Page 5 of Hunted on Halloween
“Why does your face keep wavering?” If she was going to die, she might as well ask questions.
“You can see that?”
“I can see that.”
“Witchling.” He raised his hand and then the horror was gone and the male she was looking at could have been a model.
“Better. The other thing was making me seasick. I guess this is where I die. Could you make it fast?”
***
Kill her. Why was he standing here acting like he was crazy? He wasn’t in primal mode. He never went into it. It didn’t matter what All Hallows' it was. Which is why he was wearing a false visage.
He took a step closer and watched as she flinched. All he had to do was break her neck and he’d meet the criteria of being a monster.
“Why did you come to our land to terrorize us?”
He roared with pain. It was so loud that his people answered his call. Their land? This land, this world belonged to him and his people, and he wanted it back. They could have their dying world.
The trees responded to him. The leaves perked up, acknowledging their king was here.
“This, everything you see around you and don’t see, belongs to us. Your people stole it from us.” He watched as her mouth opened and closed.
“No. You’re lying!”
“Am I?” He snatched her up by her upper arm, bringing her to her feet. “Look at me and tell me I’m lying. Watch.” He walked over to a tree and laid his hands on it.
She watched that tree, which was barely taller than her, grow to become a towering oak from his hand on it.
She shook her head, trying to deny what she was seeing.
“Come here, witchling.” He said it in such a deep voice she couldn’t stop her feet from moving. “Touch that flower.”
Tia had to go to her knees, not that it mattered. She was already shivering from the cold and the mud. Her hand was shaking when she reached out and touched the flower. She silently prayed that nothing happened. When the flower grew, she silently cursed.
“What’s your father’s name?”
“I don’t know, but if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” The male thought that just because he looked like a god, he could order her around. Well, he had another think coming.
“No one was the boss of her.” She turned and fled. He caught her when she’d only run about ten steps. She was sure she got that far because he was playing with her.
He flung her over his shoulder and started walking back to her house.
“Naughty little witchling.” He swatted her ass, and it stung, although she refused to make a sound.
Tia knew that the shit was about to hit the fan.
Chapter Three
Tia bounced when Tierantossed her on the bed. She swallowed hard and sat up to look at him, finally going to her knees. This wasn’t what she was expecting. She was supposed to be dead by now, so why was he taking his time? Was he playing with her? But she didn’t really think so. There was more to this than she originally assumed.
“What? Why? I’m so confused.”
“So am I, witchling. I’m confused too. You should be dead.”
“I should have committed the ultimate act of treason. I should have murdered you and moved on and yet here I am. Why? What is it about you that calls to me on a basic primal level? I don’t see the enemy, witchling. I see a female. One that I want to conquer. One that I want to... No, that’s impossible.”
He turned away from her, presenting his back, leaving it open, leaving himself vulnerable. Tia almost laughed at herself. As if she could do something to him, as if she could hurt him. But part of her wanted to. Part of her wanted to pick up a knife and shove it in his back. The other part of her wanted to wrap her armsaround his waist and hold on tight. Was she going crazy? Is that what Halloween night every 30 years meant? That every female, or at least this female, went crazy? What was wrong with her? She felt like a spectator in her own body.
