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“Not a wolf.” A statement.
“Human.”
A pause. “Could go either way.”
“What I was thinking.” Another look passed between them. “Send word to Master Grey. I’ll keep her here for the time being.”
A subtle nod, and then the second man left. I didn’t even get his name.
Not that it mattered. It was just easier for me to remember people if I knew who they were.
I shifted, trying to figure out if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Did I walk into something I couldn’t get out of? Was I going to be a prisoner? I wrecked my mind, trying to find anything I could tell this man in front of me about my mother, about anything she might’ve known that would inform him that she and Master Grey were acquaintances. But I couldn’t think of anything.
My mother would be so ashamed if she could see me now.
After another moment, the second man came out. I wasn’t even sure how long he had been gone. But every beat of my heart felt like a minute, five minutes, had passed.
The man exchanged a glance with Kent and then left.
Clearly, he had a gift with words.
“It looks like it’s your lucky day, Miss Foster,” Kent said. “Master Grey will see you now.”
Freya
Kent led me into the fortress. I huddled near to him, but was careful not to get too close. The last thing I wanted was something to sneak up behind me and cause me to inadvertently run into him. In fact, if I didn’t have to touch him in any capacity, that would be a success. There was something both alluring and repellent about him. It had nothing to do with his supernatural status, and everything to do with his cold demeanor.
The walls were made of black stone. I wasn’t sure if it was obsidian or something like onyx that was just painted a glistening black. Candelabras hung from the walls. Besides that, the walls were bare like the night sky.
Our footsteps echoed off the structure, even though my shoes were flat. Part of me wanted to reach up and touch the wall, just to see what it might feel like. Despite the darkness, the shadows crisscrossed against the smooth stone and I wondered if it looked as silky as it resembled. Another thing that struck me as odd was how silent the whole place was. Besides our footsteps, there was no sound. This place was supposed to be an academy filled with shifters and humans alike. How was it there was no sound?
Kent stopped in front of a stone doorway with a gargoyle to the side. The gargoyle had hooded eyes with two tusks sticking out of its mouth. It looked like a guard dog.
Kent reached up and used the knocker to inform the inhabitant of the room of our presence. I didn’t know why I was suddenly so nervous, but I couldn’t help fidgeting. It almost felt like the weight of the moment encapsulated my very essence. If I blew this, where would I go from here?
Two flames on either side of the door flickered above us. The shadows danced across Kent's chiseled face, and made him seem more intimidating than he was. The scar that ran vertically down the left side of his face, slicing through his eye and curving under his chin, seemed like a warning.
After a tense moment of silence, the door groaned open and there stood a small man with a smile on his face. He was slight in stature, with grey-black hair and wrinkled black eyes. He wore robes, just like Kent, except his were aligned with gold.
“Freya,” he said in a soothing voice. “I was wondering when we would finally meet. Your mother’s told me so much about you.”
“Has she?” I perked a brow, ignoring the way Kent seemed to be studying this conversation.
“Oh, yes.” The small man nodded once. “I’m glad you are here safely. Come.” He beckoned me forward with a wave. “There’s much to discuss.”
I didn’t move, even as the man turned and made his way back through the door. I didn’t know why I was nervous. This man seemed nice. He seemed warm and welcoming. This was too new. I didn’t know what to expect. Part of me just wished he would tell me exactly what was going on and why my mother would send me to him. It wasn’t like I was a shifter. I couldn’t attend his academy, as far as I knew. Unless they started accepting humans as part of the student body, I would be completely out of place here. And I knew the tension between the humans and the shifters was only increasing thanks to the monsters that lived in the forest and feasted on blood.
“I didn’t realize you frighten so easily,” Kent whispered behind me.
I whipped my head around to glare. His lips twisted sardonically as he looked at me with narrowed eyes. He had been waiting for this moment, I realized. He was waiting for me to finally give up.
But I couldn’t now. My pride wouldn’t let me.
Even if I still didn’t know whether I could trust the small man or not, I had to show Kent that I wasn’t afraid. And if my mother sent me here, I should trust him. I should trust her, at the very least.
“Well? Let’s not dally. I’m sure you’re hungry.”
My stomach rumbled before he could even finish the sentence. Kent barked a laugh behind me. I clenched my teeth to keep myself from saying something I might later regret. If I hadn’t been following the old man so closely, I might’ve said it anyway. As it was, I didn’t want the old man to form judgment of me based on my actions with Kent.
