But the face I associate with that scent was much older than she now appears.
Carefully, I say, “You told me not to eat the mouse.”
“Indeed.” She breaks into a smile. “Precious thing, you let it run away without taking even a nibble of its tail.”
I’m not sure if I should be offended that she called me a ‘thing,’ although it’s somewhat unclear if she was referring to me or the mouse.
“You were much older,” I say, standing my ground as she takes another step toward me.
I have no fear of her.
My claws are ready.
“That face suited my needs at the time.” Her focus slips past me to the tower. “Oh my, that is a very impressive tower.”
“People call itthe Spire,” I reply, gauging her reaction.
This place is well known in the supernatural community. If she’s heard of it, then she will also know who lives here and that a single wrong move will get her hunted down and killed. My mother may be misjudged, but I have no boundaries when it comes to protecting my family.
The woman arches her eyebrows. “I can see why it has that name.” Then she waves her hand at the gathering in front of it. “But it looks like we’ve come at a bad time.”
“We?”
“My two brothers and I.” She turns slightly and points in the direction of the shadows behind her.
Two men stand in the darkness, neither fully visible.
Their scents are strange to me. Magical. Certainly supernatural. But of a kind I haven’t encountered before.
I peer harder at her. “Whoareyou?”
“I like to be called Halle. But my brothers, when they’re being cruel, call me Hel. You can meet them if you like?”
I scoff. “With an introduction like that, I don’t think so.”
One corner of her mouth hitches up. “Let me try again. My eldest brother was born in the cave where you once let a mouse go free.”
Now she’s the one peering at me, and she doesn’t have to say more.
Even if I didn’t remember that cave and all the runes etched into the side of it, Father has told me all the stories of his people.
I take another deep breath, pulling in the scent of the most darkly shadowed man.
Fuck me.
Is he the Wolf of War?
“My other brother, also older than me,” Halle continues, gesturing to the other man, “well, he slithered his way out of a similar cavern. Right after he decided it would be more interesting to explore the world than to encircle it for all eternity.”
I gasp. “The World Serpent.”
Of course, she could be lying to me, but the energy I’m now sensing around all three of them tells me that, even if these supernaturals aren’t the gods they claim to be, they’re fucking powerful.
Halle gives me another smile, and for the first time since she arrived, the twist of her lips isn’t shrewd or conniving. She considers me openly. “We’ve waited decades for you, Galeia.”
“Why?”
She gestures to the clearing. “You don’t belong here, tucked away in that tower. Not when you have such a long life ahead of you and the power to do anything you want.”
