Wake of Darkness by Meg Winkler Page A

Laney.
     
    “Precisely,” Alexander said, and
Sophie nodded in understanding. He watched her carefully for any sign of panic;
any sign of shock or fear.
     
    Jim nudged her with his elbow. “Makes
you feel a little like Alice in the rabbit hole, huh?” he joked.
     
    Sophie loosed a hysterical little
chuckle and shook her head in disbelief. Zoey smiled sympathetically at her.
     
    “We shall discuss further
arrangements at a later time, but we will be moving on soon after we make
contact with the other one here,” continued Alexander. “And you are welcome
to…”
     
    “The other one?” Sophie
interrupted, looking quickly from Alexander to Jim, searching for an answer.
     
    Jim turned to her. “Laney thinks
there’s another one of us somewhere close, but she’s not really sure. We’ll
leave after we deal with him or her.”
     
    Sophie nodded numbly, attempting to
absorb it all.
     
    Alexander felt an inexplicable urge
to comfort Sophie as he watched her. She seemed in better control of herself
than before, as she processed everything she'd just learned.

 
                           
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
                            
Chapter 7
     
    The family’s patriarch looked down
at Sophie. “You must do what you believe best, but we would highly recommend
that you remain here with our family. We are sorry to have brought you into
this situation, but please understand that we believe you are safest here. Jacques
and the others will not pass you by simply because you are not with us. You are one of us, you know us, and that is all the justification he needs to
strike. He will come here looking for our family; we have been in the area for
too long already and if we leave you behind, it would be disastrous for you. We
offer you a home and a family with those who understand you and who share the
same life you do. I sincerely hope that you will accept it.”
     
    To Sophie, who had been known to
jokingly call herself the perpetual foster kid, the temptation was great. She
could have a place to belong, but as she contemplated it, her attention was
pulled to Laney. She sat Indian-style on the floor, chanting to herself.
     
    “Safety, safety, safety. Safe in
the nest. The eggs will break. Crack, crack, crack.” Her lips barely moved. Her
closed eyes suddenly popped open. “Yes, Sophie, you have to stay.”
     
    Sophie watched her in baffled
silence.
     
    Jim chuckled under his breath. “Laney
is…uh… interesting ,” he whispered conspiratorially. “She’s pretty weird,
actually. You’ll get used to her.”
     
    With that, Laney jumped up and was
suddenly planting a sisterly kiss on Jim’s cheek.
     
    Sophie shook her head hoping to
regain her concentration. “My safety?” she asked, turning to face Dante.
     
    “Once we become aware of our
nature, we begin to naturally rely on our talents; we utilize them to a greater
extent than before. That makes us easier to find—we stand out more you might
say,” Dante explained. “You have just recently shown up on their radar, for
lack of a better metaphor, and to make matters worse, they will know that you
are associated with us. There are members of their kind, who actively seek our
family out in an effort to eliminate us, but none of our kind are safe from
them—our existence is the only threat to the lifestyle they prefer to lead.”
     
    Sophie drew in a ragged breath and
glared at him. Dante seemed unaware of her sudden change in temper, but
Sophie’s mind had connected the dots faster than she’d realized.
     
    He was the leader of the family. He’d
dragged her into this mess, and now she had no hope of being free of it. Even
with the crap fest that her life usually was, no one was ever trying to kill
her. Now she’d been assured of a premature death for just having known this
hodge-podge of a family.
     
    Laney flashed to Sophie’s side,
holding her hand up, palm out, toward Sophie.