storm-rao

Something Wrong in the Rain She couldn’t put her finger on it. It wasn’t a sound, it wasn’t a smell. Her children, alert to danger as she’d taught them, were frolicking in the downpour. There was something wrong in the rain. Her bright blue eye shuttled around in every direction, trying to triangulate the feeling. Every part of her body hummed. The knowledge weighed her down as much as the saturated robe she wore for protection. There was something wrong in the rain. Somewhere in the distance, voices. They belonged. Further beyond, a town, whole and healthy, no danger to her or hers. There was something wrong in the rain. The wind had died down earlier. The rain came straight down in the relentless downpour of a spring evening, driving into the ground to refresh it. It was pure and clean without a taint of salt or rust. There was something wrong in the rain. Somewhere in the darkness, the places between where the lost things go, her fingers curled. Her eye narrowed. Here in the real

Sneak through The call was frantic. If Gabrielle didn’t know his mother he might have thought she was merely perturbed, but that slight hesitant hitch spoke wild volumes. Whatever she was about to tell him, he had to be listening hard. “Missing?” “We’re starting a hunt right now. We have some of the best trackers with us.” He heard the pain, the doubt. He lifted himself from the mat where he’d been catching as much sleep as possible. While the disaster he’d been called away for was in the mop-up stages, they needed as many hands as possible. But he knew right away whatever was happening to his daughter was more important. “Corrin?” “Jules is trying to get in touch with him right now. We split.” “Right. Right I’m coming.” “I’ll dash my details to you, you can book back on me.” “Thanks ma. I’m… I’m freaking out a little.” There was a tiny hiccup on the other end of the line. He could picture his mother pressing her fingers to her lips before trying to catch her breath. “She

Everyone else in the house is asleep. I put the kid to bed myself. She was mourning over the loss of the door… her way home, to her blood family. Can’t say I blame her. I wish she’d gone through like I told her too. Kid’s got heart though. I know she’ll come right. Lillith’s on the couch. I don’t think I’ll show her how to avoid that one spring. Not yet. She may have helped with the big problem, but that doesn’t mean I’m not mad at her. Yep, can hear the springs squeaking as she tries to get comfortable. I hope it keeps you awake all night, you jerk. King? I heard him snuffling around after settling Luce down. He’s most likely outside my door, pretending not to care. I should be asleep. I know what everyone else would say. That I’m traumatized, I’m mourning… I dunno. I feel… well, a little sad, but at the same time, I don’t think I’m in denial. My magic’s gone, the world is weird, and a human is going to teach me about glyphs. I think the weirdest part is that my chest feels