Shadow of the Sun (Timeless #1)

Chapter 8: Secrets

My bedroom was basic compared to the rest of the house, with simple sand-colored walls and a high ceiling. I'd never done much to it since I lived alone and rarely had visitors, but it was still a cozy room. My large king-sized bed, opposite the dresser, dominated the space. Hercules took up most of that bed. Paintings purchased from the amazing unknown artists I'd come across during my travels, as well as photos of my family and I doing the vacation thing, dotted the walls. French doors opened to the sandy abyss outside, and from where I stood, I could see the waves crashing wildly against the shore.

My salary wasn't huge, but I'd always been extremely good at saving and finding deals. I had purchased this house with very little money, even though it was beautiful beachfront property. My adoptive mother was a great bargain hunter who always told me there was no need to pay the full price for anything, and her advice served me well in finding this house.

My closet was full of business suits, lab coats, and all my other incredibly boring attire. It was either a suit or pajamas. I was in desperate need of a new wardrobe. Because I never really went out, there was usually no reason to buy anything dressy or fancy. Maybe I'd remedy that in D.C.

I had no idea how long I'd be away, so I piled a huge, towering stack of clothes in my suitcase just in case. I stared down at it, hoping that sitting on it would help me close it, and wondered how I would fit a bunch of new clothes in there too, not to mention shoes.

My mind didn't linger long on those humdrum thoughts. Angels dominated my focus as I thought of them flaunting their talents to humans. The angels came across as mystical, divine, and maybe even god-like, but not at all ancient. It was just too mind boggling to think about them being several thousand years old.

I had an overwhelming urge to read the Bible and find the stories about the angels. Would I laugh at the fact some of them were Karen's brothers? For the first time, I was disappointed I didn't have a Bible in my house. I wasn't a religious person and had never felt the need to read the holy book. My beliefs were firmly in science. Thinking about praying to some big man in the sky gave me a good chuckle. I wasn't laughing now, except for short bouts of insane and hysterical snorting.

I was having trouble concentrating on packing my suitcase. How could I worry about whether or not I would have time to shop in D.C., or that I was running low on toilet paper and Jenna would need to buy some more? How could I stand in my ordinary bedroom, around my ordinary things, trying to have ordinary thoughts, when I knew there were angels out there? Just yesterday I was a normal human woman, interacting with normal, everyday people, living a normal life—well, as normal as one's life could be in my profession. Now I knew better. I had been wildly thrust into the supernatural, the real supernatural.

There goes that random, insane laughter again.

There was a faint ringing from my cell phone, snapping me from my musings. It had always bothered me when people made their ring tones into songs or weird noises, and as technologically advanced as I was, that was one strange habit I refused to succumb to. It rang again, though I could barely hear it. I had no idea where I had put it.

It rang again, and I threw clothes around, hoping I'd find it under one of the piles. I quickly searched the floor and the bathroom. As I entered the kitchen, the ringing became louder before it stopped all together.

Sighing, I sat on a bar stool at the island, then snatched a banana from the bowl of fruit and devoured it. I was starving; I hadn't eaten since yesterday. I completely forgot about my phone and thought about how empty the house felt without the angels. It was as if all the warmth they had brought with them had been sucked into a black hole when they left.

Hercules sat on his haunches and looked at me, his tail wagging. He was my only company and had been following me all through the house as I packed.

"I'll miss you too, buddy."