There’s a presence. It wasn’t there a second ago. Instinctively I pull my expanding bo from my waist and turn, ready to attack. I tell myself that I’m overreacting, but that doesn’t stop me.
A man steps out of the shadows, looking at me silently. I swallow, slowly lowering the bo and wondering if I should leave. I really, REALLY want to make a run for it. He’s the last person I expected to see.
“Grandfather,” I say.
“Adanna,” he says. It used to terrify me, when I was younger. His face is so much like my father’s that they could be twins, but his expression is as cold and as hard as flint. “I need to speak with—”
“Father is busy right now,” I say as I hear someone running in our direction. I know exactly who it is without looking, and I can’t let Grandfather meet Sunny. He’ll probably hate Sunny as much as he hates Mama, and I will NOT let my boyfriend go through the problems that Mama did. Yes, I know it was unavoidable for her, since Papa was his heir, but I’m just the useless granddaughter. It has nothing to do with him.
“Adanna!” I hear Sunny call out. I almost groan.
“I will have him contact you,” I say before turning and racing away. I grab Sunny’s wrist on the way and drag him along behind me for a few steps. He’s so busy looking at Grandfather that he almost falls over with my pull.
