Chapter 46
Forty-Six
Ella
At some point I was alerted to the fact Milly was shaking my arm, trying to get my attention while calling my name as well.
“Ella!”
I blinked when Kolar stepped in front of me, blocking sight of the Hunter I had once known as Jiricek.
The Hunter who had sterilized me and sold me to humans. The Hunter who had broken me.
Now his head adorned the citadel gates like a gruesome wall portrait.
“Are you there? Helloooo, Ella?” Milly’s face replaced Kolar’s. She took both my shoulders and gave me a little shake.
“Yeah.” I sucked in a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. “I’m here. I’m okay. Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Milly turned me at the shoulder, tugging me back through the crowd. “That was really gross. I know we’ve seen some things, but seeing that would put just about anyone out of sorts. No need to apologize.”
“Milly,” I said as we drifted, not walking anywhere in particular.
“Like, why rip the head off?”
“Milly.”
“Why not just hang the whole body up? Less gore that way.”
“Milly,” I tried again.
“Unless maybe they think the point wouldn’t have gotten across? I still think people would understand. Don’t you?” She stopped talking as my hand covered her mouth.
She stared at me, her eyes dropping to my hand and then back up. One eyebrow lifted followed by the other.
“Milly,” I said, locking eyes with her. “I know who it was.”
The eyebrows rose higher, her forehead wrinkling. She slowly lifted a hand, peeling my palm away from her mouth. “Did you just say you know them?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “He’s a Hunter. Or was.”
“Good riddance,” she spat, staring angrily back at the gates.
“He’s the Hunter,” I whispered. “The one from … before you.”
Milly went still. “He is?”
I nodded.
“Awfully big coincidence.”
“I don’t think it is one,” I confessed, tuning out the world except for my best friend. “Dirk and I, we talked. I told him about what happened to me. What … what that Hunter did.”
“So you think Dirk …”
I nodded. “But how?”
“Well, he is the brother of the Ice Tyrant,” Milly said slowly. “He’s pretty strong.”
“Not that.” I chewed on my lip, fear gnawing at my insides. “Mil, how did he know who I was talking about, and how could he find him so fast?”
Milly didn’t respond, her eyes shifting past me and going wide.
“That would be quite simple,” a new voice interrupted.
A voice we all knew well.
I whirled around to see Mirko standing there with Andrik at his side, hair curled and teased, clothing tailored perfectly to his body, somehow turning his natural muscle into a show of frippery and weakness.
Kolar came up from between Milly and me. Behind Mirko, Durion stood with his hands wide, apologetic for being too slow to warn us about Mirko’s presence.
“What do you want, Mirko?” I bit off, staring into eyes far too similar to Dirk’s for my liking.
“You asked a question,” the arrogant shifter said with false pleasantry. “I figured it was the right thing to do to answer it.”
“How could you possibly know anything?” Milly snapped, easing closer to me protectively.
“I make it my business to know things. I don’t like being surprised or snuck up on.”
Something glinted in Mirko’s eyes. Was that a subtle jab about the trap he’d led us into? There was no way to prove it, but his words seemed a little too close to the mark. I gritted my teeth to stop from snapping at him.
“Anyway, the answer to your question is a simple one. Dirk knew who you were talking about because he used to be one of them.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
“You didn’t know?” Mirko’s smile turned darker, filling with malevolent delight. “For a time there, young Dirk was a Hunter himself. In fact, he was the Hunter.”
“You’re lying,” I whispered.
The satisfaction on Mirko’s face only grew, twisting his birthmark into something ugly that only he could create. “Ah, but that’s the beauty of the truth. There’s proof. You can find his name on the wall at Hunter’s Hall. He’s listed right there among the Honored Hunters. ‘Dirk Dvorak.’”
I stepped backward, shaking my head. “No. No that can’t be right. Dirk would never.”
Mirko laughed. Andrik, who had remained impassive until that moment, finally smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.
“Now, I wonder why he would feel the need to hide such a thing from his new mate?”
Mirko looked at his son, who shrugged playfully.
“Why, father, I have no idea.”
Kolar snarled and stepped forward, gathering Milly and me by the shoulders.
“Don’t bother,” Mirko said, dropping the act. “We’re leaving anyway. Places to be, you understand. People to deal with. Things that will actually benefit the kingdom.”
They walked away laughing while all around me, the world that had seemed so bright only hours ago slid into darkness.