Page 141 of Beneath the Light of the Moon

Looking back and forth from both her daughter and husband, she nodded. “Yes, a kind gentleman I spoke to over the phone said it’d be better.”

“What gentleman?” Her father’s voice was gentle, but Anika detected the underlying edge beneath it.

“Mr. Romanov.”

Anika’s teeth clenched, but her dad spoke the words she was thinking. “Love, there is no need for that man to come to this house. We already talked at the store, we don’t need his money.”

“Or his lies,” Anika mumbled under her breath. Her parents heard, their faces different with their reactions. Her father grinned and her mother gave her a pointed look.

“The two of you aren’t even giving the man a chance to explain himself. What if he’s actually a great business partner?”

“What he’s proposing isn’t a partnership,jaanu, it’s a transaction.”

“I don’t know—”

“Give me the phone, I’ll call him, tell him we changed our mi—”

Ding!

The telltale sound of the door bell resonated through the house, halting everyone’s words.

“That’s probably him,” her mom finally said, untying her apron and heading toward the entry of their home.

Anika and her father shared a knowing look, one that said,“humor your mom, but fall for nothing.”

Nodding, they took their seats, waiting as Alek walked closer, her mom chattering with him innocently.

She’s too good for this world,Anika thought as she placed her hands in her lap as they reappeared.

And Alek was as she remembered—warm with his words and smiles and gestures, but so, so cold with his eyes.

This was going to be the longest dinner of her life.

SOMETHING WOKE HER later that night, the blanket of darkness thick and stifling, but Anika’s eyes opened regardless, sleep erased by something.

Turning over in her bed, she noticed the time was a little past midnight, but despite the late hour, she heard the whispered voices of her parents. The words were unintelligible, fragments of a private conversation, but a sense of dread filled her gut. It’s cool clutch urging her to slip from the safety of her warm sheets.

Softly, her bare feet touched the carpet in her room, dampening her approach toward her cracked bedroom door. A slash of dim light cut across her room from it, but she stayed in the dark, unsure of how close her parents were.

“I’m not mad at you, dear,” her father mumbled, his words clear despite the volume he spoke in. “I’m upset he got an answer from me he didn’t like, so he targetedyouinstead.”

“I know, people can see right through me.” Anika could almost picture her mom, a gentle, sad smile adorning her face. “I always get us into trouble.”

“No need to worry, I’ll handle it. While Alek may not be a door-to-door salesman in need of shooing off our property, I’ll make sure he gets the message all the same.”

Her mom laughed. “I trust you. Whatever you need to do, I’ll support you.”

The faint sound of a kiss met Anika’s ears. “I know. We can’t let thisman take away our livelihood all for the sake ofrevitalization.We’ve seen what it’s done to other neighborhoods…”

* * *

CONSCIOUSNESS WAS FLEETING, but this time she was ready when it graced her, its touch soft against the wrinkles of her brain.

Again, she tried pouring every ounce of will into moving her extremities. And when she was about to give up, her mind spent and sweat somehow forming on her skin, she felt a fingertip move. Nervous excitement coursed through her and she tried again, but a noise caught her attention.

Begging her body to cooperate and open her eyes to see what had made the noise, she was disappointed when it refused. She was nothing more than a pile of bones; her eyelids were controlled by another entity, not listening to her own mind.

A scream clawed at the back of her throat.