Page 11 of For the Strange and Surprising

“I’m going to pass out,” I tell him.

I can barely hear the words leave my mouth before ice-cold water is thrown at my face. I splutter and screech, “What the fuck?”

“Distraction,” he admits with a shrug.

The Mongrel prince is gazing at me with those mismatched eyes once more. He’s taken the helmet off again, and he seems concerned. I wish he’d just leave it on… but he looks better with it off. The switching is giving me whiplash, though.

“When’s your birthday?”

“That’s,” I stutter over my words, then lower my voice. “Very kind of you. Thank you for that. It’s every year.”

He snorts at me. “Funny. Mine is too.”

“Do you two know each other?” a broad-shouldered man-beast-guard asks as he trots up.

I mean, horses trot, but what else can I call it when they’re wearing those furry boots that make their feet look huge? Jeeze, for all I know, that is their feet.

I have so many questions.

He keeps whispering to the prince. “I’ve never seen her around before. You know the catacombs aren't for—”

“No. I don’t know her.” Ecaeris grimaces at his friend. “I need you to escort us to Imryll.”

This must be Talodus.

I pull myself off the wall, swaying slightly, and straighten my posture.

“If I’d known him before today…” I look the prince up and down, lying through my teeth to get a rise out of him. “I wouldn’t be standing here. I’d have already flung myself over the edge of the nearest cliff.”

Talodus chuckles, the deep tone echoing down the corridor as he ushers us in the direction that he’s just come from.

“He grows on you.”

“Not likely,” I mutter back to the guard, grinning when he grunts his agreement.

“Stop talking about me.” Ecaeris narrows his eyes at me as he tucks his helmet under his arm.

I hadn’t noticed how sharp the lines of his jaw were. But as he bites at his lip, I am well aware that I must have suffered a great deal of blood loss.

Because the Mongrel prince is attractive.

Nope.

Dear god, Ada. How delirious are you?

I roll my eyes at myself. “Has your head suddenly grown too big for the inside of your helmet? With any luck, if I keep being nice to you, you’ll run away with your tail tucked, and I can finally have some peace and quiet.”

“You’ve been nice so far?” he asks me before muttering, “You’re making my head hurt.”

“Not used to thinking so hard?” I sass, desperate to keep up this distraction.

“Where did you come from?” Talodus questions as he pulls his helmet off.

The giant tusks are making me wonder if he’s compensating…

No. Bad, Ada. Stop it.

“Tampa Bay.”