“Your natural musk,” Trench coat Guy—Soren—says.
“Fuck, dude, don’t say that to a woman. No wonder you’ve never gotten laid,” the voice in my head says with a throaty chuckle.
“Shut up, Brogan. I’m not the one who was sniffing her,” Trench coat mutters, his eyes flashing that weird blue again as he blushes.
“Brogan?” I ask.
The dog’s tail wags.
“Your name is Brogan?” I ask the dog.
“Sure is, babe,” the voice says.
Holy meatballs. A talking dog. Well… a telepathic talking dog.
“So you can hear him too?” I ask Soren.
“And so can you, which is interesting,” he replies. “Brogan is my… trusty hound.”
Brogan doesn’t seem too happy with that description, judging by the deep growl he lets out.
“I’m Echo,” I say.
Then Soren steps closer and I involuntarily take a lungful of his scent. He smells almost minty, but not. Like an icy wind, bracing and a shock to the system. He links our fingers together and I’m so shocked by the movement that I don’t pull away. I don’t pull away as his eyes flash that luminescent blue, nor as the room dissolves around me.
Ah, dang it.
It feels as though I’m floating and I’m filled with calm and peaceful feelings.
And then my feet hit the ground. I feel the solid earth beneath me and smell mulch and sun-warmed soil just as my regular emotions kick back in.
I open my eyes—barely recognizing that I closed them at some point—and find myself in a garden.
And mighty pissed.
“What the heck was that?” I hiss. “Who just abducts someone from their home like that?”
But then Soren puts his hand on my shoulder and all of my anger and irritation just… flows right out of me.
Flowers of all colors and sizes grow in a haphazard mix that somehow looks both cultivated and wild all at once. There’s even a water feature trickling water from the statue of a massive six foot tall hooded figure, complete with a scary-looking scythe.
I feel languid and relaxed, like I could sit here for hours. Like I would like to do just that.
Which is weird. I’m a pretty cheerful person most of the time, a bright side girl, but even I wouldn’t bethischill about being dragged out of my house by two strangers first thing in the morning. The feeling goes away when I pull myself away from Soren. I’m left with all the confusion and apprehension and not a lot of chill.
Which tells me… this is no ordinary guy.
Strangely enough, though, I don’t feel unsafe. Even though these are strangers and this is level five creeper behavior.
“What did you do to my sister?” I ask.
“The same thing I did to you, I’m a reaper. We can fill others with a great sense of peace and contentment.
Huh, that must explain my reaction to this place, too.
“She fell asleep almost instantly, an interesting reaction.” His tone is lofty and judgemental and it sets me on edge.
My first reaction, as per usual, is to defend my sister. “Yeah, well, she was hungover as hell. You probably kicked her headache up a few notches.”
