Page 12 of The Hidden
“Falon Solei Umbra,” I answer robotically.
“And where are you from?” Ryn presses.
“Colorado. That’s a state in the USA which is located on the North American continent,” I repeat.
“Are you Avowed?” Zeph grumbles out.
I blink away another tear. “I don’t think so, but I don’t exactly know what that is, so I can’t say for sure.”
“Are you mated?” Zeph asks me, and something about his tone or the question makes me snap out of my cyborg impression.
“No,” I growl out, meeting Ryn’s eyes in front of me with pure rage.
“What were you doing flying through the Amaranthine Mountains?” Zeph demands.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I was trying to spread my grandmother’s ashes, but all of a sudden, I felt like I’d been hit by lightning. The next thing I know, I had wings, and you were attacking me,” I accuse and look up over my shoulder at him. I’m pressed too closely against him, and all I can make out is his five-o’clock-shadow-dusted chin.
“What do you know of Lazza?” Ryn asks me, and I pull my irritated glare from Zeph’s chin and rest it back on Ryn’s gray eyes.
“I don’t know who that is. I’ve only heard the name once before whenhementioned it,” I say, gesturing with my head to indicate Zeph behind me.
“What about Vedan or Kestrel City? The Ouphe?” Ryn presses.
I shrug. “No idea what any of that means.”
Ryn and Zeph exchange a confused look and an incredulous laugh escapes me. “You were so convinced that I was lying, but I wasn’t. I told you assholes the truth the first time you asked me for it! Stupid pricks,” I sling at them and push out of Zeph’s hold. “Get the fuck off me,” I snap at him, and I’m surprised when he actually lets me go. I swim away from them toward the edge of the pool and then turn around, leaving the rocky edge to protect my back.
“Can I fucking go home now?” I demand, completely fed up with everything that’s happened from the minute I woke up in this strange place.
“No,” Ryn answers, and my stare snaps to his in surprise. He looks about as shocked as I do.
“Why not?” I question.
“Because you belong to us now,” he tells me, and then he slaps a hand over his mouth.
“Wait. What?”
“What he means is we don’t know how to get you home. There are old stories of gates that the Ouphe used to pass to different places, but the knowledge of how to use them died when they did. We don’t know how you got here,” Zeph tells me, stepping in front of Ryn.
“Is that true?” I ask, looking past Zeph and focusing on Ryn.
“Yes,” he tells me, and an emphatic nod punctuates the word.
“Can you figure it out?” I press. “I have a job and a life.” I open my mouth to try and say that I want to go home, but nothing comes out. I furrow my brow in confusion and look to Zeph and Ryn for help.
“You can’t say things that are untrue,” Zeph tells me, and he runs his gaze over my face.
But I want to go home,I tell myself and then try to communicate that once more. Nothing comes out.What the fuck?“You’re a dick,” I blurt to Zeph, checking to make sure that my ability to speak hasn’t somehow been taken from me.
His dour features turn downright cantankerous, and he runs a wet hand through his black curls. “So what exactly are we supposed to do with her now?” he snarls and turns to Ryn. Ryn’s eyes widen in panic. “Don’t answer that,” Zeph commands quickly, and I stare back and forth between them for a minute.
“She’s not one of Lazza’s. She’s not Avowed. She should stay here where she’ll be safe until we can sort things out,” Ryn finally offers, and I can tell that’s the last thing that Zeph wants to hear.
I look around trying to think through any other alternative to being here with these mountain-sized assholes, but until I can figure out exactly whatheremeans in relation to where I come from, my hands are tied. That thought sends a spark of heat flashing through me, and I roll my eyes at this new side of me that could put a nympho to shame. Zeph and Ryn are whisper arguing about something that I can’t make out, and I ignore it as I pull myself out of the water and reach for the fawn-colored shirt that Ryn had on under his armored vest.
I pull it on, glad to find that it falls past my ass to mid-thigh, and fight the sudden drive I feel to bring the fabric up to my nose and inhale it. “Fuck, I need to get laid,” I observe, and I pull my now white hair over one shoulder and ring it out into the water.
The whisper arguing suddenly stops, and I look down into the water to find both Ryn and Zeph staring at me. I can’t quite decipher the look they’re both wearing, but it’s not flattering, given what I just said.
