Free The Golden Bell by Autumn Dawn Page B

I’m a
US citizen. I’m here under protest.”
    He watched her. “You’ve been very quiet about
your protests.”
    “Who’s listening to me? I said it to the
council and my stance hasn’t changed.”
    “You enjoyed the market and seemed to like
your new garden.”
    Rain shrugged. “I learned a long time ago to
make the most of the moment. Yeah, they were cool. I enjoyed parts
of Ireland, too, but I wouldn’t want to live there
permanently.”
    “What would change your mind?”
    She looked away, toward the glass patio
doors, and blinked. There were three moons in the sky. “Whoa!”
Unable to resist, she crossed the room and stepped outside, his
question forgotten.
    Moonlight bathed Fallon’s private garden,
making it almost twilight. Why did they call this place the Dark
Lands?
    Fallon followed her out, lounging against a
tree trunk. “Pretty?”
    “Beautiful,” she agreed, soaking it in.
    “You didn’t answer my question.”
    She sighed. “What would make me stay here? I
don’t know. Whatever it is, I haven’t seen it yet.”
    His eyes glinted in the moonlight. “Haven’t
you?”
    She considered a moment, then answered
honestly. “You haven’t shown me yourself yet. I don’t really know
you. Maybe you really do want a wife, but you’re blowing smoke.
Whatever you are, it’s not what you pretend to be. You’re different
since we came here, but I remember what you looked like when you
shot Rory.”
    He looked down with a slight smile. “They
said you were a genius.” When he looked back up, his eyes were
smoky, with flashes of hot embers. “So you want to see the real me,
do you?”
    “No.” She had a feeling that it wasn’t
pretty. No one who did the things he had to would be all sweetness
and light. “You want to know what I want? A boring, suburban
existence. I want to fight with the cable repairman, go grocery
shopping early to avoid traffic, pay a mortgage. I’ve lived a life
of adventure, and you know what? It’s not all it’s cracked up to
be. I want to sleep in the same bed every night with sheets that
I’ve washed and not have to worry about bedding down in an alley
where a drunk might stumble in to harass me. I don’t want to have
to kill anyone else.” She looked away. “I’m tired of them trying to
kill me.”
    “I can guarantee the man who wants to hurt
you is going to find it hard,” Fallon said firmly. “I’m trying to
give you what privacy I can, but the security around you is very
real, Rain. I’m watching out for you.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Why would you feel the
need? After all, without the Cult here, I’m just another penniless
immigrant.” She watched him picking his words, wondering what he
suspected, what he knew.
    “Perhaps I should be questioning you. You
never did give me any details about your father’s murder, other
than that Haunt were involved. There aren’t that many of us who
could have participated. The Earth population is down to hundreds.
I know the police investigated the murder and your disappearance.
I’ve seen the reports, but by the time we found out and sent our
own people to check into it, the scent traces were faint. I can’t
guarantee that some of those Haunt haven’t since crossed over. The
council knows this and wouldn’t have turned you loose here without
a protector.”
    “So you’re just being cautious?”
    He scanned the moons for a moment. “You know,
what happened to your father was overkill. He wasn’t a warrior.
One, maybe two Haunt could have taken him out, but estimates are
that there were at least four or five.” He considered her. “It
seems like they were looking for something. What could that be,
Rain?”
    She rubbed her right bicep. “Maybe it died
with him. What little I saw as I was getting away…” she trailed
off. The memories were stark.
    Fallon looked more thoughtful that pitying.
“Do you know what I think, Rain? I think you do know what they
wanted, and you took it with you. I also think