Page 6 of Secret Origins
I knew she was thinking of herself and the two children, that she saw a savior in me when there was none, and she wasn’t really worried about my well-being even though I took it as such. I was as pathetic as her at that point.
“The chain,” I gasped, barely managing to point to it since it was sitting so close to the door.
She surprised me when she scrambled up, took hold of my limp arm, and dragged me like a mop over the floor to it. I would have never guessed she was that strong. I might be petite, but I wasn’t human. We weighed a hell of a lot more than one might think. After placing the chain in my palm and curling my fingers around it, she rushed back to grab the boy. A second later she was kneeling by my side while she clutched the child to her chest.
“My daughter.” The words were choked up.
“She is fine,” I murmured, closing my eyes to allow the connection to attach again. “My hou—my dog is protecting her.”
“We need to run.” Hearing the girl was safe gave her new strength. I wished I could say the same. “We have to leave before they come back.”
Right, she hadn’t seen the art I left in the hallway. I was hoping she didn’t faint when we left the room. There was no way I could carry her, not when I wasn’t even sure I could carry myself. My eyes were drifting closed, but she shook my shoulder and they opened to her frowning worriedly at my face.
“Right, we need to leave.” Flipping over took more out of me than I expected, so I had to take a moment to just breathe, my head hanging low on my shoulders.
“And go where?” The woman crushed the boy to her chest. “They took us from our home. They know where we live.”
Turning my head to tell her I’d take them with me, I was startled when I locked eyes with the boy. His mismatched gaze, one blue eye and one green, was curiously searching my face, not an ounce of fear in it. The child was not human at all.
“He is a half blood.” It wasn’t an accusation, but she jerked away glaring at me.
“There is nothing wrong with him.”
“I didn’t say there was.” Having some of my strength back, I climbed to my feet with my eyes still on the boy. “I should’ve known that was why you were here.”
“He is just a boy.” She stood up too, her hackles rising as if she was a shifter.
“You humans should keep your legs closed when you come across a supernatural.” That was the wrong thing to say.
“He is a good man,” she snarled, and spittle flew from her mouth. It made me smile.
“A male.” At her confusion, I blew out a breath and rolled my shoulders. “He is a male, not a man. That’s what your people don’t understand.” When her mouth opened, to argue no doubt, I waved her away. “I’m not one to judge. I don’t care if you decide to sprout horns. I do, however, want to get out of here. We can talk about the difference later.”
Both of us limped out of the room. Fen glared at me with glowing eyes as soon as I stepped out, but I ignored him. He had to follow me in case there were hunters at the top level. I was not in the position to fight. Picking up the little girl, I had to grind my teeth so I didn’t whimper. It’d take time for me to stop feeling the pain and I didn’t want to freak the human out more than she had already been. With Fen leading the way, we were almost at the top level when she spoke from behind me.
“Where will we go?”
“I’m taking you with me.” Bringing a woman and two children to my home and into my life was a very bad idea. Like, major stupidity, but I was going for it anyway.
“Thank you.” She blew out a long, shaky breath, and I felt like she punched me in the gut.
What are you doing, Myst?I asked in my head, and I kept asking myself that all the way home.
4
We stood in the middle of my living room staring at each other in silence. The woman with the children hugging her legs, one on each side, while her hands absently smoothed their unruly hair on one side, and me across from her with Fen at my feet and the mother of all headaches pounding on my temples. At least I had the presence of mind to grab my clothing before we left the damn building. The poison the hunters used to coat their weapons had made me sluggish, but unlike any other supernatural, it’d burn itself out in my veins like it never existed.
A perk of being an unknown, I guessed.
“It’s worth it.” The woman spoke softly, her bottom lip trembling.
“What’s worth it?” I frowned at her, wondering if she had a concussion or something because what she said had made no sense.
“Your life.” Her shoulders squared up when I stiffened. “Back in that hell hole, you told me it wasn’t worth my worry. I’m telling you it is. You saved our lives.” A tear left a trail down her dirty face.
“Don’t make me out to be some hero that I’m not. I had selfish reasons for what I did. It was just an opportunity to kill more of them, nothing else. You”—I twirled my hand in their general direction—“just happened to be there. That’s all.”
“If you say so.” A small smile played on her split lip.
