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“What does that even mean?”
“It means you should be respectful and think carefully before you speak, only saying exactly what you mean.”
Hunter snorted loudly, a derisive sound I didn’t really appreciate.
Grant looked past me to Hunter, then sighed. “He’s right. You should just be quiet.”
I opened my mouth to argue—and sure, I planned to do so in a less than respectful way—when a sudden rush of wind picked up.
I hadn’t felt any magic before but I sure as hell didnow.It was wild, untamed, powerful and chaotic. It swirled around us and blurred out the world.
Grant caught my hand and held it. How had he known just how unsettled I was by it?
Who could blame me, though? Sitting on a log and having it turn into some weird roller coaster wasn’t something I had much experience with.
The food from the diner leapt into my throat and I wondered for a moment, if I threw up, where would it go? Back to the clearing? To wherever we were headed? Would it just disappear into the odd space between?
Thankfully I didn’t have to test it out, because the log settled and so did my stomach.
The forest was gone—or at least changed. A darker world had replaced the brightly lit clearing, as if a vibrant filter had been added to make the shadows deeper, the greens darker, everything crisper.
Someone approached us, a woman in a flowing dress made of a black fabric with sparks of white that looked like stars in the sky. Silver bracelets adorned her wrists and a multitude of necklaces wound around her throat and hung down her chest.
None of that surprised me, though.
Instead, it was her features I noticed first.
Impossibly cut cheekbones. Dark green eyes. Pointed ears that were sharp and carried back past her head.
She looked similar to what I’d glimpsed of Gran in those moments when her image had shimmered, when I’d glimpsed what was underneath.
“Well fuck me,” I whispered.
Grant offered a sharp look, which left little room for doubt about his thoughts.Right. Be quiet.
“Welcome,” the woman said, her voice with an almost musical quality to it. “I’m Anya.”
Grant rose, his hand drawn into a fist as though to stop the blood flow from the cut. “We came to see Serrish.”
Anya looked over the three of us, but she stopped her gaze on me. “And why would you bringthathere?”
That?I straightened my back, ready to give her a piece of my mind. Like she had room to talk? With her long ears and weirdly angular face?
Hunter wrapped a hand around my mouth. It seemed he felt even a sharp word wouldn’t stop me.Probably smart.“She’s a medium and connected to the problems Serrish has offered to helpus with.”
Anya didn’t move her gaze from me, and it felt far too invasive, as though she were sliding through my brain and picking it apart.Wait, can she do that? Can they read minds?“I was told to expect a human.”
So why exactly is she acting like it’s a shock?She was probably doing that power move where someone pretended to be surprised just so they can show disgust.
Whatever.Thankfully she wasn’t the one we were meeting.
“Do you know the way to Serrish’s tent?” she asked.
Grant nodded.
Anya held her hand out in a flourish so smooth and over the top that I rolled my eyes. “Go then. If you have any other issues, please come see me.” She paused, then offered one more dismissive and ugly look my way. “But leavethatoutside my tent.”
The words that bubbled up inside me were impressive in the width and depth of their vulgarness. Thankfully, Hunter still hadn’t removed his hand.
