He gives me a speculative look. “I did not say I disliked it.”
That response gives me all kinds of confusing feels. “Oh.”
Aron frowns and then moves forward, brushing his fingers over my upper lip. “Your nose is bleeding.”
“It is?” I touch my face and sure enough, the wetness there isn’t just rain, it’s blood. “It must have been the change in the weather.” I put my sleeve to my nose to try and blot the bleeding. “I’m going to go tell Vian the good news. How long do you think you can get it to stop raining?”
Aron watches me closely, eyes narrowed, as if he’s not thinking about rain at all. After a long, tense moment, he says, “Perhaps a week. After that I would need to return to this area. I do not have the control I do in the heavens.”
“A week’s a good start. I appreciate it. It’s the right thing to do.”
“You make it sound as if I’m doing it for you,” Aron says, amused. He studies my face for a moment longer and then releases me.
“Well, aren’t you?” I retort back. “Doing this for me? Unless you were planning on doing it before I said anything out of the goodness of your own heart?”
“No,” he admits with a chuckle. “It did not occur to me.”
“That’s why I’m here,” I tell him sassily, turning back toward the cottage.
“So you can be my heart?” he asks as I start to walk away.
My own heart skips a beat. I smile as I hold my sleeve to my nose and head for the cottage. Even before I make it to the door, the heavy, oppressive moisture in the air feels as if it’s drying and in the distance, sunlight pours onto the trees as if the clouds are breaking up overhead.
Vian meets me at the door, her eyes wide with surprise. “He did it? Truly?”
I nod. “He says it will last about a week, after that he’d need to come back. I hope that’s all right.”
She sags against the doorframe. “I can’t believe it. You must have a great influence on him.”
“Me? Nah. I mean, he’s a good guy, but he needs a bit of steering now and then. I don’t think it occurs to him to think like a mortal.” I put an arm around her waist to support her. “Why don’t you come sit down inside?”
“I can’t believe he did it,” she whispers, stunned. Vian lets me lead her to the table and sits down, her expression blank. Eventually she looks over at me, her expression wary. “It’s not a trick?”
I like Vian, but her reaction is making me feel defensive for Aron. “He really isn’t that bad—”
She grabs my hand. “Swear to me he’s not lying. Swear to me that he’s made it stop. That we haven’t offended him and this is but a trick—”
“Why would he lie?” I pull my hand from hers. “Aron can be a dick at times, but he’s never downright cruel. I’ve never known him to go back on his word and we’ve been around each other pretty much twenty-four-seven since the Anticipation. When he says he’ll do something, he’ll do it. Changing the weather was easy for him.”
“Easy,” she whispers, stunned. She looks at me again and shakes her head slowly. “You have more of an influence on him than you think.”
“Why’s that?” I mean, it’s flattering to think that, but I don’t know that she’s right.
She hesitates, worry on her face, then bites her lip. “We didn’t want to say anything…but you two have been so kind…”
“What is it?” I demand. “Tell me.”
“Aron,” Vian says slowly. “He’s been here before. A few days ago. And he brought the rain with him.”
Her words confuse me for a moment. Aron here? But he just got here last night with me…
Oh. Another one of his Aspects.
39
Anger flares in my mind, and frustration. She wasn’t going to say anything? I jump to my feet—and then stop, looking at her terrified face. Sympathy replaces any anger. She doesn’t know him like I do, and it’s clear she’s scared she’s going to lose her family, her farm, or worse.
I put my hand over hers. “I’m going to get Aron—my Aron—and bring him in and then I want you guys to tell us everything, all right?”
She gives a quick, jerky nod.
Furious, I jump up to get my Aron.
A short time later, Vian sits down at the table in front of