Kori nodded.“That’s what I said, but she just gave me a wobbly smile and asked for a place to hide.”
Elida stood up.“She said hide?”
“That was the word she used.”
Elida put her shoes on and was heading down the block a moment later.
She heard the rumble of the motorcycle and saw someone in hunter leathers heading for the house in question.
“Oh, shit.”She threw up a ward on the sidewalk and kept walking at a brisk pace.Wymol walked next to her and took her hand.They were in front of the hunter in a moment.
“Private property, hunter.”
The hunter removed their helmet.“I understand.I just want to know why someone put her up for tracking, Elida.”
A bit of relief went through her when the orc’s feminine features looked at her with a kind smile.
Elida nodded and walked up to the door.“I just learned that she was here five minutes ago.One of my daughters offered her a home to shelter in.”She knocked with slow wraps.She opened the door, and the house was empty.Elida called out, “Hello!Aida!”
The reply came, “Out back.I didn’t want to get paint on anything.”
Elida walked through the house and saw Aida doing what Aida did.Painting.An art seer was unusual, but she could craft images of murders and assassinations in amazing detail.
Elida watched the portrait taking place, and she saw Aida’s body, three hunters, and an angry unicorn.
“Aida, please turn so I can introduce you to my baby’s father.”
Aida turned, and Elida gasped.The cheeky cherubic woman looked hollow.Her cheeks were sunken, her eyes were hollow, and as the wind blew, her ribs were visible.She’d lost over twenty-five percent of her body weight.
“Aida, what happened?”
“Nothing, Elida.I can’t fight family, but I can run.It doesn’t leave time for eating, though.And I see Never has arrived to claim the contract.”
Never said, “Aida, you know me better than that.”
“I thought I knew them, too, but then I ended up blamed and hunted through nineteen cities and twelve principalities.”Aida looked at Never.“I want to run again, but I don’t have much energy left.”
Never walked to her and crouched.“Aida.What happened to you?”
Aida washed her brush, cleaned it, and set it aside to dry.“I...It’s so stupid.”
She looked at Elida and Wymol.“Perhaps not something for strangers.”
“I will swear myself to secrecy but will not leave her alone.”
Aida smiled.“Right.The baby.Okay, I will take your word.”
Aida stood there and explained first love, meeting her sister’s fiancé and finding out it was Aida’s destined mate.She stayed away from them until they got closer to the wedding, and then there was an issue with a volcano.Aida escaped using the fiancé’s shifted form, and her sister attacked her when they got to safety.The attacks began immediately, and with no place to hide, she had gone on the run.
Six months later, she was in Redbird and probably wouldn’t make it to the next city.
Aida stood and said, “So, that is where things are.I am sorry, Elida, I just needed a place to rest for a few days.Don’t blame Miika or the others.”
Elida rubbed her forehead.“They all knew?”
“Yup.You have raised very unified young ladies.”
“You are talking like you aren’t just a year older than Miika.”
