The Day Human Way Read Free Page A

she stared at the door like she could see inside it.
    “Devin Alexander, I know you’re in there,” she complained, hands on her hips, tapping her feet. Devin still didn’t reply. It was childish, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to deal with her at that moment, and part of him wanted to make her angry.
    Nessa backed away from the door like she was contemplating trying to look in the window next to it. She paused before deciding not to, and instead stood in the street staring at the house. Devin was sure that she felt him through the bond, but he still didn’t reply.
    “Fine,” she muttered, turning on her heels to walk away. She paused as Ronan and Turner approached.
    “Find him?” Ronan asked.
    “Oh yeah, I found him,” she replied before turning back to glare at the house.
    “And he won’t talk to you,” Turner interpreted correctly.
    “Nope,” she added. This time her anger simmered a bit, and Devin could feel the hint of sadness in her voice. He had planned to stand up and greet Ronan and Turner to make Nessa even angrier that he had watched her try to talk to him, but he decided not to. He didn’t need the bond to see that under her anger was sadness.
    “Give him some time,” Turner added. He patted her shoulder as he passed her and continued on to the old man’s house. Nessa nodded, and with only one last look, she turned and walked back the way she came.
    Turner strolled up to the door and tried to turn the handle. He wasn’t one for formalities like knocking. Suddenly, he pulled his hand back, acting as if it zapped him with electricity. Ronan stood beside Turner, laughing away at his reaction.
    “Sidhe homes are made to warn the owner if someone is trying to enter that they haven’t given permission to. Unless you knock, and they let you in, it can be a bit painful to enter,” Ronan explained.
    “So we just sit here and knock like Nessa?” Turner asked. Devin saw the doubt crowd his face.
    “Yes,” Ronan replied, raising his fist to knock.
    “Or you could just join me in the grass,” Devin suggested loudly from his spot on the ground. Turner’s head snapped to him, and Devin’s best friend easily jumped the natural fence of intertwined growing bushes to join Devin. Ronan was a bit more cautious and looked for the gate to go through instead.
    “Still pouting?” Turner asked as he sat beside Devin. He stretched out amongst the tall blades of grass, finding the perfect spot that the rising sun was hitting as the day light began.
    Ronan joined them and sat beside Devin, staying as best he could to the shade. All night humans had some sensitivity to the sun, but shifters like Turner didn’t seem to care too much about the possibility of a sunburn. He seemed to enjoy the sun while most night humans cowered away from it. Devin always thought maybe Turner was more cat than wolf.
    “You really aren’t coming back to the palace?” Ronan inquired, unsure how to judge Devin. They had met only days ago, even if it seemed like Devin had been part of the sidhe for much longer.
    “Nessa needs her space,” Devin replied. At least that was the excuse Devin wanted to believe.
    “Or you need yours,” Turner suggested, opening one eye and then closing it again.
    “I don’t need space,” Devin replied. He didn’t. That much was true. “I know what I want. She doesn’t.”
    Ronan shook his head. “I told you; this is all tradition. Nessa didn’t have any other choice but to say yes to him. If she had not, it would have been a slight to his whole family. She would have been going back on her own father’s word.”
    “It may be tradition, but she could have said no. Some traditions need to be broken,” Devin remarked. Ronan didn’t look as shocked as Devin expected him to be. Instead, he seemed to contemplate the words.
    “I think you and my father must secretly be the same person. He’s always complaining about the traditions around here.” Ronan added, “But that might just be