Her Hidden Half (War Songs of the Courts #1)

Chapter Three

"No. This can't be her," he said, his voice filled with disbelief.

The woman glanced at me quickly before looking back up at him with a painful expression. "But it is her. We've been over this."

"Gayle, she's dysfunctional," he rumbled in frustration.

Okay, well, that was just impolite.

"I'm clumsy, not dysfunctional, and I can still hear," I mumbled, not really wanting to get involved, but offended enough to risk it.

Surprise, surprise. They both ignored me. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

"Oh, nonsense. You scared her is all. You practically smashed the poor girl with the door," she defended.

Oh, don't do that, I silently pleaded.

He huffed and flexed his hand as if to refrain from making a fist.

"Look, I get that the population of gingers are supposedly going extinct but kidnapping is going a bit far, don't you think?" I grumbled while tripping over myself to stand up. My hand shot out for support, finding only a wall when a wave of dizziness hit me. I leaned back against the it and breathed out a long steadying breath.

The big man watched me with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation. He turned back to look at Gayle as if to say see?

She shook her head sternly at him and turned to me.

"How are you feeling, honey?" She asked softly.

"Like a character in the gods fucked up version of a reality TV show. Though, I don't recall ever signing up for a spot in it. I don't even like reality TV."

Her face squished together in confusion and she glanced at Kieran, the question clear in her eyes.

"It's a human thing," he explained, answering her silent question with a shrug.

She narrowed her eyes doubtfully. "Are you sure you didn't use too much?"

He shot her an annoyed look. "Gayle, I barely used any. She's still pretty human, and the goal was to get her here, not to render her useless," he said, pausing to look back at me. "Though, from the looks of it, that could just be her natural state."

The look she gave him was less than convinced. "You gave her too much."

Their words clicked in my brain. "Wait a fucking second, did you drug me?" I interrupted, gaping at them in horror.

"Yes," he said, without an ounce of guilt.

At the same time, Gayle reassured me with, "Of course not, dear."

She shot him a look of warning before continuing, "It was just something to get you here safely."

My wide eyes bounced between them before they settled on the floor at their feet, glazing over as the panic set in. "I've been drugged. You drugged me. What am I talking about? Of course, you drugged me; you're kidnappers!" I gripped my head with shaky hands as the reality of the situation hit me. I looked up sharply, apprehension gnawing at my insides.

"Are you going to kill me?" I breathed sharply.

"Oh, she's a bright one," Kieran commented dryly.

She ignored him. "Absolutely not," she answered with aghast in her voice.

Annoyance took over, a welcomed distraction, as I shot him a glare.

He gave me the look right back before turning to Gayle with a slightly better expression. "I have to go notify him that she's finally up. He'll want to see her soon. He's already spent too much time here."

"Well, it seems we have a big day ahead of us," she said, clasping her hands together. "I'm sure you have many questions, and they will be answered, but first, we really must get you cleaned up." She took in my appearance and squared her shoulders as if to prepare herself.

Her motherly appearance paired with the warm, inviting nature of her spirit relaxed the knots of panic in the base of my gut, clearly disobeying the voice in my head that told me not to trust anything so blindly.

"Shall we?" she beamed in a sickeningly sweet voice.

I looked down to see that I was a little scuffed up but otherwise clean, and shot her a perplexed look. "But I am clean."

She paused and the douche bagel at her side snorted, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like an insult.

"You wanna speak up, big guy?" I glared with an eyebrow raised.

He opened his mouth and grunted when the woman elbowed him; hard.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry dear. I should really be more careful, but you know me. Not an ounce of grace here," she lied easily as she smoothed out the skirt of her dress with her hands.

Suddenly, I was fond of this strange woman. I don't know, I think it might be her kind eyes.

I smirked at him when he glared at me, just barely managing to contain the urge to stick my tongue out at him in a juvenile show of smug triumph.

"Just make her presentable," he grumbled to Gayle as he made his way out.

He shot me one last look before closing the door behind him and I was suddenly left to watch Gayle with mistrustful eyes. She might be the better of the two, but I still didn't trust her.

"So, we have limited options in colors but the dresses themselves are actually quite nice. I have a green one I think would just look... " I stopped hearing everything she said after that because all I could think was: did this woman just suggest I wear a dress?

Yeah, over my dead body.