Free Earthbound: An Otherworld Novella by Yasmine Galenorn Page A

he was courteous to her, but all three of us knew that his love for Menolly had died the same day she had.
    “Our father is a soldier. He loved our mother more than anything. Her death hit him hard. He withdrew, leaving me to take care of my sisters. I think over here it would be called emotional neglect. He tries to ignore the fact that Menolly was turned. He’s written her off.”
    The words hurt, but they were true.
    Chase sat down on the top step. He motioned for me to sit beside him. “My own father was addicted to heroin. He vanished by the time I was five. My mother had to go on social welfare—a system that’s supposed to provide for people in need, but all too often falls far short. She couldn’t cope very well. I found work as soon as I was fourteen. I worked at a fast food joint during the afternoons and delivered newspapers in the morning, while going to school and keeping up straight A’s. Later, when I was old enough to drive, I added a third job in the evenings. I became a delivery driver for another fast food restaurant.”
    I looked at Chase. “I guess being a kid sucks no matter what world you’re from, doesn’t it? But to answer your original question: No, you don’t remind Menolly of Dredge. But you’re a man in a position of authority. All she’s ever received from men in power has been pain and neglect. When Dredge turned her, she lost her fiancé and her hope for her future. She lost the love of her father and bears constant reminders on her skin of that night. What can I say? Menolly doesn’t have a chip on her shoulder, she is the chip on her shoulder.”
    “I guess that sort of thing would be hard to recover from. I can’t imagine what she went through. Please tell me that you found the vampire who did this to her? That you were able to stake him?”
    I shook my head. “I wish, but no. He’s still out there, somewhere. If the YIA could find him, they would execute him. But Dredge has walked the world for thousands of years. The chances of finding him are slim.”
    With a sigh, Chase pulled himself to his feet. “On that note, I’ll be off. Thank you for telling me about her past. It gives me a better idea of how to relate to her. She does make me nervous, but now I understand some of her reasoning.”
    As he left, I slowly scanned the yard, searching to see if anything was out there. But all I could sense were the rustling of trees with their long roots diving into the earth, and the hush of animals creeping through the undergrowth. After a moment, I returned to the kitchen, locking the door behind me.

Chapter 7
     
    The Indigo Crescent was gleaming by the time the taxi dropped me off the next morning. As I entered my shop, the smell of lemon and lilac filled the air, and Iris came bustling out from the back, a white and blue apron over her denim skirt and tank top. She was carrying a broom, and her golden locks were wrapped up in a braid that coiled around her head.
    “How long is your hair?” It looked like she had masses of it.
    “It reaches my ankles.” She flashed me a sparkling smile and my mood lifted. Iris had a way of making people feel happy when they were around her.
    I shrugged out of my jacket and she held out her hand for it. “Have you ever cut it?”
    A cloud washed across her face, then she shook it away. “Only once, and I never will again.”
    It felt like there was a story there, but I decided it wasn’t my place to ask. Not if it made her look so glum. “So what’s on the agenda today?”
    “Well, I pulled together a seating area over there, for customers,” she said. “And I thought we’d start out with me teaching you how to run the cash register, which will take about ten minutes. At ten, we open for business, and while we wait for customers, we can set up a ledger system. Sound good to you?”
    I nodded, my mind still back on the creature we’d fought the night before. “Is there any coffee?” Ever since the first taste of the mocha the