Page 19 of For the Strange and Surprising

“You don’t need to come with us,” Talodus whispers to the injured hunter. “You should go lie down.”

Connak grins at him, hopping from the table like someone didn’t just try to cut him in half. “I’m not walking with you; I’m walking with her. She’s become the newest object of my affection.”

I cut my eyes to Imryll, the laughing bastard. “He’s serious?”

“Afraid so,” the doctor chokes out.

I bite my cheek as I walk out of the exam room and into the hall. I’m too tired to deal with this. I want to go home and sleep in my own bed, with my threadbare blankets and my loud neighbors. Tomorrow, I want to go back to my job, waiting tables at the upscale Italian restaurant with the slimy cook who’s always trying to make me smile.

“I’m fine. One jailer is enough for today,” I mumble as I exit the medical bay into the darkness of night.

“I think I know what that means, and I know you’re not fine,” Connak tells me quietly, admitting my secret aloud for Talodus and this new world to hear. “You’ll need someone to talk to, Ada. You’ll need a friend. You can’t survive here on your own.”

6

Ecaeris

I pace the footpath, feeling like a caged beast as I snarl orders to the guards. I’ve issued three search parties to find the missing hunters and set up a perimeter check to secure the Mongrel village.

But impatience pushes me to the brink of madness.

These attacks have been happening for too long, though they were drawn out before today. Four hunters have yet to be found. Connak was nearly sliced in half… And a Shade lies in wait inside our village walls.

The timing is too perfect, and so are her responses. I don’t trust her, but she’s doing an excellent job at fooling everyone around me.

My mother is delirious with joy over her arrival. I can’t comprehend her excitement; she doesn’t know anything about the stranger she’s invited to stay amongst our people.

I was able to coax her into housing the visitor near Talodus and me. The niceties I had to fake during that conversation left a terrible taste in my mouth, even if they were necessary.

If the Shade is between us, then we can keep a closer eye on her. And I intend to watch her every move until I can catch her in the lies she spews.

The last people sent by the Shade Queen didn’t make it in the Mongrel territory for more than a week. They were men on a mission, and their suspicious behavior was easy to spot.

Sending a woman to do her dirty work is a new tactic that I can’t be swayed by. It will take more than a pretty face to tear down the Everwar Dynasty. My mother may succumb to her charm, but the Shade Queen has made a critical error.

I killed the men she sent in the past, leaving their bodies to rest in the dreadful dark beneath Jade. I will continue to eliminate anyone who threatens my family, my people, or my village.

And Adelaide Storm is a threat.

Commotion from the treeline brings me out of my thoughts as guards rush by. They carry the wounded on cots, fashioned from their ripped tents and fallen branches.

I follow them to the medical bay, smelling blood and moss in the air. But no scents of burned flesh, sulfur, or ash float around us; no signs that the Shades are behind this attack.

Just like the rest of the ravaged hunting parties.

Four groups have suffered injuries this week, not counting Connak. It’s clear to me that he only gets away because he goes out alone, and even then, he’s been attacked three times this month.

Talodus and I have been mapping out every reported assault. After bringing Imryll and Connak into our discussions, we now have a good grasp of the problem at hand.

A defector is living in this village, thriving amongst the hardworking Mongrels and their families.

Imryll and Selmar join me in the waiting room, wiping their hands on once white clothes. The drying blood is a dark reddish-orange, the same color as Ada’s vermilion hair.

“This is the worst attack we’ve seen, Ecaeris,” Selmar informs me, foregoing pleasantries.

The elder doctor has been around for more than a century, so the concern he shows me is worrying.

“Will they live?” I ask, my voice monotone.