Silent Orchids (The Age of Alandria: Book One) (12 page)

Noticing Kaeleigh as she came walking around the corner headed for her shift at the restaurant, he felt drawn and compelled to watch her. He watched as she ran across the street just as a car sped around the corner. Instinctively, he jumped up and away from where he was leaning against his Bronco. To what? To stop the car? To run over and save her? Not sure what to do, he stopped to quickly assess the situation. His heart was racing. Thankfully, the car missed her and kept driving as she kept walking toward the restaurant. Shocked at his own reaction, he took a step back, trying to gauge his own body’s betrayal to years of training. 

As if sensing he was there, Kaeleigh looked up sharply over to where he was. Stopping in place, she tilted her head a bit and scowled at him, as though she were trying to solve a puzzle. Daegan stood still, watching, waiting for her to make her next move. 

The next thing he knew, Kaeleigh was marching up the hill of the parking lot and straight toward him. Daegan stood there with his arms casually folded over his chest, waiting for her to come all the way up to the tree.
Stupid move, girl. You don’t even know who I am or what I could do to you.
When she reached him she stood there with her hands on her hips and an expectant expression on her face. They stood there staring at each other, daring the other to speak first, for what seemed like several minutes.
Stubborn. Fine!
Just as he was going to say something she interrupted his thoughts.

“You came to Antonia’s last night, said something weird, then took off. Who are you and what do you want?” she said with a slight tremor in voice.

So maybe not as confident as you appear. Good girl. You should be afraid.

He stared at her. He saw a sorrow behind her eyes and he felt challenged.
What can I say to this girl to convince her of who she is and to come with me?
 

Lowering his voice, he said, “Where I come from, you are very important.” He paused, looking for the right words. “I’ve been sent here to find you.”

“What? I have no idea what you are talking about. You must have the wrong person. You may be gorgeous, but you are strange and you’re making no sense.” She mumbled that last part more to herself. Taking a breath, she looked him straight in the eyes. “My friends told me to stay away from you,” she said as she started to back away toward the restaurant. “I should have listened. I have to get to work now.” Eyes still on his, she continued to back away.

He wasn’t trying to scare her, but it was obvious this could not be any more awkward. “Not sure I’ve ever been called gorgeous before,” he forced out, trying to lighten the moment. “At least not by a human,” he said. Then he closed his eyes in frustration at what just came out of his mouth. 

“Ooookay, I gotta go,” Kaeleigh said, quickly turning and speed-walking into Antonia’s.

✾✾✾

After some time had passed and Daegan had watched a number of people going in and coming out of the restaurant, he walked in and requested one of Kaeleigh’s tables.

Not only was she surprised and a bit annoyed that he was there, but something in her fluttered at the sight of him. But that, of course, was unacceptable.

“What are you doing in here?” she snapped with a whisper, making sure no one was paying attention to her confrontation.

He spoke, this time more direct, looking intensely at her. “I’m not here to frighten you. There are things I have to show you. We must be able to—”

“You have to leave now!” she interrupted. “I am not spending any time with you. I am not going anywhere with you. I will put your mind at ease right now. I am NOT the one you are looking for. This table is for paying customers. Now leave before the manager comes over and you get me in trouble.” With a finger pointed in his face, Kaeleigh shout-whispered at him.

Daegan, unaffected by her outrage, noticed something blue on the underside of her right wrist as she was pointing in his face. It was mostly covered by a wide strappy piece of material trying to look like an accessory of some kind, probably a bracelet. Grabbing her wrist, none too gently, he turned it over in the blink of an eye. He pushed up her bracelet to get a better look at what appeared to be a tattoo, but he knew all too well what the strange bluish-green marking most likely was. 

“Hey!” she shouted as she whipped her wrist around and tried to jerk her hand back without success. He was strong, really strong. Her heart rate accelerated with panic at being touched, especially by a stranger. “Let me go!” If she had really felt threatened to the point of not caring about making a scene she believed she could have maneuvered out of his grasp, thanks to the self-defense lessons Chel’s dad, Ray, had taught them.

“Stop struggling,” he whispered through clenched teeth. “I am not going to hurt you.” Very seriously, as Daegan stared into her eyes willing her to calm down, he asked, “What is this mark? When did you get it?”

Kaeleigh’s eyes widened with not only fear, but with shock at his confrontation. She hadn’t even shown her friends, especially Chel, her newly acquired mark. Feeling his grip loosen, she took advantage and calmly removed her arm from his grasp to recover her wrist. Actually, she assumed he released her arm just as her manager stepped up behind her. “Is there a problem here, Kaeleigh?” he asked, staring fiercely at Daegan.

“Uh... um, no sir, I believe this customer was just leaving,” she replied, looking sternly at Daegan, but with pleading eyes.  

Daegan stood to leave. He looked at Kaeleigh, then at the manager, nodded his agreement, and left Antonia’s with more questions than he had when he arrived.

Chapter Thirteen

The manager studied Kaeleigh for a minute and then asked, “Are you all right? Who was that? An ex-boyfriend?”

“Yes, I’m all right, thank you, and no, I don’t even know who he is except that he has tried to talk to me a couple times before.”

“Well, take a break and call a friend to pick you up so you don’t have to walk home alone after your shift.”

“Thanks,” she replied, shaking off the weirdness of what just happened as she went to call Finn. 

✾✾✾

Finn worked the day shift at the stockyards about twenty minutes from where he lived, so he rode the local trolley until it turned in the opposite direction he was headed, jumped off, and walked the rest of the way. Finn wasn’t a big guy naturally. He was fit, but more lithe than bulky. However, working at the train yard had added a little defined bulk to his muscles. Finn liked the mind-numbing manual labor of his job; it kept him physically engaged and in shape.

He hadn’t been at work long when his cell phone rang. It was Kaeleigh. He always knew when it was her even before she called; plus, there was the stupid ringtone playing the
StarTrek
theme song she had programmed into his phone when he first got it.

“What’s wrong?” Finn answered bluntly.

“Why would you assume something is wrong because I called you?”

“I assume that every time you call. Now did you just call to chat while we are both at work then?” he replied sarcastically. Kaeleigh just sighed, both hating and loving when he was overprotective. It irritated her even more, though, when he was not only sarcastic, but right. “No? So what’s wrong?”

“That guy I told you about came back to the restaurant today, but don’t worry, the manager made sure that he left,” she rushed out. “I was just calling to see if you would walk home with me after work.”

“Are you all right? What did he want? Who was he?” Finn started interrogating.

“Calm down. I’m fine. I gotta go, I’ll give you details on the way home. You’ll walk with me, won’t you?”

“Of course I’ll be there. And we
will
talk then,” Finn said, grumbling with impatience.

He had feared this day might come. It must have had something to do with her eighteenth birthday. Coming of age. Finn had been warned that they would come looking for her. He swore he would protect her to the best of his abilities and he damn well planned on doing just that even if it cost him his life. She deserved no less and he deserved no more than death, but to lose his life protecting her would be his redemption. 

But who had come? What did they want with her? To take her back, no doubt, but why didn’t he just take her?
Finn thought not for the first time.

Finn worked distractedly for the rest of the day until it was time for Kaeleigh to get off work. He wasn’t supposed to be off for another couple hours but he left anyway. He had to make sure he was there before she got off; otherwise, he knew she would just leave on her own. Stubborn girl! She didn’t like to ask for help, so the fact that she had made him feel all the more protective of her. For causing her to fear, that guy would be sorry.

✾✾✾

Relieved to be off work, Kaeleigh rolled her shoulders and her neck, taking in a deep breath then letting it out nice and slow. She was grateful there were no other incidents, although she could have sworn there were some odd customers watching her very... closely. She took off her apron, grabbed her bag, and headed for the side door, hoping Finn would be waiting for her.

Leaning up against the building, his scowl in place, arms crossed, standing with one leg propped behind him, he was a sight of fierce intimidation. His watchful eyes scanned the nearby area for anything suspicious. She had thought, not for the first time, he would be ideal for a good James Dean remake. She was glad to be on his good side. He pushed off the building, coming up beside her.  

“You okay? No other problems?” Gripping her shoulders gently, causing her to face him head on, he searched her eyes to ensure her truth.

“Yes, I’m good and no, there were no other problems,” Kaeleigh replied with an exaggerated eye roll. “Thanks for walking me home,” she added seriously. He nodded.

“I called in some backup too,” he said as he looked behind her. Chel jumped up beside her from the shadows with a big smile and a hug.

“So the hottie’s a stalker, huh?” she said as she looped her arm through Kaeleigh’s. It was an endearing gesture that made Kaeleigh smile. Her friends cared about her.

Kaeleigh grabbed Finn’s arm and held onto him just above the elbow. She told them of both her encounters with her nameless stalker as they walked home. For some reason, what she didn’t tell them was the part about the mark on her wrist that he had discovered. She would definitely tell them, but she wanted to have a better idea what it was first so they didn’t think she was... what, crazy?
Too late.
She chuckled to herself. Her stalker seemed to recognize it, though, so maybe she could find some picture of it online—or maybe he was the crazy one. But his reaction didn’t fit with someone that might just be crazy. He was... intense.

When they got to the apartment, Finn and Chel walked her in and did a once-over in the apartment just to make sure she felt safe. 

“We can stay the night if you want us to,” Chel offered.

“No, really you guys, I’m fine. Thank you for walking me home and checking everything out though.”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Finn said under his breath as though talking to himself. “Why the weird questions? Why not take you? Of course I wouldn’t let that happen, but something seems off. Unless...
they
don’t know.”

Chel and Kaeleigh looked at each other then back at Finn, totally confused. “What are you talking about?” Kaeleigh asked, no longer concerned that she might be the one who sounded crazy.

“Never mind,” he huffed out. “You sure you’re okay? I gotta go check something out.” He pecked Kaeleigh on the cheek and headed out the door.

Kaeleigh and Chel looked at each other again, and then Kaeleigh said, “Okay, I’m actually a little more weirded out by Finn than the freak stalking me.” 

“I know, right?” Chel nodded, putting her hands on her hips and looking out the window. She paused, did a slow look once again around the apartment, and even stuck her nose in the air like she was smelling something.

Well, that was odd.
What the heck was going on with her friends?

“All right, you’re being a little strange too,” Kaeleigh said out loud. “What are you doing? Do you smell something? You guys are kinda starting to freak me out.” Kaeleigh looked over the apartment too but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Chel stopped what she was doing and sheepishly looked back at Kaeleigh and shrugged her shoulders. “I thought maybe I smelled something, but now I can’t tell what it was.” 

Kaeleigh frowned. She knew Chel had always had a keen sense of smell, but she’d never really made a show of it, until now.

Before she could say anything about it, Chel perked up as though nothing had happened, saying, “Okay, I’m gonna go too. I need to visit my parents for a bit tonight. Call me if you need anything and let’s talk in the morning.” She grabbed her bag off the couch and headed for the door.

“Thanks, good night. Tell your parents I said hello. I miss them,” Kaeleigh said as she waved then shut the door to lock it, leaning her forehead against the cool door as she did. Heading into her little kitchen to get something to drink, Kaeleigh opened the fridge. Unfortunately, there was not much in there and definitely not anything she wanted right now. With a disappointed sigh, she got plain boring water from the sink, deciding to drink it while watching a show before bed.

As Kaeleigh walked out of the kitchen she looked up, and with a sharp intake of breath, dropped her glass of water. In a panic she started to run to the front door when she remembered she actually knew some fighting moves. Chel’s dad had told her, “Brace your feet. Stare your opponent down, they are in your territory. Don’t let them chase you and don’t let them see your fear.”
Oops, too late for that one.
Kaeleigh quickly did an about-face in order to face her stalker, who was now sitting, very casually, she noticed, on her couch. She was suddenly angry that he dared to violate her space, her safe home, her territory.