Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

4 ∞ missing

"Hey." He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He continued around and picked up the tray, conscious of the girl following his every move with that gaze. He turned toward her. "How are you feeling?"

Her eyes fluttered. "Drained," she said eventually. "But... better, thank you."

"Great, I'm glad to hear that. You really had me worried there last night."

"I... recall not what happened." She met his gaze, a troubled crease between her brows. "How—"

"No, not now. Relax. Get some more rest. There's plenty of time to talk later," he added in a louder voice as the drizzle became a smattering crescendo on the roof.

The girl stared at him for a moment. Then to Danny's surprise, her gaze slipped and lowered until the eyes closed, her face relaxing into sleep.

Watch over her, Daniel.

He remembered the voice inside his head last night. It wasn't an order. It was an appeal. An appeal that managed to bury itself into his core, branding him overnight. He felt it with such intensity that for a moment it tightened his chest.

How was that possible? And where did that voice come from anyway? It could hardly be hers, speaking of herself in third person.

He drew a deep breath and left the room, pensive as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Placing the tray on the counter, he looked out the window, half expecting to see cats and dogs tumbling down. The view was gray and distorted with the downpour.

No rain, huh? A total contradiction to that 98 percent proof "sunny and fair for the next 36 to 48 hours" prediction of yesterday. He muttered to himself. The two percent was certainly making itself heard.

"Oh! 'Morning, Dan," Gina said as she passed him.

That's right. Not good at all. His head still felt tight, and the thunder in the air was not helping. "Oh, shoot!" He spun around. "I should be at work already!"

"It's okay. I wasn't expecting you up this early so I called the shop and told them you wouldn't be coming in today."

"You could've woken me!"

"Yeah, I know... I'm sorry. I just thought you'd need more sleep. Besides," Gina hesitated, "I didn't really want to be... alone, you know?" She pointed with her eyes at the ceiling.

"Oh." Still spooked by the girl last night? "Okay, I guess." Frowning, he looked out the window again. "What did you tell them?"

"Just that you were under the weather."

"Ha. Under the weather, huh?" He chuckled. "That's perfect. Our guest finished breakfast," he added, nodding toward the tray. He took the Skippy peanut butter from the cupboard and helped himself to six slices of bread.

"I noticed. I wasn't sure if it was too early, but I thought I'd leave a tray for her in case she woke up." Gina turned to the stove with a plate. "I figured she'd be hungry after all she's been through, whatever it was."

"Good thinking." He sat on the other side of the L counter so he could face his sister. "She only woke up for a moment when I checked on her."

Watch over her, Daniel. It returned as an echo in his mind. He frowned as he spread a thick layer of the creamy paste on a slice of bread.

Gina pushed a plate with tomato slices, two broken sunny-side-up fried eggs and bacon toward him and sat down. "That's a good sign. She's eating. She'll soon recover." She tilted her head as she watched Danny do another sandwich. "I didn't get her name."