AN: Sorry it has been so very long. I hope I can make up for it. My world has been turned upside down of recent months. I am now a mother! I have little time to write, but will whenever I can. I apologize for the length. Blessed be, and my thanks to those kind reviewers. By the by, anyone want to beta?
A soft sound escaped Sarah – more whimper than sob, gasping and high – and the figure by the window turned, and in that instant Sarah knew that she had been wrong. Not Him, for the movement lacked his predatory grace (for now, she thought and shivered), but the realization that her visitor was merely her brother was not as reassuring as it once would have been. Over the years he had grown fairer and more fey than his looks had promised in infancy, but until this moment Sarah had been able to pretend that it was merely the changes that any growing child might undergo, or perhaps the fading mark of the Otherworld, but suddenly she knew that it was not.
He had not given up all claim on her brother fifteen years ago.
Something of her fading fear and consternation must have shown on her face, for the broad grin on Toby's faltered in the flickering light of the breaking storm, and a slight frown creased his brow.
"Sarah?" He stepped forward, hand extended towards her, and for a moment there hovered between them a sense of anticipation, Toby's crystalline eyes clouding with what might have been the echo of memory as something stirred, then was gone as his frown was replaced with a wry smile. "I didn't mean to scare you, Sar, but with the storm coming in so fast I thought I'd best let myself in."
"Of course," Sarah managed, forcing her lips into a smile while a million fears and doubts assaulted her. Pushing them aside, she grasped Toby's hand and pulled him into a warm hug. "You just startled me. For a minute I thought…" Her words trailed off into an uneasy laugh, and she shook her head against the storm of fear that rose once more. "Come into the kitchen and you can tell me why you're here. No doubt those hollow legs of yours need filling."
The last was said with gentle fondness, and Toby's laughing agreement dispelled the last of the distance that had shimmered between them. At ease once more, Sarah pulled her brother into the kitchen.
Sarah's kitchen was large and homey, with an old pot bellied stove in one corner that heated the room. It was filled with warm light that spilled from several fringed lamps, and the tiled floor radiated back that warmth comfortingly on nights like tonight. Settling themselves at the kitchen table, Sarah and Toby drank coffee and talked about school, his latest girlfriend and her latest book, but Sarah could tell that something else was bothering her beloved brother.
"Sarah," Toby began abruptly after staring into his empty cup for a few minutes, "the stuff you write about… do you believe in it?"
Fear flashed through Sarah, followed by the sharp chill of premonition.
"Yes," she answered her voice low. Somehow she kept her gaze steady on him, though a part of her wanted to claw and fight the cold certainty that was creeping through her. A look or relief passed her brother's face, and Sarah knew, with abrupt clarity, that he had been afraid that she didn't, that she would laugh at him for asking.
"Sarah," he said again, his voice softer, almost scared. "I've been seeing things. Strange creatures."
"I think they're following me."