Echo took the narrow side stairs up. Nia trailed behind her. Curious, she leaned over the railing, her attention on the moored sailboat. “That’s a lovely boat.”
“Yes, it belongs to Hedori,” Echo said. “You’ll meet him later. Come—no, wait. Stay here. I won’t be long.” Her twin rushed off.
Nia frowned as she hit the wooden deck with chairs and loungers arranged at the other end, wondering what Echo was up to. She seemed like a rabbit on speed.
Her twin gave a perfunctory knock on the door. “Ready or not, I’m coming in?—”
“You can see us through the glass,” a male called out, tone dry, and a woman laughed.
Echo snorted, slid open the door, and disappeared inside.
“What brings you to the boathouse at this time of the evening?” the man drawled. “Lonely already?”
“Can’t I want to see you both without needing a reason, huh?”
Nia tuned out their conversation. As requested, she kept out of sight and wandered across the deck to the safety rail, her heart heavy.
The urge to reach out, to call Lore, overwhelmed her, and she shut her eyes, feeling as if a part of her was missing.
“What’s the surprise?” The deep male voice snagged her attention again. “You could have just told me, you know, instead of disrupting my dinner with my mate before she leaves for work.”
“You can eat later,” Echo shot back. “That is, if you still feel hungry after this. Besides, Ely was already done, just whiling away time and gazing at you adoringly.”
“True,” a woman said, laughter in her voice. “Anyway, I really must leave. I’ll see you later, my love.”
A long, drawn sigh. “You hurried her off.”
“Ely is her own mistress,” Echo countered. “No one tells her what to do.”
A soft grunt. Footsteps sounded as they drew closer. “So, what’s gotten you behaving like a jitterbug?”
“Oh, well, if you’re not interested, you can find out later,” Echo said.
“Hey, hold it,” he grumbled. “I’ve only known you a short while, and already you’re driving me crazy.”
Echo snorted. “Now you sound like Aethan.”
Nia rested her chin on her arms folded over the railing, listening to their easy camaraderie. While she was beyond ecstatic to have finally found her sister, it was hard to breathe past the pain fisting her chest. Lightly, she touched the spot on her brow where Lore had kissed her goodbye?—
“Nia, I want you to meet someone,” Echo called out softly.
With a shuddering inhale, Nia pulled on her composed mask and turned. A tall, striking guy with topaz eyes and bronze skin stood just behind Echo.
He stared at her, blinked, then went pale beneath his tan complexion like he’d seen a ghost. “What?—?”
“I know,” Echo murmured. “Nia, this is?—”
“No.” He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples.
Nia eyed Echo warily, mouthed, “Is he okay?”
A smile curved Echo’s lips, and she nodded.
“That’s not her name,” he rasped as if he couldn’t breathe. “It’s something else…”
Nia frowned. She’d never met him before, yet she felt a pull—a draw—to him that came from deep within her.
She didn’t like it. Not one bit. He was a stranger.
