I leaned against a wall papered with torn flyers and wondered for the hundredth time that night what I was doing. I'd waited almost a year to fulfill my promise to Naida. A time in which the memory of the ondine crouched behind a hydrangea bush had arisen at unexpected moments, bringing with it flashes of worry. When I arrived in San Aurelio this morning, I'd intended to bring her immediately back to the safety of Haverleau. But I couldn't bring myself to do it and had instead watched from a distance. She spent most of her time alone and there'd been numerous opportunities to approach. Early in the morning when she left for school. In the afternoon when she went for a long run on the streets of the city. Even when she snuck out of her bedroom window to come to this ratty club. I sighed and once again examined the aura that flared to life at midnight. The white light shimmered around her in a halo, brighter and bigger than anything I'd ever seen. She now shone in the darkness of the club, like a dancer on stage under a spotlight.
