“Oh, I know he’s got Hunter blood.” Hettie swatted a branch out of the way that appeared to be pecking at her hair like a chicken looking for bugs. She swiveled to look at me when I gasped. “Yeah, I know it’s a secret. I’ll keep it, just like you will. Hunters can find things other people can’t.”
“How do you know about his heritage?” I asked. “Silas told me Hunters can be killed on sight.”
“Don’t you think if I wanted him dead, I’d’ve already blabbed around the island about it?” Hettie shrugged. “I’m old. I know things other people don’t. That’s the real reason you want to respect your elders, else you’ll end up dead.”
“Okie dokie,” I said.
“You’ve kept his secret even though you have no real reason to. That’s far more interesting.” Hettie paused. “Why?”
“I don’t really know, to be honest. I suppose I trust him. At least, I trust him to keep me alive. For some reason, he thinks I’m the only person who can break the curse.”
“Curious.” Hettie stopped short, turned around. She squinted like she was studying me under a magnifying glass. “Very curious.”
It was like she’d decided something. But she hurried onward without explanation.
“What’s curious?” I asked.
“Silas doesn’t do anything without good reason. Especially not something with huge consequences like bringing a non-magic mainlander to the island. He hates outsiders as much as the rest of us. No offense.”
“None taken,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to share this world with someone else, either.”
Hettie glanced my way, approval in her gaze. “You are an islander. Dammit, Silas was right again. That man has a practically perfect track record being correct. It drives me up a wall.”
“Me too,” I said. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Hettie gave a cackle. “You’ve been practicing your magic. That was real impressive what you did here tonight.”
“No, I haven’t,” I said. “I-I don’t know what happened. This is the first time I’ve ever used it like that.”
“No kidding?” Hettie blinked her owl eyes. “Tying me to a tree was your first attempt at magic?”
“Yep.”
“Dadgum,” she announced. “You could incinerate this island if you decide to apply yourself.”
I licked my lips. “I’ve always been a good student. I just... Well, I don’t know what to study. Do you know what I am?”
Hettie opened and shut her mouth, like she was truly speechless. I got the vibe that didn’t happen often.
“Silas didn’t tell you?” Hettie asked. “He didn’t share any of those theories of his?”
“No.” We walked onward. Hettie didn’t seem inclined to offer more, so I pushed for it. “Why? Do you have a theory? Or better yet, do you know his theory?”
“Nope,” she said, and I got the impression it was the first time she’d lied to me all evening.
“Don’t lie to me,” I said. “Please.”
“Okay,” Hettie said. “Though I’m nottotallylying. Silas hasn’t told me his theories, but I can guess what they are.”
“Will you tell me?”
“Also no.”
“Why not?”
“Honey.” Hettie stopped, put her hands on my shoulders, and looked me dead in the eyes. She didn’t seem to harbor a hair of annoyance that I’d just wrapped her in ropes against a tree like a villain. “I know how hard it is to be new here. My granddaughter Lily was just likeyou not all that long ago. We could tell that she belonged here, just like you do.”
That matched up with what I’d heard from Lily too. As much as it seemed thethingson this island were trying to kill me, it also seemed like thepeopleon this island were trying to keep me alive. The stakes in general were heightened to the nthdegree. People loved harder, magicked harder, enjoyed life harder.
