Excerpt: Moonskin

With a bag of groceries in his left arm, Banner slouched against the lamppost in front of his great-uncle's vacation house and watched the burglar punch in a code on the front door panel. The woman was wearing a black thermal suit with a hood which covered her hair. Her glove covered fingers swept the keypad in quick ease. A second later, the door hissed open.

“Bravo,” Banner said, finally breaking the silence. “That took you about ten seconds.”

The woman paused and turned her head. The hood shadowed part of her face, but he could tell she had a burnished complexion and familiar eyes the color of twilight. “It would have taken two if you had not changed the code.” The voice wasn't so familiar. It had the texture of dark wind.

“I could ask you what you are doing here.” He straightened and walked forward. The woman didn't move, even when he stood toe to toe with her. “This is my home now.”

She regarded him solemnly. “In his will, Jorge Helado gave me an open invitation. I was under the impression that the new owner wasn't going to be here until a week from now.”

“Well, you're mistaken.” She seemed cool and collected, as if she wasn't perturbed at all that she had been caught breaking and entering. “I wasn't informed of this.”

“You can contact my lawyer if you want proof that I'm telling the truth.”

“I think I will.”

It was then that she moved back, but instinctively, he reached out to touch her elbow. She froze.

“What are you doing here?” This time, he wasn't referring to the reason that she had given before.

Her lips faintly thinned. “Perhaps you should invite me in.”