I blinked. “Wait, what?”
“It was one of the questions you asked earlier. Although I don’t know how you expect a person to respond when you’re never quiet.”
Oh shit, had I actually asked that?Out loud?
I needed duct tape. Lots and lots of it.
“I’m—” I started.
Viking Viktor spun on his heel. “Kaelan, go saddle your horse. Belanna, make sureshestays quiet.” He put his hands on his hips, examining the people at the bottom of the hill. “I’ll be back.” He jogged down the incline, his hair bouncing with each step.
Anger—hot, bubbling, almost painful rage—surged through my veins. It came out of nowhere. I suddenly wanted to grab the end of that ponytail andrip it off.“Fucking Viking asshat,” I whispered. “I bet youdoget off on scaring the shit outta women.”
I hadn’t meant for him to hear that, but the dude had ears like a hawk. He stopped dead, his shoulders bunching up again.
“Shit,” I started. “Look, I’m sorry, I—”
“You’ll stop calling meViking.” Viking Viktor turned to face me again. “My name is Cheriour.” He stepped forward, dropping his voice into little more than a whisper. “I understand this is new to you, but your boorish behavior stops now. Or Iwillleave you behind.”
This time, when he walked away, I stayed silent. I didn’t want to. I wanted to scream(“Cheriour? You definitely pulled that name out of your cherry-anus.”). I wanted to cry.
Instead, I silently clenched my hands into fists until my knuckles popped. This was nuts. Bona fide insane. Celestials? People with superpowers? Different worlds? A dude with a name that sounded like cherry-oar? This shit didn’t happen. Not in real life. I mean, the teenage-kid-discovers-magic-land trope was present in almost every popular movie, TV show, book…everything. But no living person had ever actually discovered magic, or alternate realities, or fantasy worlds. And I was too freaking old to go on an“adventure.”
My lungs tightened again.
This isn’t real. It’s not real. There’s a rational explanation—therehasto be.
And yet, everythingfeltreal. Like the still-drying patches of mud and blood on my clothes. The sticky warmth of the breeze as it dried the sweat on the back of my neck. The heat of Kaelan’s hand as he pressed it against my shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled before he walked away. “No one ever wants to come here.”
A sickening ball of dread festered inside my gut.
None of this, logically, could be real.
And yet, I couldn’t convince myself it wasn’t.
8
Drop-Landed From A UFO
“You worthless bitch! Why can’t you keep your damn mouth shut?”
“Addie's a bright student. But, well, there’ve been issues. She argues with the other children, and she’s constantly talking back to her teachers.”
“Addie, sweetie, I wish we could find you a family. But with your record…”
“OMG. Addie, girl, I love you. But you get us in trouble every damn time we go out.”
An array of foster parents, teachers, social workers, employers, and friends pranced before my mind’s eye.
Okay…so I had a track record of being mouthy. But it wasn’tintentional.
Kid me hadn’t been able to control my verbal outbursts. At all. I vocalizedeverypassing thought. Most of the time, I didn’t even realize I was talking.
Adult me had more restraint.Usually.But in one afternoon (or evening, considering it had been nighttime when I went to get pizza) everything had come undone. Viking Viktor—Cheriourhad gotten blasted with a full stream of word vomit. And actual vomit as well. I didn’t blame him for being pissed. But…
I wanted to go home!My lower lip trembled. I wanted my mushroom and olive pizza and a glass of wine (maybe the whole dang bottle). I wanted to sit on my squishy couch and binge-watch bad reality TV until my brain melted.
Sure, my life wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but it wasmylife. And, in the blink of an eye, it had been taken away from me.
