Page 246 of Hunters and Prey

Before I knew I’d intended to, I mumbled something polite.

I didn’t wait to hear what Black would say, to the Asian-looking seer or anyone else.

I didn’t wait to hear what he might say to me.

I really, honestly, don’t know exactly what happened after that.

I just know I walked away.

I fled, stepping further away from Black, then turning away from all of them. I found myself walking, aiming my feet for the front of the long house without really seeing anything around me.

Somewhere in that, I heard Black call my name.

I heard the puzzlement in his voice.

I heard and felt other things there, what might have been hurt, but I couldn’t process that, either. I headed for the exits without so much as looking behind me.