Page 27 of For the Strange and Surprising

She grimaces slightly when I continue to stare at her.

“There are dangers here, and I trust him to be able to show you how to protect yourself against them.”

I furrow my brows as I hunt for the lies in her words, but I just can’t sense one. She sounds so genuine that I find myself nodding in agreement. Her grin is contagious, and the stretching of my lips causes me to snap back to reality.

“It might be good for you to know your way around, so I’ve also asked some other trusted Mongrels to escort you through the village to show you how we live and thrive.”

I frown as I clasp my hands together. “I appreciate that, but I’m not staying, Isolde. I’d rather spend as little time as possible amongst your people to not disrupt them.”

“I understand your apprehension, Ada.” She pats my arm again. “But this suggestion isn’t just for you. My people have questions too, and they aren’t accustomed to strangers in the village. If they were able to see that you mean them no ill will, then they would be more comfortable with your presence… for however long you may be staying with us.”

She leans in to smell a powder-pink flower, glancing up so only her kind eyes shine over the petals. “I hope that this will increase your comfort for the duration of your visit as well.”

“I guess I can do that for you,” I reluctantly agree.

“Great,” she says, wiggling her fingers as if she’s counting. “How do you feel about giving your arm a few more days to heal and then starting self-defense lessons with Talodus?”

I sigh, wondering why I’m trying to please a total stranger. “I think I’d enjoy having some me time. I’m not much of a people-person, Isolde.”

Her laugh fills the garden as she begins to walk away. “You’re more than welcome to start your me time now, and please do explore the garden more. The flowers love company. I’ll see you soon unless you need me before then.”

I spin in a circle, absorbing the sounds and scents while I’m alone. The garden is breathtaking with my eyes open, but closing them offers a different type of peaceful tranquility. We don’t have places quite like this on Earth.

The wind rushes through the plants, causing their leaves to rustle. The stream babbles beneath my feet, trickling over the rocky edges. Fish lightly splash against the water’s surface, throwing warm droplets onto the tops of my feet. Something wet touches my ankle.

Wait.

Something wet just touched my ankle.

I snatch the skirt of my dress up, peering wide-eyed at my feet as my heart skips a beat. A thin purple tentacle slithers across the straps of my sandals.

A clicking sound reverberates around me. I hear it in my head as much as I hear it echo through the garden. Now I’m positive that yesterday's events left me with a concussion.

I step back in a panic to gain some distance from the unknown, and shriek when my foot hits the water between two planks. I crash onto the floating path, my ass and elbows colliding with the unforgiving wood.

“Ada?” a familiar man’s voice calls from outside the garden.

Glowing indigo eyes lift above the edge of the wooden path as the clicking gets louder. I scramble to my feet, oxygen burning my throat as I heave uneven breaths through my nose.

I dart to the gate, slinging it closed behind me as I follow his voice. Connak stands with another man, ending his conversation when he sees me. The easy grin on his face helps me take a steady breath, but my whole body shivers as I begin to pace.

“The bugs scare you?” he teases.

It takes me a silent minute or two of moving around before I can rationalize with myself and calm the fuck down.

“I realize that I might have overreacted and screamed like someone was murdering me,” I confess with a frown. “But it wasn’t the bugs that startled me.”

The other man hovers nearby, refusing to leave as his gaze wanders between the two of us. Connak turns me away, glancing over his shoulder once before giving me his full attention.

“What frightened you?”

“Something wet touched me.” I give him a humorless chuckle. “I think I might have found Isolde’s missing miniature kraken.”

I smile in reassurance, though I can feel how forced it is. I’m sure he sees it too. But I don’t know him, and I will not explain everything to a total stranger.

The fall made me shriek. It wasn’t the sea creature itself that caused me to panic; it’s the hidden touch I wasn’t expecting. Had I known the tiny kraken was there, my reaction would have been different.

Connak walks me to my room, and I’m thankful that he doesn’t have much to say. He appears to have other things on his mind, but then again, so do I.