Page 16 of For the Strange and Surprising

The first drop of yellow liquid stings, but the third makes me suck in a sharp breath. I close my eyes, attempting to block everything out. The fourth drop has my eyes flying open, my hand gripping Talodus like he can keep me grounded. After the sixth drop, I want to curse the whole world.

“Son of a bitch,” I gasp out, grinding my teeth as I twist my head.

“It will subside in a few minutes, but it will still sting for a couple of hours,” Imryll states in a clinical voice. “Once your arm is wrapped, well, that should help.”

“Tell us about this octopus you swam away from?” Talodus asks. “Talking is a good distraction.”

I bump the back of my head against the table twice before I let go of the burly guard. His hand is warm, rough, and comforting; I don’t want that.

Imryll grabs the white bandage and begins wrapping my arm when the exterior door bursts open with a loud bang. The doctor passes the bandage to Talodus then slowly approaches the door to the room we’re in.

“Doc? I’ve been hit again,” a man shouts, sounding pained and tired. Then he chuckles. “It’s not so bad, though. I’ll be in room two when you’re done.”

Talodus sighs, handing me the bandage so he can walk out of the room. I hear his voice float down the hall.

“We’re in here. Don’t shout. You’ll scare the lady.”

I snort. They clearly don’t know what it’s like to have loud neighbors. The walls of my apartment complex were paper thin. The couple above me thrived on heated arguments and make-up sex. The hot guy who lived next door played acoustic drums at all hours of the day and night.

The stranger’s shouting is homier than anything I’ve felt today.

“What happened to you?” Talodus asks, his voice coming closer.

“Do you really need to ask?” Imryll questions, standing in the doorway. He turns to me. “Ada, could you move to that chair, please?”

Talodus enters, holding the man steady. The newcomer has his head down, his messy hair tied back with a leather string. When he looks up, his smile is bright and wide.

“Leg?” Imryll guesses.

“Shoulder,” the man confesses. “I was attacked on the way back from hunting. The Shades are getting closer to our boundaries.”

“What about the other hunters?” Talodus inquires as I slide out of their way.

“I don’t know. I don’t keep up with them.”

The protector in Talodus is apparent as he straightens his stance. “I’ll get Ecaeris and send a search party to find them. You need to stop going out there by yourself. Someone could have been watching your back.”

“This is why I hunt alone, Tal. If anyone else would have been with me, then we wouldn’t have gotten away. I know when to fight and when to retreat,” the man says, waving his hand for Talodus to go.

“Sit,” Imryll instructs, exasperated as he rolls his eyes where only I can see.

Talodus takes his leave, and I observe the doctor with his patient. I can tell by the surprise on his face that this man’s back must look terrible.

He hops onto the table with only a slight flinch of his right shoulder. The grin never leaves his face, though. And when he spies me sitting quietly in the chair, he jerks his head back and blinks a few times.

I think he thinks I’m not real.

He twists his head slightly, whispering to Imryll, “Do you see her too?”

“Yes, Connak. You’re not seeing things.”

I stand up, holding the loose wrap against my arm as I walk closer. My pain is forgotten as my curiosity gets the better of me. I want to see what’s happened to him. He said the Shades attacked him, and that’s what Ecaeris thinks I am. I want to know what those people are capable of.

Seeing my own blood makes me woozy, though other people’s blood doesn’t have quite the same effect on me.

But I find myself regretting the decision as soon as I circle him.

His wound makes me nauseous.