**BOOK 1 IN THE TALES FROM DROMISSE SERIES**
Silvia considers herself the luckiest woman in all Dromisse. Her soon-to-be fiancé, Duncan Ora, is a candidate for Light Within, the greatest gift that the Almighty Gale can bestow upon someone. Then a ra...
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Ah. Here it is. The storm catching up with her, the peace shattering. Silvia nearly drops the phone. "What?!" she says with a clamped jaw. "Are you kidding me? After everything earlier, why would I call the cops?!" She plants her free hand on her hip. "I didn't say a word."
"They came to the library—they had my disguise's description—and they're waitin', they're outside my apartment," Duncan says. "It was Evan. It had to be. I put on another disguise, and I think I just lost my job. Now there's a warrant out for me—by my actual name."
Silvia rubs her temple. "I'm sorry I brought Evan. He volunteered to come. I didn't ask him to," she says. "What do you want me to do? I can't have you staying in my apartment. We aren't married, and it will look suspicious if I have two men over all the time."
"That's okay. I have that covered." The pitch of Duncan's voice changes as he's speaking, and then a woman's cadence enters Silvia's ear. "If anyone gets suspicious, I'm your cousin."
Silvia sucks in a sharp breath of air. "... Fine. That works." She smacks the heel of her palm to her forehead several times. Why, why, why? Why is this her life? Why can't she go back to healing, to recovering? Just when it seems like things are going better, something inevitably destroys that optimism. "My address is 2314 Greyson Lane, apartment number three."
"Thank you." The line clicks.
Ten minutes later, Silvia opens the door to a broad woman dressed in a suit and slacks, with long, straight hair. The woman steps inside and says, "I have always despised that man." She flexes her fingers into fists. "And I'd like to point out it wasn't me who started the animosity between us. It was him. First day I was late to work was the end of whatever good relationship we could've had. Reckon I nudged that fastidious stick wedged in his rear."
If Silvia didn't know better, she'd say this was a scorned woman complaining about an ex-boyfriend. But Duncan's sparking eyes shine through, disguised though they may be. "We don't know that it was him," she says. "Sit down and calm down." She gestures to the couch. "I don't expect Evan around again today." She slips into the kitchen, finding a miniature watering can and tending to her plants. She flicks her hair over her shoulder and looks at Duncan. "Would you like a glass of water ... Dannie?"
"Mommy?" Emily appears on the second floor, peeking at 'Dannie' with puzzlement painted along her brow. "Who's this?"
"Daisy," says Duncan, "it's me."
Emily trots down the stairs. "Huh?"
"Daddy."
Emily stops, her eyes widening to the size of apples. She says, in the tiniest peeping voice, "Boys don't look like that."
Silvia returns to Duncan with a glass of water. She rests it on a coaster on the coffee table. "Emily, your father is using magic to disguise himself. He'll only be here for one night. Something came up, and he needs to stay awhile. For now, we'll refer to him as Aunt Dannie."
