Chapter 3

• “Cristy.” A large, redheaded man came running into the room. With the way he was dressed, he looked like he was going to battle. And I don’t mean military dress, I mean Samurai meets Blade, black leather, head to toe, large sharp weapons sort of dress. He immediately went to Crissy and hugged her into his large body and kissed the top of her head. That I hadn’t anticipated. The gentle expression in his eyes bought him a minute’s free pass before I lost it on him, or everyone else.
• “I will get to the why and how you got to the other side… later. My heart stopped when you hung up.” He touched her cheek in a loving way.
• Crissy bit her lip and looked up at him. “Sorry. I just knew I had to go back today, but I didn’t know why. Until I did.” She smiled at him while pointing at me.
• He straightened away from her and gone was the softer look. Replaced with an ice cold assessment, but once again, I could only see his emotions and not feel them.
• He looked me up and down for a moment. “Clearly, she is meant to be here, or she’d need a device.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “How are you feeling?”
• I glared at him, “Like I’ve entered the twilight zone.”
• The one with the black hair snorted but didn’t comment.
• “Victor, she was waiting for me. She keeps seeing that guy that chased her—” Crissy sighed, “from when I got my scar.”
• He hugged her against his side but was still rigid standing there. “Has he approached you?
• I shook my head, “I don’t hang around to give him the opportunity to strike up a conversation.”
• He inclined his head, saying nothing else.
• “Crissy, are you all right?” The woman that had come to get Crissy when she passed out in the alley came running in.
• She stopped when she saw her and placed a hand over her heart. “When Victor went screaming by to get here, I thought you’d been…” she paused when she saw me. “Oh. Awesome! You were finally there.”
• “So, it seems.” How many people had Crissy told about me?
• The blonde cleared her throat and looked at the others, “So, maybe we could… oh I dunno, go to the dining room, or somewhere other than the landing room?” She rolled her eyes at me and mouthed ‘men’.
• I couldn’t pick up a single emotion from her either, which intrigued me even further. I’d never been near this many people and not sensed emotion. “I would like to know more about this man following me.” I looked at Crissy. “Why is he following me?”
• She pouted, “I don’t know. It hasn’t shown me that, but I do know he’s not good.”
• I looked at her, unable to figure out what she meant. “If you don’t know, who does?”
• “I know who can find out.” The black-haired one said. He grinned at the one still holding Crissy close. “We can get Troy to ask his buddies we picked up after Criss was hurt.”
• My head snapped back to Crissy. “They hurt you?”
• She blew out a breath. “Some magic,” she waved a hand around, “whatever it’s called, was stuck in my back.” Frowning, she glanced up at her man before looking back to me. “It hurt so much. It’s gone now, the rune has locked it out forever.” She nodded.
• If I hadn’t felt the truth oozing out of her and all over me, I would have demanded they please take me home. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I was living proof that other types were possible in this life. I held up my hand. “I will just… take your word for all that.”
• The blonde exhaled loudly and then stepped over and put out her hand. “I’m Daxx. I never did thank you properly for keeping an eye on Crissy when she blacked out in the alley.”
• I looked at her hand and then shook it briefly. I still picked up nothing from her, a very rare occurrence. “Things tend to be eventful when Crissy is around.”
• She snorted, “You have no idea.” Turning, she motioned to the man that had come running in first. “This is Arius,” then to Crissy’s man, “and his brother Victor.”
• Both men inclined their heads briefly but made no move to come closer.
• “Let’s go to the dining room, grab a coffee or something and figure out why those guys are after you.” She suggested.
• Before I could decide, another tall man came in. He had short black hair and pale blue eyes. My only thought was that I was usually the tallest person in the room. Seemingly, the males here were all of the large variety.
• He stopped in the door and looked me up and down. “Is this who we’ve been watching for all these weeks, Crissy?”
• Crissy nodded enthusiastically. “I brought her back, she said they’re following her.”
• Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the device Arius held then back to me. “Obviously, she’s meant to be here.”
• At some point, I would have to clarify why they kept saying that. I turned back to Daxx. “You said something about coffee?” I still didn’t know where I was, but I wasn’t leaving until I knew what the hell was going on, and if they could tell me what I was while I was here, that would answer a question that had plagued me for seventy-eight years.