Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade) by Stephanie Rowe Page A

was open, and she could see under her bed even from the front door. There wasn't a place that anyone could hide that she wouldn't see them from the entrance to her apartment, giving her time to flee. No one was hiding in her home.
    Satisfied that her apartment, at least, was still safe, she kicked the door shut behind her and threw the six locks closed. She dropped her bag on the floor by the front door and sprinted across the studio. Ten minutes, she told herself. She would give herself ten minutes to gather all she could and then be out the door.
    But as she grabbed the duffel bag from under her bed and began to shove her meager belongings into it, a sense of sadness settled in her heart. She didn't want to leave this time. She'd felt like it had been long enough that it would be safe to stay here. She realized that she'd actually let herself believe that she wouldn't have to run again. She had begun to think of it as her home. A home that was safe, where she could sleep soundly and not be terrified of what she would find had been done to her when she woke up. A place where she could eat when she wanted to, sleep when she wanted to, choose who touched her, and who she touched. A place where she belonged.
    All that was gone, all because she'd lost her cool and gone after a bastard tonight. It was her fault. She'd been stupid.
    Seven minutes later, she was packed. She was just grabbing her car keys when she heard something rattle against her window. She whirled around, facing the glass panes as she whipped her dagger out. After a long, terrifying moment with her pulse pounding in her ears, she realized rain was battering against the glass, a gentle pitter-patter that reminded her of home.
    This time real homesickness filled her, a longing for the world that she truly belonged to, the world she could never go back to.
    Rhiannon paused for a moment, then sheathed the knife and walked over to the window. She grabbed the sash and threw it open. The damp air washed across her, and she closed her eyes, inhaling it deeply into her lungs. There would never be anything as beautiful as the feeling of being in the rain, and breathing in the air saturated with dampness. It eased into every cell of her body, and she felt herself relax. As long as it was raining, she felt like everything would be okay.
    She rested her palms on the windowsill and leaned out. She had long ago removed the screen so that she could feel the outdoors just like this. She closed her eyes and let the rain splash across her face. The rivulets ran down her cheeks like the tears she had long ago stopped shedding...until tonight.
    Laughter drifted across the night toward her, and she opened her eyes. Rounding the corner of the next building was a young couple. The man was tall but lean, and he had his arm around the shoulders of the woman with him. Her hair was plastered to her head from the rain, and both their clothes were completely soaked through. Neither of them was wearing a coat, and it was apparent they had been caught unprepared by the sudden deluge.
    But the woman was looking up at the man, her lips parted in joyous laughter as he gazed down at her. He wiped the rain off her cheek and then bent his head. The kiss was so innocent and so happy that Rhiannon felt it slice through the shields on her heart. The raindrops on her cheeks mixed with tears as she rested her chin on her palms and watched the couple kiss.
    There was something so magical about the joy they were sharing. It was obvious that the woman was happy, and that she trusted the man whose arms were wrapped so intimately around her. She was kissing him because she wanted to with all of her heart, and the way his hands were resting on her hips was a sweet statement of the trust and connection between them. He wasn't trying to dominate her. She wasn't afraid of him. As the girl's arms slid around his neck, a sad envy settled in Rhiannon's heart. What would it be like to be excited for a man's kiss? What