Page 4 of Hunted
She was concerned, maybe even scared.
None of what had just happened was going to besorted quickly, and we all had every right to worry.
CHAPTERTWO
Ihadn’t realized just how tired I was until I was given a chance to bathe. I was shown up to the bathroom, where I was allowed to run a bath and rest for a while. My feet were pulsing, I was hungry, and I felt like I hadn’t slept in days, but lying in warm, bubbly water was exactly where I needed to be right now.
The events that had led me here, brought me to my grandmothers’ house on Earth, felt nightmarish. Jarring. Like dreams someone else was describing to me. From the crone in the woods, to Valerian almost appearing as if out of thin air, to the shadow monster that tried to catch and kill us both.
How could this be happening?
I didn’t dare close my eyes, because whenever I did, I would see it. That tall creature with those long limbs, and those massive, broken antlers. Was that really an agent of Fate sent to destroy me? Had I become one of Fate’s loose ends?
Whatever the case, I was glad we had left that creature back in Arcadia. There was nowhere for us to run, back there. At least here, we could rest. We could regroup. My grandmothers were skilled human mages—one of them was going to figure out a way to help us.
They had to. Otherwise, I didn’t know what I was going to do… or if I would ever be able to forgive myself for what I had already done.
I had been left some of my mother’s old clothes to wear. When I was done bathing, I changed into them. Though they had lived in a wardrobe for a while, they weren’t stale, and they were oddly comfortable, and warm; pajama bottoms and a hand sewn blue jumper with a couple of small holes in it.
My mother must have made these, I thought, as I examined myself in the bathroom mirror. My eyes sparkled bright and blue, and my cheeks were rosy and pink. Were it not for the antlers that curled around my head like a crown, and my pointed ears, I could have passed for a human.
I shook my head.
I’m not staying here long enough for that to matter,I thought, and I exited the bathroom and headed into my grandmothers’ living room. It was a quaint, cozy little place. The floors were carpeted, and creaky, the walls pressed in a little bit in a way that made it feel like the house was hugging me, and not in a claustrophobic way, and the air was thick with the inviting scent of… chicken soup?
As I entered the living room, Grandmother Pepper called for me to sit at the table. As soon as my butt touched the chair, she was there, delivering a bowl of soup filled with bits of chicken and vegetables. She served me a piece of bread to eat with it, then she sat across from me. A moment later, mother Helen and Mother Evie joined, with Tallin nestled in her arms. He was getting the bestscratchies—it was clear he was enjoying himself.
If I wasn’t careful, he was going to get used to that.
“Please,” said Pepper, “Eat… don’t let us stop you.”
I glanced at each of the women sitting across from me. “It’s a little difficult when I feel like I’m about to be interrogated.”
“We aren’t going to interrogate you, dear child,” said Helen. “But I think it would be best if you went over what happened to you again while you ate.”
I took a deep breath, sampled some of Pepper’s soup, and when I was ready to speak, I spoke. It was easy to get my story straight; everything was so fresh in my mind. The Royal Selection, Radulf, my dream, the monster. There wasn’t a detail I couldn’t recall with almost perfect clarity… which wasn’t great for me, because it meant I was probably going to live with them for a long while.
By the time I was done with my soup, I was also done with the story. The bread had left me feeling satisfied and full, but Pepper insisted on pouring me a cup of English tea. Two sugars and milk, just the way my mother liked it. She also offered me a plate of biscuits, partly covered in chocolate.
I hadn’t been able to resist. We didn’t get much chocolate in Arcadia; only whatever my mother was able to bring back whenever she came to visit my grandparents. With the cup of tea in my hands, I waited while my grandmothers discussed and considered, watching the feather of steam rise from the lip of the cup.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that,” Evie said. “It sounds terrifying.”
“I didn’t mean for any of it to happen,” I said. “I just didn’t want to go through with the Royal Selection.”
“I would’ve been in the same boat as you. Being told who I had to marry? No way.”
“There are some cases where rebelliousness carries consequences,” said Mother Helen. “I don’t intend on making you feel worse, dear, but it does appear as though a lack of communication caused you to act in a manner that has evidentlymadethings worse.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. But my parents wouldn’t tell me why they needed me to finish the Royal Selection. They didn’t make Radulf go through with it, but I had to sit there, day after day, and watch all these idiots fight for my hand. I didn’t like it.”
“Your mother has been known to be a little stubborn sometimes.”
“Don’t tell her we said that,” Evie added.
“She gets it from you,” Pepper said.
Evie looked shocked at the accusation. “Sheabsolutelygets it from you.”