knew he was talking about me. He was
talking about me and them. Was he comparing me to a dumb animal?
Anger flooded me and the darkness turned to water as I struggled to
reach the surface, unable to breathe.
I woke gasping and expected
to find Ruby there, watching me. What I saw instead was almost as
shocking as the dreams.
“ There, there.” Steed was
trying to comfort me, brush my bangs from my face. I jerked a
little at his touch. “Rough one, was it?”
Was he teasing me? I might have glared at him. He laughed. I looked
for Ruby and Chevelle. They were several yards away, watching me,
pretending not to. I wanted to groan when I saw Chevelle’s tight
jaw.
I sat up, wrapping my arms
around my knees to bury my head. As I became fully awake, I
wondered if Steed had been teasing me all along, trying to irritate
me for fun. Surely he had no real interest in that human girl
(curse the thought trying to surface that I was part human). I wondered how I
could have such distaste for someone who was so like me. I lifted
my eyes just enough to peer over my forearms. I looked for the girl
and found her, sitting as far away as possible without being
considered outside of the camp, with her puppy.
No, she was not like
me.
Out of the corner of my
eye, I noticed Steed’s grin as he watched me scrutinize her. I
glared at him full force in response. All I received in reply was a
light laugh as he got up and trotted across the camp to play with
the puppy. I vowed not to give him the satisfaction of watching
them.
But, apparently, I wasn’t
one to hold to my word. Because when I saw him close to her,
talking low and calling her my sunny nicknames, I found myself
acting without regard to anything like dignity.
Everyone in the camp turned
to stare in astonishment as the small blonde girl smacked Steed
with all her might across the face. Everyone but me… because I had
already been focused on them. I only had a moment to enjoy it
before the pain and blackness came again.
When I woke this time, Ruby
was beside me. I forced myself to sit up so I could find them. The
girl was sitting alone, looking completely confused and ashamed,
and rubbing her temples. Steed was standing away from both of us,
talking to Grey, turned mostly with his back toward me. I could see
the edge of a bright red welt on his cheek.
I smiled with satisfaction
as I lay back down to recover.
Though no one could have
known it was me, I was quiet the next few days. My attack seemed to
have quelled the interest of the others in the human and I couldn’t
have been happier about it. Silence was the easiest way to mask my
contentment.
I knew they’d be getting
rid of her soon, though I’d not heard any more discussion on the
matter. I tried not to wonder how much longer I had before we found
the council, or they us. I could see a few of them now, but I
couldn’t recall their names or anything about them. Only random
images had returned. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone; it seemed
hardly worth the commotion it caused. Commotion made my head
ache.
The grass thickened and the
trees began to look more like those of the village, though not near
as large. We’d stopped near a pond to camp and I was considering
going in as Ruby took the girl for her evening’s privacy. The men
gathered nearby, talking in hushed voices. I decided it wasn’t
worth eavesdropping so I looked out over the water, watching the
dragonflies bounce just above the surface.
Their discussion became
heated and I absentmindedly turned toward them. My eyes caught a
flicker of movement past them, in a tree line several yards away
and then, suddenly, Chevelle was gone and Steed and Grey were
posted in front of me protectively before I had a chance to see
what it was. Or who it was. Why hadn’t we heard the wolves
signal?
Panic washed through me
before I could think rationally. Who had come for us? For
me?
But I knew, even if
it was council , that
was who we were looking for. I cursed
talking about me and them. Was he comparing me to a dumb animal?
Anger flooded me and the darkness turned to water as I struggled to
reach the surface, unable to breathe.
I woke gasping and expected
to find Ruby there, watching me. What I saw instead was almost as
shocking as the dreams.
“ There, there.” Steed was
trying to comfort me, brush my bangs from my face. I jerked a
little at his touch. “Rough one, was it?”
Was he teasing me? I might have glared at him. He laughed. I looked
for Ruby and Chevelle. They were several yards away, watching me,
pretending not to. I wanted to groan when I saw Chevelle’s tight
jaw.
I sat up, wrapping my arms
around my knees to bury my head. As I became fully awake, I
wondered if Steed had been teasing me all along, trying to irritate
me for fun. Surely he had no real interest in that human girl
(curse the thought trying to surface that I was part human). I wondered how I
could have such distaste for someone who was so like me. I lifted
my eyes just enough to peer over my forearms. I looked for the girl
and found her, sitting as far away as possible without being
considered outside of the camp, with her puppy.
No, she was not like
me.
Out of the corner of my
eye, I noticed Steed’s grin as he watched me scrutinize her. I
glared at him full force in response. All I received in reply was a
light laugh as he got up and trotted across the camp to play with
the puppy. I vowed not to give him the satisfaction of watching
them.
But, apparently, I wasn’t
one to hold to my word. Because when I saw him close to her,
talking low and calling her my sunny nicknames, I found myself
acting without regard to anything like dignity.
Everyone in the camp turned
to stare in astonishment as the small blonde girl smacked Steed
with all her might across the face. Everyone but me… because I had
already been focused on them. I only had a moment to enjoy it
before the pain and blackness came again.
When I woke this time, Ruby
was beside me. I forced myself to sit up so I could find them. The
girl was sitting alone, looking completely confused and ashamed,
and rubbing her temples. Steed was standing away from both of us,
talking to Grey, turned mostly with his back toward me. I could see
the edge of a bright red welt on his cheek.
I smiled with satisfaction
as I lay back down to recover.
Though no one could have
known it was me, I was quiet the next few days. My attack seemed to
have quelled the interest of the others in the human and I couldn’t
have been happier about it. Silence was the easiest way to mask my
contentment.
I knew they’d be getting
rid of her soon, though I’d not heard any more discussion on the
matter. I tried not to wonder how much longer I had before we found
the council, or they us. I could see a few of them now, but I
couldn’t recall their names or anything about them. Only random
images had returned. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone; it seemed
hardly worth the commotion it caused. Commotion made my head
ache.
The grass thickened and the
trees began to look more like those of the village, though not near
as large. We’d stopped near a pond to camp and I was considering
going in as Ruby took the girl for her evening’s privacy. The men
gathered nearby, talking in hushed voices. I decided it wasn’t
worth eavesdropping so I looked out over the water, watching the
dragonflies bounce just above the surface.
Their discussion became
heated and I absentmindedly turned toward them. My eyes caught a
flicker of movement past them, in a tree line several yards away
and then, suddenly, Chevelle was gone and Steed and Grey were
posted in front of me protectively before I had a chance to see
what it was. Or who it was. Why hadn’t we heard the wolves
signal?
Panic washed through me
before I could think rationally. Who had come for us? For
me?
But I knew, even if
it was council , that
was who we were looking for. I cursed
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