"Whatever is out there, they're upsetting the horses." Jason glowered at the empty ridge line and raised his voice. "And when I catch them, I'll be sure to show my appreciation for all the extra work they're causing me."
"We're relatively sure it's not human," Ollie explained.
"You've got that right. It's mythological."
"I knew it," Jason said in satisfaction.
Ollie gave Eva a startled frown. "How can you tell?"
Eva hesitated, debating how much to reveal.
She trusted Ollie. She did. But sharing such a private piece of herself, something she'd spent the majority of her life pretending didn't exist was the equivalent to peeling back her skin to bare her soul.
What would she do if he looked at her like a monster?
This was Ollie they were talking about. A man she respected as much as she did Caden, albeit in an entirely different way.
His good opinion meant everything to her. To see him look at her with the same eyes her father had? That same disgust and fear?
It would destroy her. Devastate her to the point she didn't know if she'd ever be able to find herself again.
Jason aimed a penetrating stare at Eva. He looked as if he'd just realized something that surprised him. He blinked, the moment lost, as he dropped his gaze to the ground.
Eva frowned at him in confusion before focusing on Ollie. "Just call it a hunch."
If by hunch, he took it to mean an absolute certainty in the same way the sky was blue and Caia would never be fully obedient.
Ollie's eyebrows pulled together as he gave her a reproachful look, telling her without words she didn't fool him for a minute but that he was going to let this go.
For now.
Eva nodded at him, letting him see her appreciation. She knew that she couldn't always hide. That one day she'd have to step fully into the light and face the truth.
Just not today.
"Am I right about this?" Eva shot Sebastian a look.
One ear flicked as he gave her a flat stare that told her to quit wasting time.
Eva smiled. That's what she’d thought.
In consideration of their peeping friend, Eva raised her voice. "You might as well come out."
The furtive sounds stopped.
Eva closed her eyes, her senses relaying the pounding heart and quick breathing of the mythological.
"Maybe they left," Ollie suggested.
One side of Eva's lips turned up as she shook her head. The bright light in her mind she associated with a mythological burned unabated, telling her the mythological hadn't gone anywhere.
"You're not fooling anyone. We know you're there," Eva suggested.
Eva scanned the rocks, her gaze sliding right past the mythological at first.
It was no wonder too.
The female had chosen the perfect perch, the darkness of her feathers and skin blending perfectly into the pocket of shadows she'd found. She stood motionless as if carved from stone, her bright eyes the only sign of life as she focused on Eva with an almost predatory fascination.
