Page 61 of For the Strange and Surprising

“It’s risky, but Imryll is an incredible healer. If it weren’t for him, I would have more scars.”

“That’s why you said you hunt alone?” The realization is a physical slap, no longer a suspicion. “Because you aren’t hunting the same animals as the parties? You’re monitoring the beasts while you’re out, trying to understand what drives them.”

He squints, trying to recall when he mentioned that he hunted by himself.

“My first day here was the day you came into the clinic with your back split open. I couldn’t figure out why being injured wasn’t a big deal, and I still can’t. You barely winced as he stitched you up.”

He nods. “I remember. I wrapped your arm, and you didn’t flirt back.”

I roll my eyes. “You told Talodus that you know when to fight and retreat. If you were part of a party then—”

“No. That was a Shade. I was on the edge of our borders. I left two days before that, but I saw the storm blowing in, so I turned back.”

“What?”

Connak leans against the wall. “I was going to patrol the exterior Mongrel border. I started at the lake we went to today. And I traveled along the edge of the mountain range for a little over a day before the clouds changed. When I switched directions to come home, a Shade hunter found my tracks and followed me.”

“And the other hunters?” I inquire.

“That was a beast. The attacks between them and the Shades have become more frequent recently, but it’s rare for them to happen in clusters.”

“What does that mean, Connak?”

He tips his head, staring at his feet as he wiggles his toes. “It means we need to be careful, Ada. You need to be careful and observant of your surroundings.”

“What should I be looking for?”

He grins wryly. “I don’t know.”

“If you hadn’t been with me today,” I mutter. “I’d swear I was delusional. It’s hard to believe everything I’ve seen. Beasts, krakens, and elemental powers; these things don’t exist on Earth.”

“Can I ask you a question now?”

“Yeah.”

“Follow me.”

Connak takes me into the bathroom, and I frown.

“Turn the water on, Ada.”

My brows dance across my forehead as I process his request. It’s not that I don’t know how a knob works; I just don’t understand the point he’s trying to make. I sit on the edge of the basin and lean to reach the faucet. As soon as I twist one of the two handles, warm water sprays from overhead, soaking my shirt.

“You have a shower?” I snarl, wiping my face as I rant. “I have a stone bowl that makes me feel like I’m preparing Ada soup. I’m only missing the vegetables. There isn’t even a faucet on it. The water just fills up.”

He chuckles humorlessly. “Mongrels and humans aren’t that different. We’re tainted with generations of being told that this is the way it works. I can’t explain how it works because it’s always been this way. The people who taught me didn’t ask the same questions that I did.”

“What are you getting at?”

He tugs his lips to the side as he shrugs. “We can teach you what we know, but we don’t have the fresh perspective that you do. We don’t see things the same way you will. I’m asking you to start paying attention to the things that are happening around you.”

“Okay,” I drawl. “But what does that have to do with the shower?”

“Turn it off.”

I narrow my eyes at Connak as the water stops running. “There. Now what?”

He raises a brow at me, and I gape, slowly twisting my head to look at the faucet.