Page 133 of The Hunger
“She does and made me stop for three dozen eggs, five pounds of bacon, and two loaves of bread. If you’re not full after this, you need to be dewormed.”
He tackle-hugged Megan through the doorway. Shaking my head, I followed them in and caught Oanen’s frown at Fenris.
“Unruffle those feathers, Oanen. He loves her like a sister,” I said, closing the door behind us.
Megan squealed and hugged Fenris harder.
“I always wanted a brother.”
“And you know that’s never going to happen,” an elderly woman said from her place at the stove. “Hello, dear. You must be Eliana. Megan has told me so much about you.”
“She’s told me a lot about you, too.” I held out my hand in human welcome. She closed hers around it as Megan pulled away from Fenris.
“If you give Eliana your last name, that’s how she’s going to address you. She’s stuffy like that.”
Megan’s grandma smiled at me and patted my hand before releasing it.
“Then I insist you call me Grandma or Grandma Irene.” Her gaze flicked to Fenris. “Both of you.”
“You were one red hood away from being cool today,” Fenris said, smirking at me.
I rolled my eyes at him, and Grandma Irene shooed us to the table. Fenris began eating with gusto, stealing whatever food she put on my plate.
“Since the furies are long-lived, is there any written history or knowledge passed down regarding the last time a god was here?” I asked while the others ate.
Irene shook her head and spoke as she started the next batch of eggs.
“As Megan discovered, our record-keeping is spotty at best. However, I’ve made a few friends in my life. Some are older than me and still around. I’ll reach out. Maybe they know something.”
“While Grandma does that, you’re going to tell me everything I’ve missed around here,” Megan said.
“What are Oanen and I going to do?” Fenris asked.
“Probably play video games. He picked up a new console while we were gone.”
Fenris looked at Oanen. “I knew you loved me.”
“I don’t hug just anyone.”
Fenris grinned, and Megan howled with laughter at Oanen’s stoic response.
I spent the morning catching Megan up on all the Uttira drama she missed. She cheered when I told her about mind controlling Adira, laughed when I said I used her as a tool to chase away Aubrey, scowled when I admitted to brainwashing the mermaids and Eras—but only because she was still mad at both groups—and pouted that she’d missed the group sleepover. She filled me in on Zayn’s plans to find Ashlyn. He was acquiring the ingredients he needed to cast the spell and would be ready on Sunday. When I relayed Lauv’s request to Megan, she shook her head.
“The last thing those three need is more power.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
Grandma Irene used the study to make calls, emerging in between to bake cookies and tell us stories about when she’d had the house built. Around lunch, she emerged with a troubled expression and joined us at the table.
“Domitius has a relic that will allow you to see the palaces so you can search them.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Megan asked.
“What will you do if a god is alive, Megan? We still don’t know what will appease him,” Grandma Irene said.
“Then I’ll be my blunt self and ask.”
“I spoke with Grace, and we both agreed that she should go in your place.”
