Hounded [Wild Hunt Series: 2]

2: Wondering

"You think Val's alright?" I asked Dakota after making sure everyone paired up for the evening and instructed everyone to check their rooms again before bed.

Dakota ran an ichor-tainted hand through her hair, streaking it green. She shrugged. "We'll find out."

And that was all it was, these days. Wait and see. Wait and worry. Wait for the last survivors to ride in from the Hunt. Wait for a mysterious ceremony. Wait for my wedding night.

Heavy boots sounded down the hall. The Walrus, stomach bare, shoulders soaked in streaking blood and gore, smiled like a bearded madman. "Drink it in, lassie," he said, flexing an arm. Dakota's face scrunched in disgust.

"No thanks," she said, and in short order returned to lining up amphibian bodies.

The Walrus, still grinning, let out a wild yell. Oh, was he feeling alive tonight! I let the old warrior have his moment, wondering what kind of a thing he'd turned into out in the storm, and then he'd calmed enough for me to ask about the creatures.

"Plague of Lephians on yer household," he grunted. "It's doing, I'd wager. Can't set its feet inside these walls, but there's no stopping minions. Pregnant one probably climbed over in the rains, spawned the rest in the springs. Breed like mad, and with the Hunt going on, plenty of quiet down below. Now that I think about it," he said, pausing as a sudden thought struck him. "Lord Sparrow had gone down there few weeks ago. Haven't seen him since. And a few servants, too...Anyway, you likely stumbled on them a bit ahead of schedule. Ain't bright enough to wait 'til they're full grown. Mostly infants out there." 

I glanced from the stack of prone bodies, some drooling eggs, and told him about Dot and the others.

"Ah," he said, frowning. "Ain't sure about that. Folks are usually getting killed, dragged away into the bottom of ponds to feed the offspring after they've sprouted legs; first meal, you know? Might have a bit of a bellyache, but the ladies should recover in time. Eggs don't last in a living person, though I wouldn't stake my life on that claim."

"Everyone's checking their spaces. I'd advise you do it yourself, Lady Wilson."

"Will there be more?"

"Always another fish in the sea, Lady Wilson," the Walrus said.  He nodded at the pile. "Say, if you ain't using those for anything, those legs cook up real nice in a ...."

It wasn't for another half hour that I managed to excuse myself and head up to my room. Shail was content to scavenge around the girls, Val was missing, Dakota and the Walrus were deep in conversation about something neither of them would let me listen in on, and the rest had settled in for the time being. Not that I'd truly call them relaxed; you couldn't ever do that around here. You just didn't know what was coming next.

But I knew what awful thing awaited me in the tower tonight, and I was dreading him. I took the steps to my room slowly, let my feet cool against the water-stained stone,  dragging myself along until I'd gotten into the hall and—

Chiro sat on the floor beside my door, grey eyes focused on the stained ceiling. There was a tiny box on his lap. He got to his feet as I fiddled around in my pocket for the key, leaving the box for the time being. "Lady Wilson," he said, head dipping in cordial greeting.

He wasn't smiling, but somehow in my face the muscles found a way to flash him a fleeting grin. "Gonna help me, aren't you?"

"Heard about the Lephians. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help." And from the look on his face, okay, no, the balled fist was a better hint, he might've been just the tiiiinest bit pissed that he'd been in the hot springs just moments before the attack and hadn't noticed a damn thing wrong.