Liam wavered his hand back and forth. “Yes and no. They were turned over to the North African Shifter Council… what they did with them, I’ve no idea.”
“And what was that about the Romanians? Did anyone ever find out?”
Naomi blinked. “Romanians?”
She shrugged. “There was a small but enraged group of Romanians who joined the rescue effort. I’ve no idea the story behind that.”
“I wonder if Tamera knows?” Jacinth mused. “Let’s remember to ask her about it.”
“Where is she, by the way?” Liam asked. “I thought she meant to be here to meet Naomi.”
“Kester got a call from a distributor, and they ran off to meet the guy.” Katerina aimed a smile at Naomi. “Kester is my brother, and Tamera is his Chosen. He’s just opened a Greek delicatessen, not far from the mall, and he always seems to be having to meet with this person or that.”
Out of the blue, a yawn overtook her. Naomi covered her face in embarrassment as everyone laughed.
“It’s okay,” Katerina reassured her. “You know, guys, she’s probably had enough of all of us by now. How about if we all head home, and let her go upstairs and get a nap?”
“That works for me,” Jacinth said, rising to her feet. “Douglas is watching the kids while I’m here, but I want to give him a bit of a break before Talya and I head out for the afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s right… you have children.” Naomi hadn’t know a Djinn and a human could have children together. Her expression must have been transparent, for Jacinth laughed.
“Douglas was a single parent when we met. I agreed to be nanny to the children and… well, here we are! We’re hoping to have more, but we want to wait and let all the excitement around here settle.”
“If it ever does,” said Katerina frankly. “Every time we turn around, something else is happening.”
“At least we’re not bored,” Jacinth said with a laugh.
Katerina giggled, and stood up from Troy’s lap. “Come on, we’ll get home, too. Naomi, it was good to meet you. You have a good nap, and get settled in, and don’t worry about things tonight, okay? Just relax, and take advantage of the quiet… it doesn’t happen very often with us about.”
She winked merrily, and Naomi smiled back at her.
“I will. It was good to meet you Thank you for the pizza, and the clothes, and… and everything.”
Chapter8
Naomi awoke slowly,emerging from sleep like a bear from hibernation. The mattress was comfortable, the comforter fluffy and warm, the pillow soft. She didn’t move except for pulling the comforter up to her ears, but sleep didn’t return. She lay there drifting for a while, until finally she opened her eyes to look at the clock on the bedside table. It was just six p.m., so she snuggled back down. It felt like she’d been doing nothing but sleeping since arriving, interspersed with short periods of animation. Still, she had no deadlines to meet, no place she had to be. She might as well enjoy it while she could.
Finally she stirred, stretching and yawning, and sat up, the covers pooling on the bed around her. There was a faint chill to the room, and she shivered a little. She stood up and crossed to the fireplace, and switched it on. The flames burst into life, and she adjusted them higher, enjoying the glow. Lifting the bag of clothes onto the bed, she opened it and dug through it for the sweatshirt she’d spotted earlier.
Feeling strangely adrift, she stepped through the door opening onto the small balcony outside her room. It was on the side of the house, overlooking the thickly wooded hills and distant farms. The sun hadn’t set yet, but the temperature was falling rapidly. She breathed in the crisp fall air, lightly scented with smoke from nearby fireplaces.
This was the first chance she’d had to be really alone, to think, since she’d left the zoo the day before. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt. She was happy to be human again, of course, and she was grateful for the friendships that had been offered to her, but uncertainty gnawed at her. How could they be so sure that she wouldn’t turn Rogue like her mother and sisters? Certainly, Beth had never wanted to be a Rogue, and look what happened.
A sense of isolation swept over her, the awareness of her utter aloneness in the world that she’d lived with since she’d been parted from Beth. She had no other family, and no friends. Back in Florida she’d kept her distance from humans, not wanting to unwittingly put anyone in her mother’s or sisters’ path. By the time she’d arrived in New York, the habit of staying aloof had become ingrained. And the one time she’d taken a chance, relaxed her guard… her mind shied away from those dark memories. But it just proved that it would be better for everyone if she held herself apart.
And yet, she yearned for those same friendships, to be a part of the close, friendly, funny community that had welcomed her with open arms. Beth would have loved this, too. She could see them both fitting in here, creating lives for themselves without fear, free from their family’s shadow. She stepped forward to the edge of the balcony, folding her arms and leaning on the railing. She missed her twin, her absence a constant ache, like a part of her was missing.
Sighing, she turned away from the railing, moving to sit on one of the two wicker chairs arranged on either side of a small table. There wasn’t any point on dwelling on it, she supposed. It wasn’t like there was anything she could do to change things. Instead, she needed to focus on her own life, which she was starting over from scratch… again.
There were things she urgently needed to do: Fetch her car, check her bank account, update her resume, and start looking for jobs. She should probably make a list, she supposed, but the paper and pen the B&B provided were inside on the nightstand, and she was feeling too languid to move right now. It wasn’t like there was anything she could do tonight, anyway.
“Hey, there.”
She looked up to find Liam standing on the next balcony over from hers. He’d slipped on a forest green sweater that looked warm, and did great things for his tan skin, and brought out the green in his hazel eyes. She smiled, happy to see a friendly face.
“Hey, yourself.”
“I was hoping you might be awake by now. I thought I’d take you out for dinner, since it’s the evening of your first full day out of the clink and all.”
