Aidan has been warned about the dangers of being with a human. His people live on the edges of society, in the shadows and alleys. And one day, if he's willing to submit to the birthright ceremony, he'll lead the next generation to continued wealth...
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Aidan is in the woods, talking to someone, but I can't make out who. They're a shadowy figure, slightly shorter, a little less broad than Aidan. Whatever they're talking about, they both seem animated, arguing, maybe.
The radio beside me brims with chatter from the front of the park from the two park rangers I'm working with tonight. They've been cracking jokes about having a Big Foot sighting tonight based on some tracks they've found.
If I wasn't currently being stalked by a killer pack of wolves, their jokes might be funnier. Where the unusual used to amuse me as much as the next person, now I've found that moments like this set me on edge.
To distract myself, I turn back to the notes that Larissa left about which areas have campers, and even she's left a rough sketch of a large hairy man on the edge of the paper.
A frown creases my brow, and I glance back out the window to find Aidan and the other man gone. His disappearance causes a vice to tighten across my chest, stealing my breath. True to his word, Aidan hasn't left my side in days. He's never more than a few feet away from me, always within my line of sight.
"Are you avoiding me?"
Hailey's voice at the door of the hut makes me jump, and I turn to face her, a hand over my heart. "Jesus, you scared me."
"What's got your panties in a twist?" She sashays into the hut, peering at the map and guest information laid out in front of me.
"The two rangers keep joking about weird footprints in the park. I guess it's set me on edge." But it's taken me a moment to come up with the half truth, and Hailey is scanning me, clearly not sure she should believe me.
"You like weird things," she says.
"Maybe I don't like massive men." But I do—at least one of them. I peer over my shoulder, out the window of the hut again, but he's still gone.
Hailey lets out a snort. "Brody is tall, but he's definitely not massive."
"What are you doing here?" I fiddle with one of the pieces of paper on the desk, unsure whether I should be getting rid of Hailey or if Aidan will just make himself invisible. At this point, I would just like him to be visible to me.
"You didn't answer my last text, and you work in a creepy state park overnight. I was worried about my best friend."
"I'm totally fine."
"Are you?" Hailey tilts her head. "You seem different." She sucks in a deep breath. "New perfume? Smells kind of earthy, not really like you."
In the past, Hailey's weird comments that were either way off base or strangely intuitive didn't phase me. They were part of her quirkiness, the thing that made us friends. But there's something about the way she says the last bit that raises my defenses in a way I've never had them go up around her before.
