Free A Dark Night (Book One of The Grandor Descendant series) by Bell Stoires Page A

dropped the change all over the register and coins spilled onto the floor. Ari watched as the girl raced around to the front of the counter and bent down low and seductively, so as to pick up the fallen change.
     
    It had taken another five minutes for them to leave, with the girl finding any excuse to keep Ragon in the store, even offering to bandage the bite for them. Her eyes had raked Ragon’s body shamelessly after this, perhaps hoping that he would be required to remove his clothing in order for her to help.
    “It’s for our daughter,” Ragon finally lied, tugging at the bag of goods the assistant clutched desperately in her hands.
    At this statement the girl stared at Ari, looking at her for the first time in unflattering disbelief. Finally she surrendered the bag, albeit somewhat unwillingly, and watched as the pair exited the store together.
    “I just have to drop this off,” said Ragon, indicating several brown envelopes that he had taken from his jacket pocket.
    Ari glanced at the letters in Ragon’s hand, only managing to read the name on the first one- ‘Sandra and Thomas’. She watched as Ragon moved over to the large red and white post office box and dropped the envelopes inside. Her curiosity was peaked and she wanted to ask who the letters were to, but fought the desire to be nosey.
    Instead she waited for him to return, letting her eyes be come mesmerised by the large moon that had risen in the sky, as tiny stars began to dot the blackness surrounding it.
     
    It was a few minutes into their journey home when they passed a small shabby block of units in Paddington and Ari tapped Ragon on the shoulder.
    “Do you think I could grab some things from my apartment?” she yelled to Ragon, indicating the building.
    Ragon paused for a moment but then swung the bike around, finally pulling into the cracked driveway that she had pointed to.
    As she got off the bike and made her way up the step flight of steps to her apartment, Ari stared up in confusion at the door, realising that she didn’t have a key to get inside.
    “Allow me,” said Ragon, throwing his weight hard against the door and forcing it open.
    “Guess I won’t be getting my security deposit back,” Ari muttered, though Ragon seemed not to hear her.
    Once in her apartment, Ari packed a large bag full of clothes as well as some personal possessions. The place was small, studio sized, and Ragon paced around it, occasionally glancing at some of her belongings.
    “You don’t have many… ” Ragon began to say, seeming to pause as he searched for the right word, “err, pictures.”
    Ari looked around. There were small bright pink and yellow post-it notes stuck onto an old computer monitor at her desk, as well as on the fridge and freezer doors, but no pictures to speak of.
    “ Pathology exam on Friday ,” Ragon read out loud, pulling one of the post-it notes off the cupboard. “ Re-read page 346 on OCD in horses .”
    Ragon’s eyebrows rose , but Ari reached over and grabbed the notes, placing them onto her desk as she said, “I don’t have any family to take pictures of.”
    “No friends?” asked Ragon.
    “Nope, just some girls that I study with occasionally,” she said shrugging.
    Though she hoped to portray indifference, it was hard for Ari to be so obviously callous abo ut the fact that she was an orphan and loner. The truth was that she had a hard time trusting people. Reaching underneath her bed, she dragged out a small wooden box. The box was not dusty as might have been expected, but pristine looking, as though it was cleaned regularly. With her back pack draped over her shoulder, Ari held onto the box protectively and cowered away when she felt Ragon reach for it, instead allowing him to gently lift the back pack off her shoulder so as to carry it for her.
     
    The pair was just walking down the stairs towards Ragon’s bike, when Ari heard the unmistakeable clicking sound of Ms Pettigrew’s high heels across the