The Evensong (25 page)

I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. If I could have it my way, I would never go back to the house. But I knew that was out of reach.

“I don’t know,” I finally said.

Linden seemed to accept that for now and sat up, suggesting breakfast. I trailed after him, listening to him rattle off what kind of things he could make for us to eat. Still in a sort of daze, I barely heard anything he said. My mind was still jammed on disbelief and shock of Omar’s actions. Had he had too much wine to think rationally? Was that even an excuse?

“Riley, did you hear me?” Linden asked from across the room.

“What? Sorry.” I had been standing near the kitchen cabinets just thinking.

“I said I think Meryl’s here. Yeah, that’s definitely Meryl.”

I rushed to his side where he stood by the window. It was true; Meryl was just locking up her car and walking towards the door.

“If she’s here for me, I don’t want to see her,” I said, going towards the stairs.

“Wait, what? Why not?” he asked, going after me.

“I just don’t, okay? Tell her I don’t want to talk to anyone,” I said. When she knocked on the door, I waited for Linden to reply. He finally nodded, and I went up the stairs to hide behind the wall of the second floor.

I listened as Linden opened the door and politely let Meryl in.

“What brings you here so early?” he asked jokingly.

“I’m so sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if you’d seen Riley since yesterday. She hasn’t been home from some—family gathering—and I was just getting worried.”

Linden paused, and I knew he was debating with telling the truth or not. “Yeah, she’s here.”

“She is? Oh thank God!” Meryl said loudly. “Is she all right? Has she been here all night?”

“Yeah, she was here all night. Here, come in here and I’ll explain.”

Their footsteps died away in the kitchen, and I couldn’t hear them well anymore. I only heard the rumble of Linden’s voice and Meryl’s muttered replies.

I slid down to the floor, leaning against the wall. I didn’t know what to do now. I was still going to stand by my word and vow I didn’t want to go home. I could sneak in my window for the stuff I really needed, but other than that I wanted no confrontations. First off, I wondered what Omar had done after I hit him. If he went home, what did he tell everyone else? I was surprised there wasn’t some crazy manhunt going on. If Meryl was on my side she could speak for me.

But what if Linden doesn’t want me to stay?
It seemed like a ridiculous thought, but it was possible, too. Maybe he was just as secluded as his home; he could be a lover of privacy, and here I was assuming I could stay. I looked down the hall at all the empty rooms and thought about taking one of those. If he wanted privacy I could easily stay out of his way.

“
What?
”

Meryl’s sudden shriek from the kitchen made me jump. I guess Linden had finally gotten to the point.

“Where is she?” Meryl demanded, her voice now in the living room. “Riley? Sweetheart, where are you?”

Her footsteps were rushing up the stairs and I didn’t have time to get up and duck into another room. She rounded the corner and looked down at me seeming almost tearful.

“Oh honey, come here,” she said, sitting beside me and hugging me hard. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” I said, smiling to reassure her. “Really, I’m okay.”

She obviously didn’t believe me at all and pulled me to my feet, insisting I come downstairs for tea. In the kitchen, Linden already had three cups set out, hot water at the ready. He shrugged at me slightly, apologetically, but I didn’t mind. This was bound to blow up sometime.

Meryl sat me down at the table by the window, shoving a cup at me as she dumped in some tea leaves from a jar. “You have to tell me what happened. One minute you were at your party, the next you’re gone. Rene thought you’d gone to meditate.”

“No, it was just for a walk,” I replied. “Just for fresh air.”

Meryl shook her head as she sat down. “And he followed you.” A statement full of anger, no questions.

I cleared my throat nervously before going on. “I don’t think he meant to do it.”

“Meant to?” Meryl repeated.

“So?” Linden added. I looked at him, stunned at his tone. “It’s not like it was an accident, Riley.”

“There was a lot of wine, and he was pretty pissed when I said he wasn’t—”

“Riley, no,” Meryl cut in, almost sadly. “From what I understand—”

“No, you can’t understand,” I interrupted. “
I
don’t even really get it. But what I know is that I don’t want this to become some huge thing. When you see Rene again you can tell her I’m not coming home.”

Meryl sighed and stirred her tea as Linden mulled over his by the counter.

“What did Omar say when he got home? Were you there?” I asked.

Meryl nodded. “Yes, I was there. He came in and his lip was bleeding. He said he was just making sure you were all right and he fell over some debris on his way back.”

What a slick liar. And no one would question him of course. Who suspects that a fellow friend would do something like that? Who would think it was my fist that caused the bleeding?

“I don’t know what to say to Rene. She was a little worried that you weren’t home this morning, but I was sure you would turn up at work,” Meryl said after a long pause.

“Sorry. I forgot about that.”

“No, don’t apologize, Lisa is perfectly capable.”

“You could tell her the truth,” Linden said. “She needs to know what kind of people she’s harboring in that house.”

I silently agreed, but I wasn’t about to offer to go share my story. “You can tell Rene whatever you want, but I’m not going back there.”

“Where are you staying? Here?” Meryl asked.

I glanced at Linden before I answered, but he spoke before me. “Yeah, she’s staying here.”

I smiled slightly to myself. “You can tell Rene that, too. But she can’t make me leave.”

“Don’t worry, I’m with you on this,” Meryl said. “And I’ll do my best to talk to her. I’ll keep in touch with you, but in the meantime you take it easy; don’t be hard on yourself.”

I smiled meekly. “Thanks, I’ll try.”

She gave my shoulder a squeeze and stood, thanking Linden for being honest. As soon as she left, I swirled my tea around and contemplated how to phrase my next question.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here?”

“Okay?” he repeated in disbelief. “I’d be crushed if you tried to leave.” He grasped his chest dramatically and sat with me at the table, staring out the window at his approaching storm. “I hope you don’t mind it raining today. I could always drown out Omar for you.”

I laughed, using my will to stir the tea. “No, it’s okay. You don’t have to flood anyone.”

“Well damn. I was kind of looking forward to it.”

The way he said it made me think he wasn’t joking at all.

NAME

Linden and I waited until late that evening to go back to my house. I absolutely didn’t want to, but Linden insisted I needed to get some of my own things.

“You’re going to get tired of walking around in my stuff, I know it,” he said as we walked. I didn’t particularly mind, but I did need to get a few things in order to survive.

It was past two in the morning and the entire house was dark. My heart was pounding in my chest and Linden held my hand tightly as we approached.

“Are you going to wait down here?” I breathed, hardly whispering when we stood at the lattice.

Linden shook his head and pointed up. I guess he was coming with me.

I started up first, thankful the lattice was wet so it barely squeaked. On the roof, I waited for Linden as he easily climbed up. We took cautious steps, and I tried to avoid all the spots that made the most noise. At my window, I tried to peer inside to see if it was locked. When I lifted it, it gave way easily, which meant no one had been in my room since I left.

I climbed in silently and waited for Linden. I turned on the bedside lamp, then hurried to my door to shove some of the dirty clothes against the crack at the bottom. That way if anyone was awake they were less likely to notice me.

“This is a nice place,” Linden commented as he looked around.

“It’s messy,” I replied, searching for a backpack in my closet. I finally found one and made sure it was empty before stuffing clothes into it. Linden just sat on my bed, waiting as I tried to get everything I needed as quickly as possible.

“Crap, I need my toothbrush,” I said when I thought I had everything. “I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry,” Linden whispered before I left. I could tell he was just as nervous—if not more than me—about being here.

The hallway was pitch black and I felt my way to the bathroom. Blindly, I grabbed my toothbrush from the usual spot on the sink. I disregarded anything else and hurried back to my room.

Linden was looking through my books on the floor when I came back. He looked panicked for a second, but then relaxed. “Ready?”

“Yeah I think so,” I said, putting the toothbrush in my bag. I gave my room the glance-over before deciding we could leave. But we both froze when the doorknob turned.

Alysana stood in the doorway looking wide awake and shocked. She stared from me to Linden over and over again before stepping into the room. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, trying to stay as far from Linden as possible.

“Are you leaving?” she asked, keeping her eyes on me.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I have to.”

She looked at Linden hesitantly, then took a step forward. “Meryl came back this morning to talk to Rene. Rene didn’t want to tell anyone, but I hid so I could listen.” I waited for her to go on as she paused. “Did Omar—Meryl wasn’t lying?”

“Why would she lie about that?” I asked bitterly, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

Alysana shrugged. “I kind of hoped she was stretching the truth.”

“Well either way is bad, isn’t it?” I said, my voice rising.

Linden put a hand against my side. “Careful.”

I reigned back and continued whispering fiercely. “I can’t stay here, not now. So I’d appreciate it if you put yourself in my place for a second and try to realize what it would be like coming home.”

I turned, about to go to the window, but she rushed forward. “Hang on.” She was my only ally at this house, so I stopped. “Are you staying with . . . him?”

Her eyes briefly flicked to Linden as he stood beside me.

“Yes,” I replied.

“I’m Linden, by the way,” he said, sticking his hand out. He just watched Alysana evenly, looking prepared to be ignored or acknowledged. Surprisingly, Aly slowly put her hand in his, shaking it for a second.

“Alysana,” she whispered.

Some of the thick tension seemed to dissipate then, and I relaxed a little. “We should go . . . but I’ll probably see you soon. I think Rene knows where I am, too.”

“Maybe. I won’t say if she doesn’t though,” Aly replied. I smiled graciously and hugged her quickly before turning to the window. I shut off the light and crawled out, watching her exit my room and close the door again.

“She seems nice now that she doesn’t hate me so much,” Linden commented when we were totally clear of the house.

“She is nice, I think you just scare her,” I replied.

“Do I look that imposing?”

“Mm, maybe a little, but I think it’s mostly about being an Elemental.”

He sighed. “Yeah it all comes down to that these days.”

I chose to ignore this off-putting comment as we walked the rest of the way back. There was enough negativity everywhere, why emphasize it?

When we walked back into the house, I was definitely starting to feel exhaustion take over. I went straight up the stairs to the bedroom, dropping my bag near the bed. Flopping on top of the mattress, I waited for Linden to finish guzzling his customary two glasses of water before bed. While he was taking a while, I pulled out my pajamas from my backpack and hurriedly started to change. I got on my cutoff shorts and had just taken off my shirt when I heard Linden in the hall. I quickly turned my back to the door, holding my shirt against my chest.

“Wait a second,” I said before he stepped in.

“Oh—sorry.” He turned around and waited as I pulled the thing on as fast as I could.

“Okay, you’re safe.”

He turned back and sauntered in, toeing off his shoes before lying on the bed. “I need to start sleeping more.”

“Sorry I kept you up,” I said, going towards the door to turn off the light. “I just didn’t want to chance being caught.”

“And luckily we sort of did,” he replied, “but like you said, I think Alysana’s trustworthy.”

In the dark, I made my way back to the bed, almost tripping over some of the things on the floor. I landed heavily on the mattress, immediately scooped up beside him. He turned onto his back, smoothly pulling me on top of him. For I second I thought I might be too heavy, but his breathing remained unchanged.