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Her

He'd gone for a run after Lady's visit instead of the gym. Not a jog; a run. His leg ached from the pound of his prosthetic against the pavement, but the pain was bittersweet, proving he was alive and still human with each bruised pull.

Lucas sat on the edge of his bed, wiping his face and neck, intending to shower, but...

He opened his cell phone and Googled the flower shop Aleksy worked at. Alex. Hell of a family.

He hit call.

Her

Aleksy reached over to pick up the phone. "Thanks for calling Pocket Full of Posies, please hold a moment," and he braced the phone against his shoulder as he finished ringing up a regular customer--"Leslie will help you load your flowers 'round the back," he said, and then to the customer on the phone, "Yes, thank you for holding, how can I help you?"

Her

Hearing the man's voice made him repress a small sound, flooded by the memories of Aleksy hiding. The coffee. Terse words over a desk that put them worlds apart.

When the other came back, he didn't bother with introductions. "I'm pretty sure it's your sister, Aleksy. She didn't like me using her name." His tongue ran over his teeth, seeing her eyes when he'd said the name, how her demeanor had changed. "She's having issues with time -- didn't know what year it was. But she seemed happy when I told her about you."

Her

Aleksy didn't need a name to know who was on the other end. "She..." He stuttered the word out, then said in a bright and chipper tone: "Please hold!"

He moved to the backroom phone, picked it up again, and said, "What do you mean, when you told her about me? Issues? With time? Tatya has never been late for anything in her life!"

Her

"You're good at that," he commented wryly when Aleksy picked up the phone again.

He bit his bottom lip. Clearly, most of this was over Lucas' head. "She asked what year it was, among other things." Audibly, he hesitated. "When she left, it was like she just...cut open the fabric of my apartment and disappeared into it." No. That wasn't quite right. "Or...more like she wrapped it around herself. The ******** is that about?"

Her

"I talked to her yesterday," said Aleksy. "She seemed. Fine. The same as always."

He didn't know what the ******** the warping fabric of Lucas's apartment was and he wasn't sure he cared. If Tatya could transport herself from Moscow to Ashdown, why was she going to see strange-a** wolf men instead of him?

What was ******** happening?

"She's not supposed to be involved in this," he said, finally. "She's supposed to be safe, in Moscow, finishing her degree."

Her

"I talked to her this morning," he countered, already remembering why talking to Aleksy was immediately exhausting. "She was unhelpful and mentioned The Enemy. She also stole my mug."

A pause. This was a little harder. "If it gives you any insight to her time frame, she..." Agh. This was not his specialty. Tact. "...she still referred to you as a she."

Rain & Blood



He stared dully at his phone, walking towards the precinct.