Alethea has always been awkward - eccentric, even. On a typical day she spends her time cloistered inside a tiny apartment hiding from the world she doesn't really understand. When her therapist encourages her to push herself outside her comfort zon...
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It turned out Roran's "someplace safe" was a dark, slimy cave behind a waterfall. A tattered old hammock hung in the back tied between two stalagmites, but the rest of the space was pretty bare. The only indication that he spent any time here was the small stack of sharpened stones and various bones that were in the process of being fashioned into weapons.
I swallowed hard and questioned the logic of trusting this man (for about the hundredth time in the past few hours). If he had the strength to take down three huge wolf men then he would have no trouble making mincemeat out of me. Perhaps that had been his plan all along. Maybe he had lured me here to kill me and eat me!
"Calm down, Thea. I'm not going to hurt you."
My eyes widened. "How did you know what I was thinking? Can you read my mind?"
I backed further away from him, the spray of the waterfall hitting the back of my neck.
He chuckled. "I don't have to. You look like you're about to faint."
Letting out a half-hearted scoff, I crossed my arms and tried to look brave. "Pfft. No, I don't."
Smooth, Thea. I bet he is super impressed with your witty comeback.
As if reading my mind, which he claimed to be unable to do, Roran smirked and shook his head. He sat down and leaned back against the wall and motioned me toward the opposite side of the cave.
His eyes glowed brightly in the dark, and much like a moth; their glimmering flame drew me forward almost against my will. Before I even realized I was doing it, I had walked forward and was sliding down the wall to sit across from him. His features were partially shadowed, but it was the first time I had been able to really look at him face to face. His deeply tan skin stood out in stark contrast to my own, which looked to have gotten even paler during my stay here. His features were masculine and rugged, and despite his unnatural eyes, Roran was still the most attractive man I had ever met.
He cleared his throat and I realized I had been staring. Quickly averting my eyes, I stared at my hands in my lap and tried to figure out something to say.
After several awkward seconds Roran spoke up. "Look, you want answers, right? Why don't you let me explain things to you."
"So talk," I somehow got up the courage to say.
"Where do you want me to start?" he asked in return.
I shrugged. I had so many questions that needed to be answered, but they all seemed too ridiculous to say out loud. Eventually I decided it was probably best to figure out what type of monster I was dealing with.
"Start with the question you never answered earlier. What are you?"
Roran frowned and hesitated. It seemed like he disliked that question, but I wasn't letting him off the hook.
