1
FENELLA
Fenella stretched an arm across the empty space beside her, and the lazy smile she'd woken up with wilted into a frown.
Din's absence felt surprisingly wrong.
Exhausted after her shift, she'd opted to return to Shira's place alone and just collapse into bed after a quick shower, but now she regretted that decision. She missed having Din's arm draped across her waist, his breath warm against her neck, and hearing the soft murmurs he made while dreaming.
A week ago, she would have scoffed at anyone even suggesting that she could get used to a male's presence in her life so quickly.
Somehow, Din had gotten under her skin, and it hadn't been just because of his impromptu declaration of love on the way home last night. It was about him rolling up his sleeves and helping clean up after closing so she could finish things earlier, it was the stroll down the row of displayed artifacts in the pavilion and the fascinating stories he'd told her, and it was a hundred and onelittle things she couldn't think of right now that had felt so right when they'd happened.
I'm in love with you, Fenella.
The words reverberated in her head, exhilarating, terrifying. She wanted to be loved, but at the same time, she didn't want to be tied down by the bonds it implied.
It wasn't that she was afraid of commitment or that she wanted the freedom to pursue other men. It was much more fundamental than that.
She was scared of losing Din.
It wasn't about him walking away and leaving her or anything else as mundane as that. She might have harbored those kinds of fears when she was young and naive and hadn't witnessed the random cruelty of the world. Now she was afraid of losing him permanently to an act of terror or even a fatal accident, and that wasn't theoretical given the landing gear malfunction during his flight from Edinburgh to New York.
A miracle had saved him and the other passengers. According to the news commentator, water landings rarely ended well.
With a sigh, Fenella reached for her phone on the nightstand, squinting at the screen. Noon already?
The birthday celebration for Kian and his daughter was starting in two hours, which didn't leave much time to prepare.
When a text notification from Din caught her eye, she rushed to open the messaging application.
Good morning, my love. Call me when you wake up? I'll come to pick you up for the party.
My love.
The endearment still tasted new. It wasn't the same as, 'how are you, love?' Or 'what can I get you, love?'My lovesounded different, and it sent a surge of warmth through her, followed immediately by a flutter of fear.
Fenella pushed herself upright, her sore muscles protesting, but not as badly as she'd expected them to. Immortality had many perks, chief among them being rapid recovery. Once she had a cup or two of coffee in her, she would be as good as new.
Padding barefoot into the kitchen, she expected to find Shira there, or at least a half-full coffee carafe and the lingering scents of breakfast, but the kitchen was empty and smelled faintly of cleaning solution.
A twinge of concern flickered through her.
"Shira?" Fenella called out as she walked toward her roommate's door.
Finding it closed, she knocked gently, then with more force when no answer came. "Shira? Are you in there?"
Given how well the houses in the village were soundproofed, Shira might not have heard her. Fenella hesitated only for a split second before pushing the door slightly open.
The bedroom was empty, the bed neatly made as if it hadn't been slept in.
A spike of anxiety followed.
Yesterday, Shira had promised to come to the bar provided that nothing materialized from the hookup she'd been planning, butsince she hadn't shown up, perhaps she'd decided to spend the night with the guy.
It shouldn't be a cause for worry.
After all, she was an immortal, stronger and faster than any human female and many human males and possessing the ability to thrall. She was in no danger from some human dude, even if he was up to no good.
