Free Black Aura by Jaycee Clark

that before, Lys.”
    Last night…
    The fog, the red, the feeling of pure unadulterated evil…
    She shivered and shook her head. “N-nothing.”
    “Bullshit.”
    “Nothing.” She couldn’t talk about this. “Really. I need to go.”
    His hand on her arm was warm, but he didn’t let her go. “You really need to tell me, I don’t like thinking something is scaring you that badly.” He waited until she met his gaze. “Or someone. Who scared you, Alyssa? And if you don’t tell me,” he said, pointing to the window, “I’m going to mention it to him. He loves you and wants to know you’re safe and okay.”
    Okay? What the hell did that mean? She jerked her arm away. “Just what is it with men?”
    She whirled and saw that Lake had likewise jerked her hand from under Max’s and stood talking, just as pissed off as her dad had been earlier.
    Alyssa had no idea what they were saying, but she knew whom they were speaking of. Lake gave him one parting shot and then slammed into the coffee shop, making her way to the back. She paused, her heels no longer beating a staccato on the floor.
    “Lake?” Alyssa asked, wondering if the woman would still talk to her.
    “You want to meet with me?”
    “Lake,” her father warned from just behind them.
    “Yes,” Alyssa answered without glancing at him.
    “Meet me upstairs in ten minutes. I need to cool off.” Lake turned and pointed a finger at Alyssa’s father. “You should have more faith in her and want her to get as much help as she can. She’s going to need it.”
    Lake slid between Alyssa and Mark and slammed out the back door located beside the stairs that led up to her apartment.
    “Way to go, Dad,” Alyssa muttered. Then she poked her own finger at Mark. “And don’t give me ultimatums. I don’t like them. You want to tell him you saw me freak out on the sidewalk. Be my guest. I don’t care.”
    She followed Lake’s lead and slammed the back door to sit on the bottom steps that led to the apartment upstairs. The small back courtyard was quiet this morning and empty, thank God. Ten minutes until she could ask Lake how she knew all this stuff.
    She glanced into the shop to see her father and Mark talking to each other.
    Idiots.
    What was with men anyway? Maybe that would be the first question she’d ask Lake. Men could be such jerks! Her dad, Thad! Even Mark. Did they really just think women were there for their convenience, to listen to them give orders? Puh-leeze.
     
    Max raked a hand through his hair. “What the hell did my daughter just mean by that?”
    Mark looked at the door as if trying to decide the best route of escape.
    Fat chance.
    “Um. Well.”
    “Answer me. You and my daughter are friends but she’s been through enough this last year. I won’t allow anyone to hurt her.”
    At that, the young man leveled those clear blue eyes on him. “I won’t either.”
    They glared at each other for a minute until Max again raked a hand through his hair, felt the muscle tick in his cheek.
    “Women can be such a pain in the ass.” He took three steps towards the front door, then turned back. “Can I get a coffee to freaking go?”
    Mark bit his lip as if trying not to smile. “Yep. How about a large cup of African roast sure to zing you straight into a caffeine high?”
    “Fine, but tell me, what did she mean?” Max, a bit calmer, leaned on the counter.
    The kid—and he was a kid as far as Max was concerned—took a deep breath. “She was supposed to come over here last night. I saw her leave the house, watched her walk across the street then she turned and went down south. I waited a bit and then wondered where she went. But she didn’t show and I started to get worried so I begged Nina to wait another ten minutes before ending her shift and went to look for Alyssa. She must have walked back up past the shop at some point. I finally saw her huffing and panting outside the coffee shop after she’d run from the opposite direction.”