Page 11 of Hunted
“Why even have a Royal Selection, then?!”
Tallin raised a paw. “Maybe we should keep our voices down,” he suggested, bringing his tone to just above a whisper. “We don’t want anyone to hear this, do we?”
He was right. I didn’t want anyone to know I had a Fate bond with Valerian. I didn’t even want to know about itmyself. “This is unreal. As if I didn’t have enough problems, now I’m bound to the man sitting a few doors down from us? This is just brilliant.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, but maybe there is some good to this.”
“Good?”
“If Valerian and you are… fated mates—”
“—stop it, please.” I shuddered. “Ew. We’re never using that term, ever again.”
Tallin paused, then nodded. “Right… as I was saying, if you and Valerian are in fact Fate bound, it would explain why he and I are the only two Arcadian creatures who haven’t forgotten who you are. It would also explain why everyone has likely forgotten him, as well.” Tallin paused. “And me.”
“You?” I cocked my head to one side.
“I didn’t recognize you when I first saw you, I admit… but in all the commotion of your escape, I hadn’t realized the moon children didn’t recognize me, either. It wasn’t until your brother returned and promptly chased me out of the village that my mind started coming back to me.”
“They chased you out… were you hurt?”
“They were fast,” Tallin grinned. “I was faster.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s… I’m so sorry, Tallin.”
“It’s in the past,” he said. “I escaped, and I came to find you. The point is, we know who you are because of our bonds. They must have protected us from the crone’s magic.”
I shook my head. “But… wait. Aren’t family Fate bound?”
Tallin smiled. “You would think so, but no. Only powerful magics, or Fate itself, can bind two people together, and rarely does Fate bind parents to children, or siblings. Our bond came at great expense. It was only possible because your father and mother are the ruling Royals of Windhelm.”
I sank against the door. “So, whatever I did in my dream that night caused you and Valerian to get caught up in my mess because you’re both bound to me.”
“It would seem so.”
I shook my head. “Great. Because I needed more bad news.”
Tallin patted the bed with his paw. “Sit,” he said. “Because like I said, it’s not all bad news.”
I walked over to the bed and sat down. “I fail to see a bright side to this.”
“The deal you made with that crone got us into this situation… fixing thatonething could get us all out of it again.”
I paused, took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I guess…”
“Prin—Amara… what’s in the past, is in the past. Now is the time to look forward.”
“I’m finding it really difficult, Tallin. I don’t know what’s out there for us… all I know is what I left behind. What I made us all leave behind.”
“I know. But think about it this way… we are all here, now. Your grandmothers know who you are, which means the crone’s magic didn’t reach Earth. As long as we are here, we are safe. And as long as you and Valerian share a Fate bond… we know we can trust him.”
I looked down at him. “Can we, though?”
“I would bet on it. I do not think Valerian is here to cause you harm. I also don’t think he has anything to do with the crone or what happened to you. I think he’s caught in the middle of all this… which means you should probably cut him some slack.”
“Slack?”
“It’s a human expression. I thought it appropriate to use one, given the circumstances. I also… well, you fled his little cubby hole pretty quickly. I could hear your frantic breaths from here, and your conversation.”