Shadows of Stars |Wielder Chronicles Book I|

(3) Whisper in the Wind

She spun on her heel and went back to her canopy, exchanging her blanket for her brown hooded jacket and her scuffed up satchel. It was about time she visited Bea.

Adira took the stairwell to Bea's room on the sixth floor, her palms growing sweaty as she neared her door. Since she had turned eighteen over the summer, maybe Bea wouldn't let her stay there for the winter anymore. She had taken in Adira every winter since she could remember, but she wasn't underage anymore—she would have to pay for her rent.

Adira knocked on her door and Bea opened it, putting her hand on her hip.

"You couldn't come by more often?" Bea asked, her honey brown eyes throwing daggers at Adira's emerald ones, demanding answers. "You're ten floors above us, not in the mainland."

"I'm sorry," Adira said, dropping her gaze to Bea's impatient, tapping slipper. "I just...escape out there."

Bea threw her head back and laughed, her dark, silver-streaked curls bouncing behind her. "Where are you escaping to? Orica? The Crystal City?" She pushed open her door, motioning for Adira to go inside. "Let's go discuss our escape plan, shall we?"

"Seriously, Bea," Adira said, brushing her off. "It's peaceful up there." She walked past Bea, hearing her close the door behind her.

Her apartment's earthy tones and simple furniture always made Adira feel like she was at home even though she had never had one of her own. She could smell the candles that Bea had lit in the kitchen along with the remnants of bacon. If she ever had a home one day, she would want it to smell like Bea's.

Everything was exactly how she had seen it six months ago. Bea's grandson, Quinn, had not learned how to clean up his messes during her time away. His toys and drawings were scattered across the living room.

Then Adira stopped. Something was different. To her right, a suitcase sat next to the first door down the hallway.

No. Bea didn't.

"Bea?" Adira spun around, her voice quiet. She prayed that she was wrong. "Did you sell the room?"

Bea nodded, the humor from earlier leaving her face. "I had to."

Adira turned her head away, walking to the window across the living room. "You know I have no where to go."

"You can't blame me. Quinn's mama isn't coming back." Adira could hear Bea's voice right behind her as delicate fingers grazed her shoulder. "I need something to help me raise the boy. I can barely afford to feed the two of us, much less another belly."

Adira understood. She really did, but it did not help make the situation any easier. It did not make it hurt any less. She could not be on the streets. The authorities had been cracking down on the homeless lately. She wouldn't last a day. They would sniff her out before she could warm her hands next to a fire in an alley.

"What if I can pay?" Adira hoped. "What if I can match whatever they're paying you?" She turned to look at Bea who gazed back for a moment in contemplation before speaking.

"Six hundred credits for six months. If you can do it, the room is yours."

Adira wasn't about to turn that down whether she could do it or not. She would find a way. She knew someone who might pay her enough for a job, depending on its importance.

"Deal."

☆ ☆

Adira arrived at Josiah's pawnshop after a forty minute walk. She walked into his store, pulling her brown hood away from her face. She shoved her hands into her pockets as she made her way around all the junk and to the back counter.