Secrets and Skin

Chapter 35

We walk slowly through the thick wood, our every step heralded by the crunch of fallen leaves. Caelen's dark form darts in and out of my sight as he is camouflaged by the shadowed undergrowth. My anticipation and fear mingle into a near-unbearable tension. Mirena also seems tense – her movements are almost robotic, as if every muscle is taught with the expectation of a trap.

A cold breeze slips past us and carries a hint of whispered conversation. Mirena hesitates, but my steps do not falter; Hunter's voice is unmistakeable. A moment later and I can make out two figures, one with a head of bright red hair, the other salt-and-pepper. Hunter and Grant.

Hunter runs forward to greet us. He slips out of his jacket, wrapping it around my bare arms and pulling me into a tight embrace. The sudden intensity of the gesture makes me lose my breath, but his warmth helps me find it again. I look up and over his shoulder to find Grant staring at us, completely bewildered. He raises an eyebrow in question and I smile back, no less surprised.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Hunter whispers in my ear. He pulls away from me and returns his hands to their usual station in his pockets. Until he sees Mirena.

She lingers several paces behind me, watching the scene unfold. Hunter removes his hands from his pockets and holds them awkwardly at his sides. To a stranger it would seem a meaningless gesture, but to present company it's an obvious threat.

"Why are you here?" he growls at her. Grant shuffles closer to us and pulls a blue, luminescent crystal from his pocket.

I run in front of Mirena, holding Hunter's jacket close around me. "I told her she'd be safe here. I couldn't have escaped without her."

"She's the reason you were in there in the first place!" Hunter objects. His face is twisted in rage and hatred. His scar is stretched and for the first time I see how far it runs along his chin and down his neck.

"That doesn't matter now! I promised that we would help her. I showed her what you're trying to accomplish," I'm acutely aware how loud my voice is, how loud all of our voices are. If any pursuers are nearby, they will have heard us by now.

"You're a fucking traitor, Hunter," Mirena says with her usual venomous calm, "But I'll take you over the alternative."

You're not helping, Mirena...

"I know you," there is a darkness in Hunter's voice that is alien to me – an absence of the warmth that I've come to define him by, "This is just a fucking ploy. Some kind of game to get what you want. That's all anything is to you."

There's something familiar about his words. About the way his eyes glaze over when he talks about her.

"Hunter, you have to listen to me. Let's put this aside until we get out of here..."

"No, Selene. She's dangerous. She's hurt more people than you can imagine. She's hurt you," his attention is fixed on her even though he's speaking to me, "Did she touch you while you were in there? How do you know she hasn't tricked you into believing whatever she wants?"

I understand now.

"This isn't about me, is it Hunter?" I take a couple of steps towards him, forcing him to look at me, "You know, Yagher said the exact same thing about you. Even your face – it's just like his was."

He shudders as if something inside of him has suddenly broken. "You don't know what she's done to me," he says, and his voice also breaks. Tears are pooling in the corners of his eyes.

"Then show me," I say gently, reaching out a hand to him, "but not now. We have to get out of here. Please, give Mirena the chance you want Yagher to give you."