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“There were a lot of animals, and that was weird, right?”
“Not really,” Emmie said.
I frowned. “No?”
She shook her head. “It was like my dreams.”
“Your dreams? Emmie… have you had dreams like this?”
“All the time. I have dreams about people changing into animals and into people again, and sometimes they fight.”
“Is it bloody when they fight?” I asked.
I’d hoped the carnage today wouldn’t scar my daughter for life. It was the kind of trauma that had people needing help for the rest of their lives.
“Yeah,” Emmie said. “But it’s nature.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, shocked at my daughter’s words. How did she know about this world when I hadn’t?
“They tell me in my dreams. People aren’t always like they look.”
“What do you mean?”
“They tell me that everyone wears a different face, and sometimes, it goes away, and we look on the outside how we are on the inside.”
I stared at my daughter. “Who tells you?”
“The animals,” Emmie said simply. “Can we watch some more TV?”
“Yeah,” I said, not knowing what else to say, and I turned the television back on. “Are you hungry?”
Emmie nodded, her eyes already glued to the screen again.
I stood, trying to keep it together. My whole world had been ripped apart, and I was still reeling in shock, but Emmie seemed to take it in her stride. We’d been in the middle of a fight today where a lot of people had died. They’ddied.
I’d tried to block out the fight around us by covering her eyes, but I hadn’t been able to shield her from seeing everything. Emmie wasn’t affected by that at all—or is seemed that way. She looked calm and relaxed, and none of it made sense.
I wished I could talk to Circe. I wished I was back home, doing my job, speaking to the people I knew and understood, living the life that I knew. I didn’t even have my phone with me now to check in with someone or call a friend who might be there for me.
I got up and walked to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Rune had been right—the kitchen was fully stocked with anything we could possibly need, from fresh foods to ready-made meals in the freezer and a pantry filled with snacks.
Questions rolled around in my mind. Why did Wesley have a safehouse? Who were the people who’d attacked us today? Who’d kidnapped us and why?
I didn’t have answers to any of these questions.
I made Emmie a grilled cheese sandwich and filled a glass with water, taking it to her. I pulled the coffee table closer to put the food on so she could eat while she watched her shows. I was glad she had something to keep her busy—I needed time to process.
While I walked through the large house, making myself acquainted with a place where we were going to stay, indefinitely, a loud buzzing sound made me freeze.
“Mommy!” Emmie called from the living room.
I hurried to the room, and the front door opened. Fear clutched at my throat, and I grabbed the closest thing to me that I could use as a weapon—a fruit bowl. Apples and pears tumbled to the ground as I upturned it and held it in front of me. I picked up an apple in my other hand to use as well, just in case. I had no idea how it was going to help, but I was terrified, and it had been my first reaction.
Wesley stepped into the house. Rune followed behind him.
When Wesley saw me, he stopped in his tracks. His eyes slid to the fruit bowl and the apple, and he frowned before a smile spread across his face.
“What are you planning to do with that?” he asked.
