Gray ducks his head so he can see out the driver’s side window and glares. “That’s fucked up,” he comments harshly and reaches for his door handle.
Magic is thick in the air, as if a spell was just cast, as my feet hit the dirt packed ground. I cast my eyes over the property to see if I can perceive any noticeable changes, but everything seems the same.
Someone is stirring, Percy says, confirming my assumption.
The front door opens before we reach the porch steps. Eugene makes his way out of the house and lets the screen door snap closed behind him. There’s a shadow in the doorway, but it’s too dark to make out who or what it is.
“Found her last night,” Eugene announces, dragging my attention away from the door. He’s looking us over with his eyes slightly narrowed. “I hope you all don’t go spreading rumors around town.” There’s a wide divide between us, so he speaks rather loudly, or maybe that’s a little hostility I hear in his tone.
“Aisling is home?” I take a step forward. “When?”
“Last night, not long after you two left. I took another look around the barn, and there she was, camped out in the loft.”
I open my mouth to deny that could be true, but my mink beats me to it.Bullshit, Percy snaps, and I’m so taken aback by the curse that I don’t respond to Eugene.
“Not the barn we were in.” Remy crosses his arms over his chest, denying the implication that we somehow missed his wife when we did a walk-through.
“Where is she? I want to talk to her.” I focus on the door. The slim silhouette of a shadow is still there, lingering in the darkness of the house.
“Why do you want to talk to her?” Eugene asks, sounding affronted.
“Whydon’tyou want us to talk to her?” Gray retorts.
“Aisling,” Eugene calls through clenched teeth after a brief pause.
An older woman pushes out of the screen and comes up short behind Eugene. Her lips are pulled down in a hard frown, and she’s holding herself stiffly.
“Aisling, how are you?” I question slowly.
Eugene scowls at the side of her face, but she never looks over at him. “I was confused,” she answers, not really addressing my question.
“How are you feeling now?” I press.
“I’m not confused anymore.” Aisling’s silvery hair billows in the light breeze. It doesn’t look like it’s been brushed, and when she reaches up to tame some of the flyways, I notice her hands are dirty, as if she’d been digging or planting this morning.
A loud noise from the house startles me, and I look at the still open door. “Is there someone else inside?” Felix asks.
“No, must have been the wind.” Eugene doesn’t look fazed as he responds. Aisling, on the other hand, slowly looks over her shoulder with a strange, nearly hopeful expression on her face.
The sense of unease I was already feeling mounts. “We should probably get you checked out by the doctor,” I offer, not really knowing how to address the commotion from inside. Considering it’s not that windy, I doubt Eugene’s claim holds any truth.
“She’s fine. She told you she wasn’t confused anymore. She has an appointment next month. We’ll talk to the doctor then.”
“Frankie wasn’t asking you,” Remy tells Eugene. “Why don’t you let your wife speak for herself?”
“I have an appointment in a few weeks,” Aisling parrots back to us.
A flash of light from one of the upper windows draws my attention, but when I look up, there’s nothing to see but the sun reflecting off the glass. Just as I’m about to look away, I notice another shadow, but this one is more opaque, almost wispy as it glides past the window.
“Did you see that?” I ask no one in particular.
“What?” Felix questions, lifting his eyes to follow my gaze.
“I saw something move in the house,” I mutter softly.
Eugene and Aisling hear me, and she looks up as if the roof of the porch isn’t there to block her view while he snaps, “There’s nothing in the house. You didn’t see what was right in front of you yesterday, and now you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”
I know she wasn’t in that barn or anywhere close for that matter, so does Percy and I trust him, even if I could believe Remy and I somehow missed her.
