Stolen Heart - By Bennett, Sawyer Page 0,26

became her surrogate mother and she enjoyed a nice, easy going relationship with her father.

But as is the way of life, things change. Aunt Mary met and fell in love with a traveling businessman. Within a year, they had married and Aunt Mary moved away. Annika still visited her aunt a great deal, but it wasn’t the same as having Aunt Mary in her life every day. And without her aunt, Renard Foss felt that Annika was suffering without a constant female presence in her life.

Renard had not made any attempts to re-marry after Brianna died. She was his one true love and he knew love like that was not possible again. It was easier to have Mary move in and take over the raising of Annika. But now with Mary gone, Renard felt he had no choice but to marry…for Annika’s benefit.

Annika snorted to herself when she thought of that. For her benefit. Ironic. You see, Renard was not picky about who he married, and within three months of Mary’s departure, Annika found herself with a new stepmother and a stepbrother. And at eleven years old, Annika’s life became a living hell.

Not willing to dwell on the past further, Annika did a quick glance around Myridian. They had entered town through the main gates and it was bustling with activity. It had not changed much over the years since Annika had moved away. The streets were paved and the sidewalks were bricked. All of the businesses and houses were built in the traditional Vyronasian style. Slate stone walls, thatched roofs and open windows were all that was needed for the temperate climate.

“Where do we need to go?” Kieran asked.

“My aunt’s house. She lives near the outskirts of town.”

“She has the supplies?”

“Yes, plus I can check in on her and see how she’s doing. That is if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Has she lived here her whole life?”

“Most of her life. She has just recently moved back.”

Annika’s mind drifted as they walked. She was excited to see Mary. She was a mother and a friend, the one bright light in Annika’s dark life. There had been more than one occasion that Annika had lamented Mary’s choice to move back to Myridian. It meant that Annika could not visit as much as she would like to. Her memories here were just too painful to allow her to spend much time in this dimension. Maybe she would talk to Mary again about moving to New York. Then she could leave this hell-hole of an AltVeritas behind forever.

***

Clearly, Annika wasn’t up for much conversation. He suspected it would be like this their entire time together. He’d change that but not now. He had noticed that she was completely on edge, tension radiating off of her. She clearly did not like being here.

Kieran followed as Annika walked quickly through town. People stared at them, given that their clothing was unusual. It wasn’t that they had never seen clothing from The First Dimension, but they didn’t see it often. It usually meant visitors were in town, and that was always interesting.

Annika kept her head down and continued her swift walk. She clearly didn’t want to be recognized. Kieran followed, taking in the city. He had been to Myridian before, on several occasions actually. But places changed all the time and he always kept an alert eye as they moved through town. Military training he assumed.

As Annika made a left turn down a narrow street, she ran straight into a man. He supposed it was because she had been keeping her head down and had not really looked where she was going. Kieran watched as the man brought his arms up to steady Annika and he felt his blood boil. His first thoughts were that no one was to touch Annika…unless it was him. Now where did that come from? Kieran had never been possessive or jealous.

Glaring at the man, he noted he had blond hair that was slightly balding on top. He had made the dreaded fashion mistake of using a comb over to hide it, which of course, made it all the more obvious. He was tall and lanky, and dressed in wealthy attire. His arms held onto Annika’s shoulders, a move that caused Kieran’s fists to clench.

Annika looked up to the man, probably to mutter an apology, but when her eyes made contact with his face, her whole body stiffened. Kieran instantly went on alert but the man’s face split into a