Even if I didn't feel like a Hanna.
I shoved the wallet back onto the dresser and headed out the door to find Evin.
It turned out the villa apartment wasn't very big. There was a second bedroom next to mine and, next to that, an average-looking bathroom. The main room was one big space comprised of a kitchen, a dining area, and a TV
area. The furnishings were a basic, durable pine, and the curtains and cushions consisted of an almost garish blue and yellow flower print. There wasn't much in the way of decorations, but I guess you didn't need them when one wall was glass, and the vista beyond was all white sand and blue ocean. Even at night, it was a sight to behold.
Evin was sitting at the table under the small front veranda reading a newspaper. I followed my nose to the coffee machine, made myself a drink, then grabbed an apple and headed outside to join him.
He looked up as I sat down, and there was a decided wariness in his gray eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"I'd be great if some uncaring bastard hadn't cracked my head open earlier tonight. " I took a sip of coffee and winced at the sharp, bitter taste. Definitely not to my liking, but it was hot and strong and better than nothing.
"Hanna, you were acting rather weird - "
"You'd be weird if you could see souls, too. " I glanced at him over the rim of my mug. "Why don't you know about that?"
"Maybe because it was never mentioned?" He shrugged. "We may spend a lot of time together, dearest sister, but we don't tell each other every single thing that goes on in our lives. "
But we do . . . Or at least, I thought we did. I bit into my apple, enjoying the juicy sweetness, then said, "So what secrets are you hiding from me? Aside from the fact you're apparently moon-sworn. "
"That's not a secret. You just can't remember it. " He picked up his cup, and I saw with surprise it was tea rather than coffee.
r /> When did my brother start drinking tea?
"How long are we staying here? And how long was I out?"
He raised his eyebrows. "What, sick of the place already?"
Wary was more like it, but I didn't say that. I simply shrugged. He folded the paper and put it on the table. "You slept through the entire day. And we paid for seven days, and we won't get a refund if we leave early. Neither of us can afford to lose that sort of money, so we're stuck here until then. "
So I'd wasted a day. An entire day.
"And after the seven days are up?" I couldn't help tensing as I said that, because the words of that stranger still echoed in my mind.
"After that, who knows?"
If he was a part of whatever was going on, why wouldn't he know? There again, if he did know and this was a plot rather than the imaginings of a sick mind, why would he tell me?
I munched on the apple and watched him watching me. It felt weird, like we were strangers rather than brother and sister.
"What happened to the doctor you were going to call?" I tossed the apple core into the tussock grass lining the veranda. The birds and the ants could feast on what remained.
"This town has only one doctor, and he doubles as a coroner when there's a murder. So, we're no longer his first priority. " He hesitated, then said, "You better keep taking your tablets until we talk to him. "
I raised an eyebrow. "They were for depression and I don't feel depressed. "
He tapped his fingers on the table, a soft drumming that for some reason annoyed me. "Maybe you don't feel depressed, but you've lost your spark, Hanna. And you've already tried suicide once. So forgive me if I'm blunt here, but you'll fucking take your tablets even if I have to force them down your throat, because I do not want to lose anyone here. "
The emotion in his voice, particularly when he said that last bit, had tears prickling my eyes. It was the truth -
the honest truth - in a sea of lies.
I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Okay, I'll take the tablets. Where are they?"
"In the bathroom. " He leaned back. "I think I'll go to the pub for a meal. You interested?"
I snorted softly. "Like this? Thanks, but no. I think I'll stay here and have a bath. "