Erin's voice grew fainter until...

"Annabelle! Aren't you listening?"

Annabelle shook herself out of her fascination with her sister's boyfriend's picture and turned to Erin.

"I'm sorry. It's just so beautiful."

Erin smiled. "Yes, he is, but he's taken."

A laugh escaped Annabelle's lips. "No, sweetie, not him. It."

"It?" Erin frowned.

"The aura. It's rare to see one so perfectly photographed, and even then it's always faked. Wonder how he did this?"

"I told you, he didn't do anything. He didn't even want his picture taken."

"Whatever. So, where should I start?"

"You're the investigative reporter."

"Honey, I write absurd pieces for a supermarket tabloid. I'm hardly a reporter."

"Well, you were trained to be. So do it." Erin crossed her arms over her chest and gave Annabelle a pointed stare.

Erin really knew where to stick it, didn't she?

"Okay. But even Lois Lane needed a lead now and again. So, help me out. Where does he hang out? Friends? How about his address, phone number?" Annabelle got out her notebook and pen and waited.

"His address is 572 College Street. His brother, Gaelen, lives in town, too." She sat up, watching Annabelle copying this information. "G-A-E-L-E-N, I think it is."

"Unusual. What's he like?"

"Don't know. Haven't met him. Lucas says he's really busy and not very sociable. He's a professor at the University. Celtic Lit."

"All right, Erin. I'll find him, but you'd better be ready to accept the truth, whatever it is."

A fleeting shadow of fear crossed Erin's eyes, and a long moment passed before she answered. "I will."

Annabelle sat by Erin's side even after her sister drifted back to sleep, and spent the remaining hours until daybreak trying to doze in the chair or watching--for what she didn't know-out the large window. After their mother came to take Annabelle's place at Erin's bedside, Annabelle left the hospital on her mission.

Naturally, she checked Lucas's apartment first.

As she raised her hand to knock, the door flew open. She jumped back a step, expecting someone to come out.

An empty moment stretched into two. Still no one appeared at the door.

"Hello!" She peered inside the open doorway. "Anyone home?"

Annabelle waited a moment, listening for an answer. Her eyes focused on a hallway, one she guessed led to the bedroom. About to enter the apartment, she stepped across the threshold, but froze at the sound of a crash, followed by shattering glass.

"Who's there? Lucas?" Her conscience rang an alarm at entering a person's home without an invitation. But Lucas Riley was practically family.

Was it Lucas smashing up his home?

Her breath caught in her throat as she took in the state of the apartment. Sofa cushions lay on the floor and the desk in the corner had been swept clean, down to the desktop computer that sat precariously on the edge. A squat bookcase standing beside the desk was empty.