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Wonderful.
I push myself up from the edge of the tub and head for the door, my footsteps echoing through the quiet house.
Stepping outside, I’m greeted by the crisp scent of wet grass. Bright sunlight plays with the leaves on the old oak tree which stands at the far corner by a wooden shed, casting patterns onto the ground. There’s no fence, nothing separating the place where his property ends and the mile or so of land before a lush forest begins.
Making my way to the open sliding glass door to his house, my pulse spikes. I’m conflicted on the appropriate way to approach the man whose day I’m about to disturb.
I don’t know if it’s his piercing gray eyes, the deep tone in his voice when he speaks to me, or the way he seemed caught off guard by my presence in the woods. Something tells me I should know him, and that makes me want to get as far away as possible.
Regardless, I need answers.
When no one responds to my knocking, I step inside. The back entrance opens into the living room. To my right, a charcoal couch faces a wall-mounted painting of a stormy sea. There’s a matching armchair, directed more toward an open fireplace stocked with wood but not lit. A hallway disappears farther in that direction, leading to the rest of the house. To my left, the kitchen. All black countertops and stainless steel appliances.
Well, appliances may be a stretch. Apart from the counter and cupboards, there’s only a sink and fridge.
Come to think of it, that’s all the guest house had too.
I’m getting ready to call out when a body appears from the hallway. A sea of blue curls hangs to the center of the girl’s back. It’s pulled half up in a series of intricate twists and braids. Two elongated ears peek through the curls, coming to a point at their tips.
The girl glows. Like, almost literally. She’s something I’d find in a fantasy book. Elegant and fierce.
She scans me over, looking less than delighted. “You must be the homeless girl,” she muses, sounding both bored and annoyed. “Rhenn is only letting you stay here because he feels bad for you.”
I do know that. And I only accepted because I had no other choice. It was this or outside.
She pushes off the wall she’d leaned against, making her way directly in front of me. “No claws,” she notes, lifting my hand to her face before dropping it back at my side, then begins to circle me. “No wings. No tail.” Her hands run over my face, peeling my lips back with her fingers. “And no fangs. He was right. There’s nothing interesting about you at all.” Tapping her chin, she perks up. “Do you do tricks?”
“Excuse me?”
“Can you cast spells or change something’s appearance?”
“No. I cannot cast spells,” I answer dryly. The glamour I’d first found in her is quickly fading.
“Congratulations, you’ve just become Fall Haven’s most boring resident.”
“I’m sorry, what can you do exactly?”
A mischievous grin dances across the girl’s lips, her unwavering gaze locking onto mine as she raises her hand to her side and flicks her fingers lazily. The act is casual, indifferent, like she’s beckoning someone, but couldn’t be bothered to look their way.
A cold chill sweeps into the room, a breath of icy air that playfully stirs my hair, causing it to whirl around me. My gaze shifts toward the back door. The large oak tree stands tall, its branches unbending, each leaf remaining still, untouched by the wind which seems to swirl solely within these four walls.
The draft intensifies, its focus narrowing to my cheek, guiding my attention back to the girl, and with a graceful drop of her hand, everything settles.
The recognition comes slowly, somewhere in between the new stillness and the far away ticking of a clock. I could deny it, pretend I’d only imagined it, but that wouldn’t change the reality of what she’d just done.
It’s the way she sighs with smug satisfaction, the way her overly perfect features look down at me like I’m somehow inferior. Call it my pride, or maybe it’s the twenty foot wall I’ve built around myself, but I refuse to be impressed.
Keeping a straight face, I lift my shoulder. “That’s it?” Her eyes narrow, unpleased with my reaction. “Seems kind of pointless, don’t you think? Just open a window.”
The natural blush coating her cheeks brightens. No longer a soft pink, but an angry red.
Rhenn steps into the room then, appearing from the unlit hallway, and scans between us.
I notice his change of clothes, wearing now a black shirt that complements his unusual ashy gray eyes. His dark hair is styled like he ran his fingers through it a few times after showering. Messy, but in a way that suits him. He’s taller than me, by a decent amount, and fit in a way that would suggest he’s maybe a runner.
“You didn’t tell me you let the rodent in your house,” Blue jeers, crossing her arms.
“She’s just here to pay her rent. Isn’t that right, Vixen?”
