Page 68 of Awry
And grimaces, shoulders slumping.
Fuck.
I leavethe house through the mudroom, adjacent to the laundry just off the kitchen, stepping down the three wooden steps of the back patio onto the lit stone path.Neatly carved through the winter-dead grass, that path leads me forward a few steps before branching off in two directions.I take the right fork, toward the beach house.
It’s still raining.It’s chilly now that the sun has set behind a thick layer of cloud.
Rath is still waiting for me on the front porch of the grayed-cedar-sided beach house, his phone in his hand but not currently texting.I swear I could feel him watching me even as I moved through the main house, and he’s certainly tracking my every step now.It’s a disconcerting but not wholly uncomfortable feeling.
And yeah, for someone seriously allergic to drawing too much attention — attention that is in actual fact occasionally very bad for my physical and mental health — I get that my calm reaction to the shifter’s intense regard, my willingness to allow him to explore the property, and even to follow the nonverbal cue he gave me to join him at the beach house is … out of character.
Way, way out of character.
The path curves for a bit, then branches a second time, leading farther right to the beach or cutting directly toward the beach house.
I get two steps onto the beach house path, look over at Rath, and feel … something.Not aknowing… not a warning … not a wrongness, but something is off.I stop walking, just staring at him.
He glowers at me, more upset than angry, though I really shouldn’t be able to read him that well.I haven’t even taken a glimpse at his threads.As if doing so would be too … intimate?
Which is a weird reaction.Honestly, I’m not overly … moral in how I use my sight, my powers.So why?What is this feeling?
I try to take another step forward.I manage it, but it feels like walking through … nothing.Emptiness.Which makes no sense, because simply walking doesn’t generally come with a huge amount of sensation.Right?
I eye the path between Rath and me.He’s up on the porch but still directly across from me.
I step to the side easily.Just a normal step, with none of that weird empty feeling.But when I step forward, that nothingness returns.
“Zaya,” Rath grumbles, crossing his arms.
He talks to me as if he knows me.All edged with intent, yes.But also with a kind of low-key chiding that only someone who knows you well uses when …
I shake off the thought.
I don’t know him.
I take another step to the side.I’m well onto the grass now and no longer lined up in a direct route to Rath on the steps.
I start forward again, without any weirdness dogging me this time.
What the fuck is going on?
I really don’t have the headspace to sort it out right now, but why the fuck would moving along a path directly toward Rath be any sort of issue?
I make it to the steps, mounting them on the opposite side of where Rath is standing.He doesn’t move back or give me space.I don’t remember him being quite so massive last night — ridiculously broad shoulders and chest, tapering down into long legs.But then, I don’t remember much of last night in the first place.
The Asian cast to his features is a subtle, intriguing flavoring.He’s easily one of the tallest people I’ve ever seen in person.Heat radiates off him, but that might just be because I’m still seriously cold, still mostly soaked through from standing for who knows how long in the rain.
“Problem with the path?”he grumbles.
I step around him without answering, because I don’t answer to him.Dealing with dominant shifters isn’t usually a problem for me, but apparently Rath’s ego outweighs any instinctual disconcertion that is the usual response to my awry nature.But also, I don’t actually know what the hell just went on with the empty path.
The empty space between Rath and me.
He huffs at my dismissal, muttering under his breath, “Typical.”
I cross to the wide-open front door of the beach house.Inside, the front room is brightly lit, backed by a small U-shaped kitchen.Rustic wood furniture, worn hardwood flooring.A scattering of rugs throughout.
It’s been redecorated since I last set foot within.As far as I remember.
