Free Winter's Dream (The Hemlock Bay Series) by Amber Jaeger Page B

stop myself. Minnie had a dazed, sleepy grin on her face. The aunts quietly sipped their coffee but Martha burst away from the table as soon as her last bite was in her mouth and began gathering up dishes. “Let me help,” I said, shoving up from my chair.
    “No, no, you relax,” she said, dumping the dishes next to the sink.
    “Really,” I said, gathering up my dishes, “I don’t mind.”
    I deposited them next to sink as well and turned the faucet on, waiting for the water to get hot. I stared out the window into the dark night, splashing my fingers under the running water. Mercury lights hung off the sides of the barn and outbuildings and gave an eerie glow to the yard, illuminating snowflakes as they skittered along the ground, never really landing until they were blown into something. Each of the fence posts running the east side of the property had a small pile at the base. Something else flapped in the wind near the fence and I squinted to see it clearly.
    “Shit!” I cried, jerking away from the window.
    “What is it?” Hazel asked, getting up from her chair.
    “I, uh, I burned my fingers,” I lied, turning the lukewarm water back to cold.
    “Are you all right?” she asked, reaching for my hand.
    “Fine, fine,” I said, keeping it firmly under the stream of icy water. I prayed she wouldn’t notice it how badly it was shaking.
    “I’m sorry,” Martha said. “I should have told you the water can get pretty hot.”
    “It’s okay, it’s my fault, I wasn’t paying attention. Maybe I should uh, talk a short walk. Work off this full belly and wake up a little?” My heart was already beating like I had run ten miles after drinking a pot of coffee.
    Hazel gave me a knowing smile and a pat on the shoulder. “You take all the time you need, dearie. It’s a lot to process, I know.”
    I gave her a nervous smile, snatched a coat off one of the pegs and tried not to run out the door. It was freezing outside but the cold didn’t touch me. I kept my eyes locked on the point of fence I had seen him at and then kept walking, hoping he would follow me to a point past where anyone looking out the window could see us.
    In the shadow of an outbuilding, I looked around to make sure I couldn’t be seen then leaned over the fence.
    “What are you doing here?” I hissed.
    David emerged from the shadows, snowflakes dancing around him. It was the scarlet scarf wrapped over his face that I had seen waving in the wind. “And you might as well take that stupid thing off,” I added. “I know what your face looks like.”
    He stepped up to the fence and I was reminded again of just how big he was. A hand the size of my head reached up and pulled the scarf from his face. I blanched a little at how perfect and bright and alien it was. He didn’t say anything, just stared down at me.
    I wouldn’t let myself backup. “What are you doing here?” I repeated.
    “I wanted to check on you.”
    “Check on me? You hate me, remember?”
    “I never hated you,” he rumbled.
    “Well, you have a funny way of showing it,” I snapped. “First you scare me away from Jordan, then you get me locked up in juvie.” I narrowed my eyes. “And now I’m free again, thanks to some blank papers, but just as much a prisoner. Those women won’t let me see my grandma or go find my brother. They want me here to learn things and won’t let me leave until I do.”
    David cleared his throat. “It’s important you learn what they have to teach you.”
    I groaned. “Yes, I know, I get it—”
    “You don’t get it,” he rumbled. “There are dangers you aren’t even aware of, things you need to protect yourself against. Being a Gatekeeper puts you in a vulnerable position when it comes to my kind.”
    “Says the giant jinn stalking me,” I muttered under my breath.
    “You have to stay away from Jordan and you have to learn from the aunts.”
    I folded my hands under my arms, finally beginning to feel the cold. “No problem