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Lucky you,I thought. Although, the rat was a bit more harmless than a falling platform, high above the ground.
I pulled back my hand slowly and the rat disappeared, as if it had never been there at all.
The woman gasped. "Thank Hades."
I managed to stop myself from flinching as someone put a hand on my shoulder.
"What was it?" Kerina asked.
"A trick of the light, I suppose," I said, for the benefit of those around us, especially the woman. If I could convince her that was all it was, then she might forget all about this.
A few people around us muttered, but most simply nodded and returned to their tables. Later they would talk about a hysterical woman who imagined something, but they hadn't seen a thing.
I scanned the room on the way back to my own table. If anyone saw the rat, no one gave any sign. They seemed annoyed at having their meal interrupted, but nothing more.
I flopped down in my seat and reclaimed my beer.
"You saw nothing?" I asked.
Wesley went back to telling his audience a tale, as though he hadn't so much as paused.
"No, but the woman who shouted, she wasn't lying about seeing vermin of some kind." I described what I saw in as few words as possible.
"That does sound like a pale one," Kerina said thoughtfully. "No wonder she was frightened." She cocked her head. "You didn't seem too bothered by it."
I shrugged. "It was as real as the kid. Less so. I didn't feel as though it posed a threat to me or anyone here."
"Unless she died of fright." Kerina nodded in the woman's direction.
"Let's not hope for that," I said dryly.
Kerina looked embarrassed at having suggested it, but it was as fleeting as it usually was for her. She never took anything to heart for too long. Even her anger burnt out eventually.
"I wouldn't, but—"
Whatever she was about to say, I don't know because I rose so quickly I knocked my chair back almost into the man behind me. The man spluttered, but I ignored him. My eyes were on the woman who saw the rat, as she hurried toward the door.
"Excuse me," I said hastily to Kerina and pushed through to the street.
In the gloom, I couldn't see for a moment. When my eyes adjusted to the dimly lit street, illuminated only by light from windows and open doors, I spied a dark shape bustling away around a corner.
I trotted after her, my senses open, seeking her. Her emotions were fear, laced with something else. Humiliation maybe. Had the people she was with laughed, or ridiculed her? None seemed to have followed her into the night.
I rounded the corner and stopped. I still sensed her on the edge of my perception, but I saw no sight of her. No shadows in the doorways, no flash of movement in front of a window.
"Hello?" I called out softly.
"Hello, what are we looking for?" Wesley spoke loudly behind me.
I jumped.
Shit.
"Shhh!"
"Oh sorry, I—"
I cut him off again with a hiss. I reached out, but any sign of the woman was gone. I growled under my breath in frustration.
