Page 34 of For the Strange and Surprising

Again, I point, but she shakes her head.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“So you know where to find us if you need us. Just in case,” I admit. “If you see the man again, tell me.”

She nods, stepping back into her room. “I will, but I hope I don’t.”

As I shut the door behind me, she pulls the thin white curtains closed. My feet are moving before I’ve fully decided to search the forest. I should wait a few hours, but then again, it’s best to check now and later. If I do find anything, I’ll bring Connak with me next time.

When I walk past the line of trees, I’m momentarily shocked. There are tracks all through the area, but they lead in several directions. That’s nothing surprising, though the fruit peels deposited at the base of one of the trees are.

Someone has been here.

Now I want to know who.

I follow a set of footprints, brooding over why any Mongrel would be watching Ada so closely. Nothing pure comes to mind. The number of trails ending at that same tree is concerning. She’s new and mysterious, but this feels like more than curiosity.

I pop out of the forest when I see Ecaeris, and his brows knit together.

“So, you spent the day with Ada and had to run off some of the frustration?” he teases.

I know what he means, but her double meanings are still playing in my mind. The guard uniform she wore looked stunning, as if it had been sewn onto her body. I shake my head before my thoughts take a wrong turn.

“No. Someone has been watching her. I was trying to follow the tracks.”

“She didn’t piss you off? Cuss you out? Call you an asshole?” He smiles at me expectantly.

“What? Why is that all you heard?” I ask, then cover my face with my hand. “No. Training went well. She knows the basics, and I don’t think she’s lying about who she is. Rinya liked her, and she doesn’t like anyone.”

He scoffs. “How do you know she wasn’t pretending? If she knows the basics—”

“I don’t know that she wasn’t pretending,” I interrupt, snatching my hand away to glare at him. “But I do know that she isn’t the first person from Earth to wash up on our shore who was capable of fighting. Stop being an ass and listen to me.”

“You have my undivided attention.”

“Someone is watching her, Ecaeris.”

His gaze hardens as he leans closer. “Who?”

“If I knew, then I would have just told you.” I shake my head. “She’s concerned, but she tried to shake it off. He was standing in the trees before I picked her up today.”

“Did you see anyone?” He’s too caught up in his suspicions to be of any help right now.

“No, but I found the peels from someone’s mid-morning snack. I wouldn’t think anything of it if it wasn’t directly across from her window. She’s new; people are curious. I understand that. But she said he’s been coming and going for four days now. That’s not regular curiosity motivating them to get a glimpse of the visitor.”

“Fine,” he relents. “Mother wants Ada to have breakfast with her in the morning. Then I’ll escort her around the village so the people can get their fill.”

“I’m going to watch her for the next few days,” I tell him. “The Mongrels have welcomed four men from Earth into the village in the last century. You don’t have to trust or like her to know that having a woman from Earth will uncover the worst of us.”

Ecaeris nods as he sighs. “There are too many unknowns to leave her alone right now. I still think she’s a Shade, but even then…”

“Even then, you’re not as big of a dick as you act.”

He scowls. “Don’t wound me.”

“She’s not a Shade.” I grin at him, digging that confirmation just a little deeper.

“We’ll see.”