Page 81 of For the Strange and Surprising

“Nothing.” Connak gives me a dirty look. “She came over, we talked, her shirt got wet, and she slept in my bed. Imryll is making it a bigger deal than it was. I slept in his bed.”

Talodus narrows his eyes. “Why was her shirt wet?”

“She turned the water on.” Connak shrugs.

“Connak,” he drawls, knowing that isn’t the whole answer.

“I may have shown her that she’s been using the water element since she got here.”

“Connak,” I warn.

Ecaeris shakes his head in disbelief. “You’ve seen her manipulate water?”

“Yeah.” Connak scratches his chest as he grins. “She made the cold water run scalding hot while she was… frustrated.”

“I’ve seen her do it, too,” I tell them. “She didn’t realize she was doing it, though.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ecaeris demands.

I roll my eyes. “What we had to say wouldn’t have changed your mind. You needed to see for yourself that she wasn’t a Shade.”

He rests his forehead against his palms, muttering petulantly, “I know she isn’t a Shade.”

Talodus scoffs at him. “Since when?”

“Last week,” Ecaeris admits without looking up. “But I received confirmation this morning. The carrier pigeons arrived with messages from the other tribes. Ada wasn’t alone; three other women were found.”

“What aren’t we seeing?” Talodus abruptly stands from his chair to roam around the catacomb’s chamber, his agitation and anxiousness needing a release.

“I don’t know yet,” Connak replies. “I have a riddle for you guys, though.”

He watches each of us before he quotes, “The land speaks to you, but you aren’t a hunter. What are you?”

“A fisherman?” Ecaeris guesses, peering at Connak in confusion.

“I don’t think so,” Talodus argues. “That’s too easy an answer.”

I hold my hand out to pause the discussion before it begins. “I have another one. Your touch mends the injured, but you aren’t a healer. What are you?”

“Isolde knows the answer,” Connak divulges. “But she wouldn’t tell me.”

Ecaeris presses the heels of his palms against his eyes. “She’s hiding something.”

“Ada?” Talodus inquires, his brows raised.

“Isolde,” I confess.

“Both of them,” Ecaeris corrects.

Connak shakes his head. “The life Ada lived on Earth isn’t our business, Ecaeris.”

“That may be so,” I affirm. “But knowing her background will help us figure out why she’s here.”

“Spiran brought her for a reason,” Ecaeris proclaims, mimicking his mother’s voice.

Talodus rubs the back of his neck. “And we keep leaving her alone after Isolde asked us to protect her.”

“We can’t smother her,” I inform them, though I don’t feel like I should have to explain that.