Sweet Evil(90)

“That was more than a nightmare!” She squatted next to me and smoothed hair from my damp face. “You were screaming like you were being attacked.”

“Just scary visions,” I said, and even though it was true, it felt like so much more than that. I trembled all the way to the core of my belly. I put a finger to my lips to show her I couldn’t talk about it. Someone might be listening.

We jumped at the sound of rapid, hard knocking on the front door.

I ran down the hall on weak legs, putting an eye to the peephole. It was Kopano.

I flung open the door and he came straight in along with a cold gust of wind, looking around with those serious, somber eyes. He laid a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed his wrist and held on as I tried to catch my breath.

“Anna?” Patti had come in, staring at Kopano.

“This is my friend Kope,” I told her. “He must have been listening out for me.”

He went forward and they shook hands. She crossed her arms over her thin nightgown.

“I need to get my robe on.” Patti headed toward her bedroom and gave us a chance to talk.

“Whisperers were here,” I told Kopano. “I could see them. They showed me all these awful things. I couldn’t think straight. Oh, my gosh, Kope, I think that’s what hell’s going to feel like.”

He reached out to console me just as the front door flew open. I jumped back and screamed. Kaidan stood there with disheveled hair, his forehead creased with worry.

The neighbor’s door across the hall opened, and a bent old man peered out over his oxygen tank.

“What in God’s name is going on over there?” he asked in a wheezing voice.

“Nothing, Mr. Mayer, I’m so sorry.”

I pulled Kaidan inside and closed the door.

“What are you doing here?!” I asked.

His eyes flickered toward our hall, where Patti now stood, holding her robe closed and taking in the scene. I turned back to Kaidan, panic building inside of me.

“They could come back any second and see us together and tell your father! Go home!”

He stood in defiance, but as he glanced at Kopano his facade cracked, revealing a desolate expression that broke my heart.

“Yes, I’ll go,” Kaidan said. “You’ve got help.”

I reached for his arm as he turned, but he slipped through my fingers and walked out.

I sat on the couch, burying my face in my hands. I hadn’t meant to make him think I was choosing Kopano over him. He had to know it wasn’t like that. I was scared for him.

And what in the world were they both doing here, anyway? Had they been somewhere nearby listening out for me all night?

“I will go to him,” Kopano said, leaving the apartment and closing the door. I pushed my hearing around to find them at the bottom of the stairs, just next to the sheet of rain falling from the roof like a waterfall. I focused hard, trying to ignore the spooky feeling that still held me.

Patti peeked around the corner and I waved her over, signaling that I was listening to something. She turned on a side lamp and sat down next to me, rubbing my chilled limbs to try to warm me.

“Let us go somewhere and talk,” Kopano said to Kaidan.

“We can talk here. She never uses her senses.”

Whoops. I was officially eavesdropping, but I didn’t feel guilty. I was too desperate for insight into Kaidan’s mind. They spoke in low tones, hard to hear with the rush of rainwater.

“Do not be upset, Kai. I feel only concern for her.”

“I’ll bet you do.”

Kaidan’s clipped, harsh response was in direct contrast to Kopano’s tranquil words.

“Even you are willing to risk yourself for her, brother.”

“That’s because I actually know her. What’s your reason? I suppose you’d like to get to know her, too?”

“You have made it very clear that she is not available in that way. Be reasonable. There is plainly more at stake here. I only wished to help.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Kope!”

They got quiet and I could hear Kaidan’s ragged breaths through his nose.

“Please trust me, brother,” Kopano said. “There is no stronger weapon for Pharzuph to use than your concern for each other. If he learns that you were here to console her, you will lose all leverage with him. Do not fool yourself into thinking he will not discard you.”

“Yes, some of us have to worry about such things. Thank you for the reminder.”

The sounds that came next iced my blood: heavy footfalls crashing into puddles, and the metallic zing of a switchblade. I stood up with a hand to my heart. Then there was a deep, gruff chuckle. My father’s.

“Put it away, boy. Sorry to break up the testosterone party.”