Greer couldn’t let down her guard. But she also couldn’t afford to run away from a dinner she had not had to hunt herself. Despite the gallon of water sloshing within her, her stomach still rumbled with hungers unfulfilled.
She turned to refill the canteen one last time but stopped short when she caught sight of her reflection. The water rushed by with too much speed for a perfect reverse image, but she could make out the dark shape of her frame, and the pair of eyes shining back at her with a faint red glow.
She stumbled back from the water’s edge, spilling the canteen all over herself. The water splashed everywhere, soaking into her boots. She winced, ready to feel the icy grip of wet toes in the frigid outdoors, but such pain did not come.
Greer looked through the forest with wild eyes, noting piles of frost-covered leaves, spotting little daggers of icicles hanging fromtree limbs. It was below freezing, yet she longed to tear off her clothing, feeling as if it were a sweltering summer day.
Numb, she trudged up the hill to await Finn’s return.
Greer heardFinn’s approach long before she saw him. He was still in human form, walking upright on boot-clad feet, carrying another set of hares with snapped necks.
“You look better,” he greeted her.
“Do I really?” she snapped, standing.
She saw him note her flicker of eye-shine. He stopped short. Though not a single muscle moved in his face, she could tell he was pleased. After a pause, he held up the rabbits. “Hungry?”
She was across the fire circle in seconds, moving faster than she ever thought possible. She charged at Finn, leaping at him like a mountain cat going for the kill, and they fell to the ground, Greer atop him.
She gripped the collar of his shirt with balled fists. “What did you do to me?”
31
Greer’s fury roseas Finn smiled.
She’d never struck anyone before but now felt the urge to take her fist and hit him until his smile was bloody.
“You changed me!” she spat, tightening her hold on his shirt, and shaking him.
Part of her expectedhimto change now, turning into the fearsome creature she knew he was. She expected him to change and fight back, devouring her whole before she could even begin to defend herself.
But he didn’t.
He only lay there, looking at her with the most infuriating expression painted across his face. He was amused. He was…pleased.
She did hit him then, balling her hand into a fist and striking his shoulder with a growl of frustration.
“Oh!” It was like smacking a stone wall. Greer cradled her hand to her chest, wondering if she’d broken bones.
Finn propped himself up on his elbows, making Greer uncomfortably aware that she still straddled his lap. Immediately she rolled off, settling back on her feet, ready to run even as she acknowledged there was no place to go. Where could she run that he wouldn’t track her? How could she outrace a Bright-Eyed?
She couldn’t, so she stayed put.
“What did you do?”
Finn’s gaze was serious and searching. “I only strengthened what was already there.”
She felt her stomach lurched, suddenly nauseated. “Strengthened?”
He blinked. “Your mother.”
“What…what about her?” Greer felt compelled to ask even though she feared she already knew the answer.
Finn frowned, remorse coloring his expression. “Greer…”
“Say it.”
He sighed. “Your mother…Ailie,” he added tenderly, “was just like me.”
