Page 99 of Stalk the Dark
Back in my room, I showered and dressed quickly, grabbed my sword, then headed out of this godforsaken place. Out into the sunlight where the nighttime horror would feel like a bad dream.
But not all of it had been horror…No. I couldn’t allow myself to get attached to Hemlock in that way.
I found him with the carriage in the courtyard, and he wasn’t alone. My pulse spiked at the sight of Ordell, his hand on the horse, stroking, soothing…hands that had been claws last night, that had torn at my clothes in an attempt to?—
He sensed my presence and turned to look at me, and I failed to stop myself from stepping back.
His mouth parted, eyes darkening in what I could only read as regret. “Orina…”
I took a shuddering breath. “Hey. You okay?”
“I’m…I’m so sorry, I?—”
“Not here,” Hemlock said. “Let’s get breakfast at Pinkerton’s.”
Ordell’s throat bobbed. “I’ll drive.”
I was grateful because I wasn’t ready to be in close quarters with him just yet.
Hemlock tookthe seat opposite me and fixed his attention on the landscape. “He won’t hurt you,” he said. “Not while he’s himself. But you know that.”
He didn’t speak after that, leaving me to my thoughts, and yes, of course I knew Ordell would never hurt me, not in his human form, but in his beast form, all bets were off.
The journey passed quickly, and we dropped off the carriage at the stables and walked the block and ahalf to Pinkerton’s—a cozy café that served an all-day breakfast.
We ordered and took a booth at the back of the café for privacy.
Ordell sat opposite me and Hemlock beside me, penning me in as if they were worried that I’d run off after hearing what they had to say.
The server dropped off coffee and informed us our food would be along soon. I waited till she was out of earshot, then asked the question that had been burning a path through my mind for the whole journey.
“What are you? Both of you?”
Ordell answered. “Once a month, when the moon is full, I’m a monster.”
“Not a lycan or any kind of shifter I know of.”
“That’s right. I’m…unique.” His mouth twisted in disgust. “I never expected you to find me.”
I’d freed him. He’d been shackled to stop himself from changing. The symbols on the collar must have been some kind of spell. “You’ve been fighting it?”
“I have. The collar helps to mute the change, to keep the beast under control, but last night…”
“I let you out.”
“How did you find him?” Hemlock asked.
“A ghost called Daisy told me Ezekiel had locked you up—look, it doesn’t matter. You promised me answers. What are you? A monster but…how?” I looked at Hemlock. “And you with the glowing veins…what was that?”
Ordell’s brows shot up. “She saw?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t tell him how he’d asked me to whip him or that I’d spent the night in his bed, and I didn’t feel the need to volunteer that information either. It was hardly relevant.
I resisted the urge to snap at them. “Well?”
“We’re cursed,” Hemlock said. “Both of us, in different ways. Have been for…a very long time.”
“How long?”
