Hearts of the Hunted by Storm Moon Press Page B

sit for only a few seconds before pulling it out. I like my
tea weak and my coffee strong.
    Back in the living room,
the weeping goddess seemed to have calmed down a bit. Janelle
pressed a mug into her hands, and she curled around it. She was
apparently one of those lucky women who didn't turn red and blotchy
when she cried. Instead, her cheeks seemed to brighten in her pale
face, and her eyes seemed like a darker shade of green, changing
like the sea. I sighed. She didn't even have to use her ability to
distract the fuck out of me.
    "All right," Janelle said,
sitting back on the other end of the couch, "start from the
beginning. What happened to you?"
    I took a seat on an
overstuffed chair facing them both and pulled my legs up under me.
The girl took the tea bag out of her mug and glanced around
helplessly before Janelle slid a coaster over for her to set it on.
Janelle gave me a mystified look, and I grinned; at least I wasn't
the only one who refused to let the tea steep.
    "I'm Hannah," she said,
and her face wasn't the only thing undamaged by her crying. The
tears had left her voice deeper and just a touch rougher, like
black velvet over iron. I wanted to put my head in her lap and
close my eyes and listen to her forever. For a minute, I was afraid
that it was her ability, but her eyes were that same shade of
swirling, sea green. Shit.
    "I was at the movies with
my best friend and her boyfriend, but they were making out the
entire time, and it pissed me off, so I made some excuse and
decided to walk home myself." She'd been talking fast, tripping
over herself, and she paused and took a deep breath, squeezing her
eyes shut. She took a sip of tea and started over, more slowly. "I
was walking home from the movies, alone. It was late, maybe 11?
This guy just stepped out in front of me and told me to stop. And I
did. It was so crazy. Then, he told me to come with him, and he
pulled me into the alley..." She looked up, tears falling again. "I
just did everything he told me to do. I was in a fog, and nothing
made sense until after he was gone.
    "I went to the police, but
they couldn't even agree that it was really rape, and I couldn't
tell them anything anyway because it was all so fuzzy, and they
finally just told me to go. But there was this young cop; he caught
me before I got to the sidewalk. He slipped me this address and
told me he thought he knew what had happened and that the
Underground Railroad could help. I didn't want to come and see, but
it's been a week and strange things have been happening. People
listen to me when I'm focused on something, and they—they trust me.
Like you did. Do I—am I doing what he did to me?"
    "It doesn't sound like
it," I said, meeting her stricken eyes. From the corner of my
vision I could see her breasts rise and fall with her breath, and a
sense of heat settled in my belly. I shifted uncomfortably in my
seat and sipped my lukewarm tea. "He actually controlled you. You
couldn't make me back off; you just made me want to be nice to
you." I shrugged. "It's subtle, and maybe it's all in how you use
it, but I don't think it's exactly the same." She looked
unconvinced and that sad expression grabbed me by the guts and
pulled. An idea struck me. "Try making me drink."
    I held up my tea and
waited, and she concentrated on me. Her eyes slowly paled out, and
I shuddered as I watched them change. It was beautiful, but a
little scary. "Drink the tea," she said. I glanced at my mug, but I
didn't feel any particular pull to drink it. She tipped her head
thoughtfully. "You should try the tea. It's quite lovely," she
said. I didn't realize my hand had moved until the warm liquid
flowed over my tongue. I startled, and the tea sloshed across my
lap. When she blinked, her eyes were normal.
    "That's... creepy,"
Janelle said, her own cup lowering from her lips.
    "I'm sorry."
    "No, don't be," I said. "I
don't think you can control people, you just sort of... make them
want to please you. It's interesting.