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Khushi hovered near the window, her eyes fixed on the courtyard below. The moon shone brightly tonight—it was poornima, the full moon. Not that she needed its light to survey her garden.
Earlier that week, a few kids had broken in and destroyed her white lilies. Of course, she'd frightened the living daylights out of them, but the damage had already been done. She pondered how best to repair the destruction when the sudden grating sound of the gates opening cut through her thoughts.
She inhaled sharply, her senses alert. Gliding through the walls, she reached the stairway and waited. The magic lights in the courtyard flickered on.
In the past, she'd never had cause for concern—no one had dared enter her home in the last quarter of a century. And yet, tonight felt different. She braced herself, ready to summon her fiercest side if need be.
The locks clicked open, and a man stepped in, his silhouette stark against the blinding lights outside. A strange shift in the air caught her off guard—something was off. She couldn't place it, but her palms tingled, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
The man moved forward with confident strides, his eyes darting around, taking in his surroundings. Curiosity and fear laced through her veins in equal measures. His gait wasn't stealthy but purposeful. He was dressed in strange clothes, ones she hadn't seen before—but somehow, they seemed to suit him...
The dim glow of her immediate vicinity intensified slightly as she blushed. He was an intruder, and clearly not from this town. Now was not the time to be distracted.
A sudden, shrill noise shattered the silence. Khushi flinched, rising a foot into the air. Had she been in her corporeal form, her head would've probably hit the ceiling.
The man pulled out a small rectangular object, placing it to his ear and spoke into it. By his manner, he didn't seem like a common thief. And then, she heard a faint jingle of metal on metal. He had keys to her house!
