Imperfect (Disappeared #1)

Chapter Six

Blinking rapidly, Theodosia took in a tall man with shoulder-length, wavy, brown hair. He was muscular and tanned and about her age or a little older. He wore simple linen clothes and carried a bow and arrow.

Theodosia flinched and backed up. "Who are you?"

The muscles in his face tensed and then a stream of words came out, none of which she could understand. They sounded like a nursery rhyme all mixed up with a ballad. She stared at him, wondering if he had just said he was going to take her captive. Or maybe he was trying to get directions to the post office. It was impossible to know.

The man blinked and then put up his hands and slowly inched forward. She stood her ground and glowered at him fiercely. 

"I am Lady Theodosia and if you dare touch me, my father will have you hanging within the week," she shouted. She wasn't proud of saying it, but she also didn't want to be hauled off by some wild-looking stranger.

The tall man shrugged and let out another stream of singsong words. Theodosia looked uneasily at the wolves around her. They watched her with their unblinking, pure blue eyes, as if waiting for something to happen. She felt her heart slowing. What were they doing to her? Was she being willed into submission by some kind of spell?

She looked back at the man. He was much closer now, and about a half-foot taller than her. She stared up into his shocking golden eyes. Around each pupil was a fiery yellow sun. He looked her up and down with naked curiosity.

Theodosia was not a swooning kind of girl. Yet, as this man reached out to touch her, she felt herself transfixed by his unusual eyes, so devoid of the artifice and coldness she saw in the men of her acquaintance. He looked almost innocent — though maybe it was just part of his plan to lure her to her death.

Then his massive paw of a hand landed over her heart. She felt a surge of warmth and a vague tingling, just like when she had passed through the baobab, though to a lesser degree. Rooted in place, she put her hand over his without any forethought. The tingling reverberated up her fingers, making her gasp. His touch was so strangely intimate that she felt her cheeks begin to warm and her stomach turn.

"Now that's better," he said in a deep voice. "I wasn't sure if it would work."

It took a moment for Theodosia to realize that he was speaking her language.

"You know English?" 

"Is that what it is?" He lowered his bow and arrow, though he continued to closely examine her face. "If you say so. We touch in this way to communicate when words aren't enough. Our energy does the talking. I guess in this case it's acting as a translator. I'm Ahuiliztli, by the way."

She blinked, trying to grasp that he was now speaking perfect English, albeit with a honeyed lilt.

He laughed at her confusion. "I'm afraid I can't translate my name. You can call me Ahuil if that's easier."

"Er, I'm Lady Theodosia of Helenshire," she stuttered. Oh goodness, he probably didn't know what a lady or Helenshire was. She tried again. "You can call me Theo. Wait, why aren't you afraid anymore? You were just acting like you wanted to kill me."

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. I wasn't sure if you were real. There are lots of half-beings around now, just like the silverbeast you saw. They only partially exist in our world." He scanned the forest around them. "They haven't hurt anybody yet, though I think they're trying. And even worse, they're becoming more real by the week."

Half-beings? Silverbeasts? Other worlds? Apparently she had hit her head really, really hard and was having the most bizarre dream of her life. "Half-beings? Who, or what, are they?"