赤裸裸的滑稽故事

He did not outwardly react to any of it, focusing on reaching Fiona. But he kept his guard up the entire way there. As he stood outside her room waiting for her answer, he still felt the eyes watching him.

It hadn’t been long since his last visit, but something had changed dramatically in the mood and feeling of Summer. The tension in the air was thick, palpable.

“What are you doing here?” Fiona asked as she opened the door.

Landon raised his eyes to hers. She looked even more tired now than the last time he saw her. He swallowed and lowered his gaze as his heart ached to hold her.

“May I come in?” he asked.

She took a soft breath and stepped back, allowing him room to pass by her into the room. He did not hesitate to step inside.

“Are you all right?” he asked when the door closed behind them.

Fiona looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. They were weary and bloodshot. She looked away.

“I’m fine,” she said.

Landon clenched his jaw. He didn’t like the feeling of those words on her lips. It was a blatant lie, but more than that, a request to feign ignorance of her pain.

He took a deep breath.

“Has something happened?” he asked.

“Everything is the same today as yesterday or the day before,” Fiona sighed, walking past him. “Nothing has changed.”

The sorrow in her voice made him lift his hand toward her, wishing to comfort her, but he stopped himself.

He wanted to push her to talk to him, to allow him to help her. But he also didn’t want to force it. So, instead, he focused on the other issues at hand.

“Fiona,” he said, “something strange is happening in Summer. As I came here today, I was watched everywhere I went.”

Fiona looked back at him.

“How is that strange?” she asked. “All visitors must be monitored by security in common areas.”

Landon stepped toward her, shaking his head.

“This was different,” he said. “I have been here many times; security is one thing, but this was different. This was everywhere. The gate, the streets, the halls. I could feel eyes on me at every turn, from every direction.”

Fiona furrowed her brow.

“That… you must have imagined it…” she said.

“No,” Landon stated. “I am familiar with the feeling of being hunted. That is what this felt like.”

Fiona tilted her head curiously as she considered what he had said. It was the most animated he had seen her in weeks. Though he was genuinely concerned about the current atmosphere in Summer, he couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips as he looked at her.

“Things are tense right now,” she said, “but I don’t know why they would have escalated so much...”

Her eyes momentarily widened.

“They know,” she whispered. “We agreed to wait until he talked to Ashleigh… but that’s the only thing that makes sense… they must know…”

Fiona looked up at Landon, panic in her eyes.

“This is bad…”

***

Ashleigh’s arrival was much quieter than anyone could have anticipated. Galen hoped to know before she had even entered the gates. Unfortunately, he had no idea that Ashleigh had been making short trips to the territories around Summer from time to time over the past year.

After Raj had offered to help her find a way to deal with the pain of missing Caleb, she had to come back several times to run tests and then have the link implanted. But she didn’t want anyone to know, and neither did Raj.

When she received Galen’s message, she wasn’t across the world like he thought. She was in the neutral territories between Summer and Winter. That was where she and Raj had agreed to meet for the final update to the program.

On seeing the message, Ashleigh had wanted to immediately go to Summer. Raj had already updated the program and left, so there was no reason she couldn’t except if she wanted to keep her location a secret.

She told Galen four days because that was how long it usually took her to travel back to the territories between assignments. While anything relating to Caleb was something she wanted to know right away, she figured that if it was something important, Galen would have called and told her rather than waiting for her to return to Summer.

So, she spent the four days immersed in the playback of her memories with Caleb. Completely surrounding herself in their love and happiness.

It wasn’t the same as being with him, but it was more than simply remembering. She could feel his touch, warmth, and breath's heat on her skin.

On the fourth day, she hesitated to leave the blissful mindscape but knew she couldn’t stay in their memories forever.

Ashleigh made her way to Summer. She had decided that she would like to avoid any unwanted or unnecessary attention. So, instead of entering at the gates, she used an entrance that Caleb had shown her. One that only he and his family knew about.

She avoided the typically populated areas as she got closer to the main compound. She carefully made her way into the building where Galen’s office was.

She had almost made it the entire way without being noticed. Still, as she rounded the corner just down the hall from her destination, she ran straight into one of the wolves.

“Sorry,” Ashleigh said quietly, trying to move past the woman quickly.

The woman turned around and grabbed Ashleigh’s wrist.

“It’s you!” she shouted. “Luna Ashleigh! You returned!”

Ashleigh pulled her wrist away from the woman.

“Please,” she said. “Keep your voice down. I don’t wish to be recognized right now.”

The woman’s eyes lit up with an unrecognizable and strange delight. She laughed and nodded.

“I’ll keep quiet,” she said, eagerly nodding. “I’m just so happy you’re here now…”

Ashleigh stepped back from the woman.

“All right,” she said. “I need to go meet Galen now… have a good day.”

Ashleigh turned to leave when the woman called out to her again.

“You’ll stop them,” she said. “You’re here to make everything right again, aren’t you?”

Ashleigh turned around and looked at the woman again. As she looked closely, she could see something beyond the strange delight. There was a wildness. A feral look. Her speech was desperate, as though she viewed Ashleigh as her savior.

Ashleigh began to grow concerned.

“Stop who?” Ashleigh asked gently. “Are you all right? Has something happened to Summer?”

The woman’s smile grew wider.

“I’m okay now that you’re here,” she said. “The Goddess… she’ll be happy with us now that you’re back… as long as you stop them, we can all feel better.”

Ashleigh furrowed her brows and stepped closer to the woman.

“Stop who?” she asked.

The woman looked up at Ashleigh, her eyes wild. The delight was gone now.

“Galen and Fiona…” the woman said, a low growl under her words. “They are trying to destroy us… trying to tear Summer apart…”

“What are you talking about?” Ashleigh asked.

The woman licked her lips and looked around suspiciously. She leaned closer to Ashleigh and whispered.

“I heard them talking…” she said. “I heard Galen say it.”

“Say what?” Ashleigh asked.

The woman looked around again and then looked up at Ashleigh.

“Caleb is gone,” the woman said in a neutral tone, repeating scattered words she had heard. “We need to move on... Galen, Alpha of Summer...”

Ashleigh’s eyes widened as she felt a cold chill run down her spine.