Page 63 of Fanged Desire
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked eventually, even though I already knew the answer.
Hunter just gave me a tight smile, hands clenching and unclenching. Her usually steady expression was strained. For some reason, she was unraveling. And she looked... hungry, in a way I couldn’t quite place.
“Well.” I let out a shaky breath, stretching my legs out where I sat on the floor. “I’d rate this experience one star. Wouldn’t recommend it.”
Hunter let out a soft huff of laughter, though it sounded forced.
“The ambiance is lacking,” she agreed, tone dry as she scuffed her boot on the floor. “And the service is garbage.”
“Oh, absolutely.” I shifted again, leaning back against the wall. “Not even a complimentary snack. What kind of establishment is this?”
Hunter finally looked at me. “Do youwantto encourage them to bring in food? Because I have a feeling it wouldn’t be your standard cheese platter.”
I shuddered, though I appreciated her attempt at humor. “Good point. Maybe I’ll stick with the fine dining we’ve got going on here – stale air and ominous vibes.”
She smirked faintly but didn’t respond, her gaze drifting to the floor as her fingers twitched at her sides. Despite the banter, her agitation was palpable. I watched her for a moment. She looked wound tight, on the verge of snapping. The tense silence settled over us again.
“We were so close to finding Penelope,” I murmured, staring at the floor, at my palms, at our dismal situation. “Why did I have to fuck it up and get myself caught?”
Hunter stopped pacing abruptly, sighed, and then sat on the floor across from me. “On that note – do you knowwhythey took you?”
I shrugged, thinking back to Cathrine Raine’s cryptic words. “Cathy mentioned something about my scent. Said it was special. I don’t know what that means, but I’ve been thinking… it has to be connected to the A-gene, right?”
“It’s possible.” Hunter groaned, rubbing a hand down her face. “But all our speculations won’t mean shit if we can’t get out of here.”
Her words hit harder than I wanted to admit, and I stared at the floor. “Do you think your friends will come looking for you?”
Hunter leaned her head back against the wall, her expression grim. “I’m sure they’ll try. But no one knows where I am or where to start looking. And I didn’t exactly leave a detailed itinerary.”
“What about family?” I asked tentatively, shooting her a glance. “Anyone who’ll be worried about you?”
She laughed, low and sardonic, and there was a definite bitterness in her tone. “Definitely not.”
“Why not?”
Hunter hesitated, biting her lip, debating whether we were doomed enough to swap tragic backstories. Finally, she exhaled, slumping back against the opposite wall. “Let’s just say my childhood wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. My parents were kind of… afraid of me. For reasons I’d rather not get into.”
The words hung heavy in the air, but I couldn’t stop myself from pressing. “Afraid? Why?”
Her jaw clenched and for a moment she didn’t respond. But then she spoke, her voice quieter than before. “I could do this thing – charm people, I guess? I was –am– very convincing. My parents didn’t like that. They didn’t trust me.”
I frowned, skeptical. “I don’t get it. You were born a saleswoman and they wanted you to have a future in the arts?”
That got a genuine laugh out of her and she shook her head, a smile creeping across her features before disappearing again. “Sure, something like that. Anyway, it all came to a head one day and my dad tried to drown me. In the bathtub.”
All at once, the air seemed to leave the room.
I stared at her, horrified, my mind struggling to process the words. I remembered her confession back at the spa, her fear. The way she’d brushed it off like the topic was a hot poker, too painful to grasp with both hands. “Hunter…”
She shrugged, though the haunted look in her eyes betrayed her. “Yeah well, they’re long gone now and I’ve learned to deal with it.”
“That’s not something you just ‘deal’ with.” My voice trembled slightly, a touch of sympathy, and a touch of fury tinging my every word.
Hunter’s lips quirked in a faint, humorless smile. “It would’ve been the end of me if Jordan hadn’t shown up when she did. She poked her nose where she wasn’t supposed to, swooped in and saved my life – and that was that.”
Her words were so matter of fact, but the pain behind them was impossible to miss. I wanted to reach out, to comfort her, but I wasn’t sure if she’d even accept it. If I wasn’t convinced this gorgeous woman needed therapy before, I sure as hell considered recommending it then.
“Hunter, I–”
