Page 78 of The Hunt
“It’s not deep,” Jenna said, “and it’s barely bleeding. A scratch, maybe three inches long. Sorry she wrecked your shirt.”
Mermaid scratches, no matter what the size, weren’t anything to mess around with. I reached into my pocket and sent a quick text to Mom.
Me: What will a mermaid scratch do to me?
Mom: Well-fed, nothing. Are you hurt?
Me: Yes. And annoyed.
Mom: The annoyance will get worse…I’m sending Adira to you.
I groaned and showed the message to the girls since Fenris had been reading over my shoulder.
“There goes Game Night,” Jenna said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Willow said. “There are always people out there who will wreck a good time for everyone else just because they need company in their misery.”
“We should play,” Fenris said, giving me a light squeeze. “At least until Adira gets here.”
I nodded, knowing he was right but feeling sicker by the second. He seemed to know it, though. He looped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side as the girls set up the tower. Laughter rang out around us. I tried to focus, but I could feel my insides going hot.
A sudden chill in the air had me looking over my shoulder at the door. Adira walked through, her gaze sweeping the room before catching my eye.
“This is not what the Roost is intended for,” Adira said once she reached our little group.
“Fun?” I asked. “You’re absolutely right. It’s never been fun.”
She gave me a steely look.
“You know why you’re here.”
“Right. And I agreed it’s not to have a good time, which I’m not having, by the way.”
“So your mother informed me. What happened?”
“We flooded the hunting grounds with too many predators in our attempt to attract more prey,” Fenris said, smoothly. “Some fighting occurred. Just part of the hunting process, right?”
Adira’s gaze flicked to him before returning to me.
“Show me.”
I turned slightly and twisted my arm to show her the back of it.
“It’s a small scratch that you would easily heal with an immediate feeding.”
I looked up at Fenris.
“Tell my mom I love her. Take care of the brownie, and whatever you do, don’t send anyone to feed the goblin. He’ll just throw his shoes at everyone.”
Fenris’s lips infinitesimally twitched.
“Does this mean I can have the hoard of chocolate bars you’ve hidden around the Academy?”
“No, I’m bequeathing those to Jenna. She deserves them for all the time she spent trying to deal with Elbner.”
Adira sighed.
