Necrotic Dawn

Chapter Three

  "I'm sorry Rosie. No luck," I tell Aurora's best friend as I down the fresh apples, veggies, eggs and milk. Rosie plops down on a stool fanning her face, trying to cool down from the crushing summer heat.

"She's still avoiding town?" Rosie asks as she pants.

"Like a plague," I reply with a sigh.

"She is gonna have to see him eventually. She can't avoid him forever," she says.

I rolls my eyes. "Have you met my sister? She could avoid oxygen if she put her mind to it. As a matter of fact she does most days. I swear she isn't human. I have followed her before. I have seen her stay under for almost twenty minutes sometimes! I thought she had drowned."

Rosie laughs. "I take it she went to the river again."

I shake my head. "Where else? She can't go to the library because she is avoiding Byron. He even shows up randomly at the house. I just don't get why she spends so much time there though. It's too dangerous!"

"You couldn't keep her away from that river even if you guarded it with your life," Rosie says as I set down the last of the of the supplies I brought. "Thanks for bringing everything. If it weren't for you two we wouldn't even have food for the inn most days."

"You know I don't mind. Besides, you pay us for it and it is one of our only sources of income," I say as she hands me two gold coins.

"I wouldn't feel right if we didn't. We have to look out for each other after all," she giggles as she bumps her hips into mine.

"Ember?"

I rigidly turn around to come face to face with the one person I had hoped I wouldn't see today.

"Uh, hey Byron! How are you?"

He looks around, clearly hoping to see Aurora, giving me time to put on a smile I hope doesn't scream fake. You can see the light go out of his eyes when he realizes she isn't with me. "I'm okay I guess. How is Aurora?"

I look away, not wanting to see our friend in this kind of pain or even be in this situation. "She is doing okay. She was gonna come with me today but she needed to get some things done around the house."

"She has been really busy lately," he says. "More so than I have seen her since everyone came down ill a few years back and you two were the only ones who didn't seem affected. You both took such good care of everyone."

"Yea. You know how she is. She is always either studying magic, prepping for magic, or practicing magic. The only time she isn't is if she is sleeping and honestly I think I have even heard her whispering spells in her sleep so even that's up for question," I joke, trying to lighten the mood back up a bit.

"She has always been such a hard worker. I always admired that about her," he says with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

I curse my sister internally for continuously putting me in this position. If she would just talk to him they could figure this out together.