The Hidden Legacy

thunder punctuated my words, and with a grim smile, I tucked the phone away, unlocked the door and let myself in the office.
I hit the lights, went straight to the mini fridge and snagged a bottle of cold water. I thumped it down on my desk, tucked my purse away, and sat down. I booted up my computer, pulled out a notepad and began to play back the messages from the answering machine. I’d managed maybe twenty minutes of peace and quiet before I heard Henry amble down the stairs from his apartment.
The temper I’d tried to keep at bay began to boil as soon as I heard those boots hit the hardwood floor. I set my jaw and did my best to ignore him. A gust of wind had our front door pushing in slightly from the difference in the pressure as the storm rolled closer.
Henry moved in my line of sight. “Hannah, do I have any messages?”
“Yes, you do.” Without sparing him a glance, I snatched a stack of messages from the desk and snapped my hand up in the air. “If you’d be so kind as to return them.”
“I’ll get right on that, this morning,” he drawled, taking the notes.
“That,” I said acidly, “would be a refreshing change.”
“Something sure has you riled up.” Henry leaned a hip on my desk. I could see him out of my peripheral vision. My shoulders stiffened when he smiled down at me.
He was baiting me. I knew it, and still I couldn’t help but snarl at him. “Get your ass off my desk.”
He started to laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever hear you cuss before.”
I kept working on the computer, and refused to spare him a glance. “Be assured Mr. Walker, the very last thing you want—is for me to curse you.”
In response to my words, a gust of wind pushed against the office and the front door slammed open, bouncing off the wall. Several file folders blew off my desk and I jumped up to grab them. Henry got up to close the door, flipping the lock so it wouldn’t blow open again. I knelt down to gather up the files and papers.
“Let me give you a hand.” Henry crouched down next to me and reached for a file.
“I’ve got them,” I said, pushing the files together. I jolted when I felt his hand on my arm.
“Here, darlin’.”
I shrugged his hand off, rejecting his assistance. “No thank you,” I said, rocking back on my heels and rising up. I brushed at my dress and went directly to my desk to begin to put the files in order.
Henry dropped a file on top of the ones I was attempting to reorganize. With a hiss of impatience I shoved it aside. I was opening my mouth to tell him to leave the files alone, when the storm broke.
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. The sky was so dark, it was as if night had fallen. Rain pelted down and I heard a tinny sound. I stepped to the front windows in time to see a hailstone ricochet off the ground. First a couple, then dozens began to bounce off the sidewalk out front. They morphed quickly from pea-size to bigger than quarters. The noise was incredible.
“Shit,” I said, worrying of possible hail damage to my car. I searched out with my powers. Element of air, I sent out silently, is there any real danger? The information was sent back to me swiftly. The storm would subside without any major damage. But for the next half hour it was going to put on a hell of a show.
A simultaneous explosion of lightning and thunder shook the building and the power went out. The strike had been close by. The office went pitch black, and Henry yanked me away from the windows.
“Get away from there!” he said, pulling me across the floor.
“Hey, hands off!” I smacked his hand off my arm.
“Damn it, Hannah,” Henry snarled, dropping his hand.
“Are you incapable of comprehending acceptable social niceties, or even professional workplace behavior?” I yelled over the storm.
Thunder shook the building as Henry got up in my face. “Do you have trouble understanding that you need to stay away from windows during a severe storm?”
My mood aligned itself to the storm, and furious, I got right up in his face as well. “If you put your hands on me one more time, you’ll regret it!”
The wind howled and the glass rattled in the panes. “Is there a basement?” he shouted over the storm.
I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s only a thunderstorm. The wind is simply having a tantrum.”
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Henry said, and with that, he grabbed my arm and hauled me into his office.
I fought him the whole way. But my soles on my shoes were slick and I slid across the floor as if it were an ice rink. He shoved me inside his windowless office and slammed the door behind us. “Listen sister. You and me, we need to have a talk.”
Glancing at his desk, I picked up the first thing I saw. I spun around and threw his coffee mug straight at his head. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
He ducked and the mug shattered against the wall behind him. He reached out, grabbed me by the arms. “Knock it off!” he said, yanking me up to my toes.
I struggled and tried to kick at him, all that got me was pulled up tight to his chest. My breath whooshed out when our chests rapped together.
“Get your hands off me,” I managed.
“You like my hands on you.” To prove his point he ran them down my back.
“I most certainly do not!”
He leaned down, until we were nose to nose. “Yeah, you do. Admit it.”
I grabbed ahold of his shirt. “You arrogant motherfu—”
He cut off my words by grinding his mouth down on mine. For a few seconds I kept my mouth clamped shut. Then he slid his hands