die, whether it is of old age or by the witch's hand, The Rune seems to disappear. Not even the Storyteller can get to it until the new protectors are chosen. And, in a few entries they mention that there is a definite leader of the witches. But they have no idea who it is, but they get the feeling the leader isn't a witch."

  "What gives them that impression?" El asked.

  Blake shrugged. "It was said to be a feeling the faeries got." He looked down at the breakfast that Terra had put on his plate. "This smells good." He peered up at his sister, "Who are you?"

  Terra giggled. "Shut up Blake." She turned to wash the pans.

  "Did you find someone to cover the store this weekend?" Aylin asked Terra.

  "What’s happening this weekend?" Blake lifted his head.

  "Girls weekend in Duluth," Terra said over her shoulder. "Yes, a friend of mine said she would help Mom out if she needed it."

  Blake and Terra ended up leaving together, off to work, which left Aylin feeling awkward in El’s company. El had been shooting her questioning glances all through breakfast, and Aylin didn’t have to stretch her mind too far to guess what she had been thinking.

  Aylin went into her bedroom and powered up her laptop to check email. She was reading one from Jordan, talking about how business is doing just fine and she brought on a part time florist to help her out, when she could feel El lurking. Aylin looked up from the screen and saw El standing in the doorway. "Hey." Aylin smiled.

  "Did you two do it yet?" El crossed her arms.

  "God El!" Aylin’s cheeks flushed. "You are so discreet." She shut her laptop. "Sit down." She patted the bed in front of her. When El settled down on the bed with her feet tucked under her Aylin told her about touching Blake’s hand. "It’s kind of like an electrical current, but not painful. It tingles, and feels warm and it makes me so nervous." She laughed nervously, "I’ve never felt like this."

  "Wow. You really are unsettled. You’ve had a boyfriend before, though." El frowned. "You didn’t get this from them?"

  Aylin shook her head. "No, not such a deep rooted feeling. It’s scary El."

  "Oh my God. Aylin, you’re in love with him!" El bounced on the bed. "This is great! He obviously feels the same toward you too."

  "Don’t get ahead of yourself. We barely know anything about each other. How can I be in love with someone that I have known for a couple of months, and spent most of that time yelling and screaming at? Even if it is love, there is nothing I can do about that. I have a duty and a responsibility to you and Terra. I can’t be distracted at all. You know as well as I do that we are very close to something happening, it’s only a matter of time. They attacked us on the island, and there have been rumors around here. I can’t ignore all that and follow my feelings toward him." She was pacing next to the bed now, gesturing with her hands.

  "You’re kidding right? When are you going to think of us as four now? He’s a part of this remember? You wouldn’t be going off away from us. You might be making you and him stronger. You can’t be more united than being in love. Anyway, when it comes to those kinds of feelings you don’t really have a choice. Sure, you can let them fester inside of you. But they come out no matter what. You can make this the time to get to know each other too. Neither you nor him are going anywhere, and will be working pretty closely together. You think you can ignore your feelings for him if he gets attacked? Or if you two end up alone together in the woods?" She wiggled her eyebrow at her.

  "Hopeless, that’s what you are." Aylin gave El’s shoulder a shove. "My lusty friend always on the look out for matchmaking and lovemaking." She winked.

  "Mark my words, Aylin. You can’t ignore what has already sparked between you two." El grabbed her arm and tugged her back to sitting next to her.

  Aylin bit her lip. "I’ll think about it."

  El nodded. "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about. I met the man that Terra was telling us about. You know, the guy that’s asking all the questions? He was in the coffee shop yesterday and he tried talking to me. He asked if I grew up here my whole life and I told him no. He gave me his business card and insisted I make time for him to interview me. He’s cute, in a nerdy kind of way, and I didn’t really get a sense that he was dangerous." She shrugged, looking down at her hands. "But he definitely is interested."

  Aylin listened with complete concentration. Her dilemma with Blake was pushed back, out of the way. "Tell me exactly what he looks like."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Aylin woke early before the other two and decided to sneak out. She enjoyed watching the town wake up from the windows of the coffee shop with the bold scent of coffee mixing with the buttery pastries. Customers hurried in the door, ordering their usual and running out the door to open their own store or business for the day. Very few had the pleasure of just sitting in the shop and lazily clearing the deep sleep fog from the mind.

  She missed having her own shop to open. The smell of fresh cut flowers always revitalized her no matter what her mood was. She missed the satisfaction on customer’s faces when she presented the arrangements she designed for them. She missed her friend Jordan who would take one look at her and knew exactly what she needed whether it was time to herself or a shoulder to cry on. She missed Mr. Christiansen, a man that laid a bouquet of daisies every Saturday morning on his wife’s grave.

  It’s not like she felt unwelcome here. Everyone had a friendly smile for her, but she didn’t stop to catch up with anyone. The town was unpredictable to her, and she liked having routine. Maybe she should look into the floral shop. She could work there part time, and she could meet some of the townspeople. Designing arrangements once again would give her a creative outlet.

  Maybe she would swing by the bookstore and see if anything interested her there. Terra had hundreds of books at her house, but nothing on gardening or horticulture. That’s Aylin’s passion and she loved to surround herself in it. She could pick up a few plants to put around the house too. Terra’s home was warm and cozy, but it was missing houseplants. If they were still there, she hoped to expand Terra’s garden next summer.

  Aylin turned her head slightly as she became aware she was being watched and out of the corner of her eye she saw a man staring at her. She turned her head and squarely looked back at him. Startled, his eyes widened and he straightened his glasses and looked down. His table was stacked with books and notebooks. There was an empty coffee cup teetering on the edge of the table.

  Returning her gaze to the window, she became aware that the man joined her at her table. "Sorry about that," he said. "I didn’t mean to be staring at you. You just seemed off in another world, and I was wondering where that was." He shrugged.

  She was leaning away from him, but gave him a quick smile. "That’s quite alright." She nodded. By El’s detailed description she knew who he was, and it unnerved her that he singled her out i
n a coffee shop full of people.

  "Are you from here? I’m doing some research on the town and trying to get interviews with people that have been here their whole life. Though, you don’t look much like you’re from around here. You don’t have the midwestern look. If I could make a guess I would say you are from somewhere on the west coast." His voice was kind, but she couldn’t trust it. It was too convenient that he picked her out.

  "I’m sorry, I really have to be going." She stood.

  "Man, I’m really bad at this. You’re the second woman that I’ve scared away. Look, I can show you my I.D. if you want. I’m trying to write a book. I thought I would find that Minnesota Nice that everyone talks about, but I seem to be rubbing people all the wrong way." He now slumped in his chair.

  There was something about him that made her want to sit back down. "It’s not you, I’m just running late is all. Do you have a card or something? Maybe I can give you a call then."

  He looked up at her with hope and jumped out of the chair. "Yes!" He hurried to his table and pulled out a business card out of his briefcase. "I’m Corey." He held out his hand.

  "Aylin." She shook his hand and said goodbye. She tucked the card in her fleece jacket pocket and walked out the door. She didn’t get that filthy vibe from him that she associated with the witches. He seemed genuinely to be what he said he was. She could calm El down now, but they would still need to keep this man at a distance.

  Not ready to head back to the house yet, she wandered the streets of the downtown. Most of the shops were on winter hours now and some wouldn’t be open again until May, which meant there were a lot of empty buildings with dark or covered windows. Just a few weeks ago those windows displayed paintings, pottery, and jewelry that local artists made.

  She turned the corner and found Blake getting a paper out of a machine. "Hi." She walked right up to him.

  "Hey." He was surprised to see her, but happy. His smile was wide.

  "Do you ever work?" she asked him.