AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Who is this guy?” I asked. “Is he with the dog beast and the snake woman?”
“A cerberus and echidna,” she corrected, surprising me. “You wear the uniform for a house of learning but are woefully ignorant. What have you been doing for the last eighteenyears?” She scoffed. “Ignoring your studies and lifting your skirt at every boy, I suspect.”
My cheeks heated.
“Typical. You young girls. Just as empty-headed as back in my day.”
“You know what? Let’s go back to silence,” I snapped.
“Touchy, touchy. I must’ve hit a nerve.”
I flipped the rude thing off. If it could see my uniform, it could see that.
I most definitely had not been spending my time lifting my skirts at every guy. No chance of that in Sunny Breeze. They kept the boys and girls in separate, locked wards. The last thing they wanted to tell their rich, paying clients was that one of their charges was pregnant.
We only mingled at mealtimes, and I didn’t fancy losing my virginity amid stab-safe sporks and an audience.
“So this guy, whoever he is, will show up here?” I looked it up and down, but it was still just an oak tree. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
“Cease your yammering and pay attention! You’d give me a headache if I had one.”
Biting my lip, I resisted the urge to rip the bracelet off and toss it in the dirt. All that mattered was finding Mom. I could put up with the headache she was giving me.
“Will you at least tell me your name?” I asked. “I can’t keep calling you the bracelet.”
“I go by many names. The one you choose will make no difference.”
“Oh, okay.” I thought it over. “How about Willow? That’s what I was going to name my pet dog if I ever got one.”
“Impertinent girl! You will not name me after a dog.”
“What? But you said—”
“Silence. You will call me Selene. End of discussion.”
Rolling my eyes, I drew closer to the tree—eyes darting from branch to branch. Selene swore my ticket to Olympia would be here any moment. I couldn’t miss my chance when it came.
Grabbing the nearest branch, I heaved myself up. I spent my childhood climbing trees in the park. Mom’s favorite place to take me was to the place where she met my dad and then had many dates with him after.
I heaved myself onto a good, sturdy branch and surveyed the area, sweeping the verdant grass, swaying trees, and staring at passersby in every direction. This guy wouldn’t get past me. I was getting my mom back. No matter what I had to do.
Nodding to myself, I rocked back against the bark—trying to find a comfortable position with a branch half up my ass.
Thud.
I flicked down at the guy kneeling at the base of the tree. Brows blowing up my head, I gaped at the tall, impressive figure that rose to his feet. My position only allowed me a good look at his tousled, raven locks, but there was no hiding the hard, ropey muscles beneath his strange clothes.
It looked like leather... armor? A little like footballers wore with the way it covered his shoulders and pecs, but it was less bulky and more fitted to his body. Either way, the armor wasn’t nearly as out of place as the sword on his hip.
Another man who appears in the park in armor and carrying a sword?
“Dad...”
This guy was from the same place as my father. He had to be. He was from the place where the monsters took my mother. This washe.
“Why are you just sitting here?” Selene trumpeted in my ear. “Don’t let him get away.”
I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. Leaping off the branch, I attacked.
