Hunted [Wild Hunt Series: 1]

7: The Mid

Even astride a fleet horse, the distance was deceptively vast. Hours later, with the strange sun dropping below the plains, the imposing castle was hours away. The sky darkened. The hollerings and horseplay of the other demons rose above the thunderous hooves. Immediately Cairo urged his steed clear of fray. They drove their horses to clip hooves and nearly collide;  rode up and viciously tugged the arm or leg of a distracted rider. The horses, for all their natural markings, still bore fangs the way the Smiling Dark still ran with its forked tongue lolled out. It was as if this world were a sunken mirror of our own; a steady, familiar surface with an ocean's worth of mysteries lurking underneath.

I pulled my billowing hair to one side and turned a cheek into the soft fabric of Cairo's shirt. He immediately leaned backward. 

"Where are we?" I asked.

A thousand stormy nights shivered through my veins at the sight of those cold grey eyes. He wore his displeasure like a mask carved from sandstone, unmoved and stoic but not impossible to erode.

It was a long ride to the castle; I wasn't planning on giving up easily. So I bit my lip, prayed he wouldn't toss me off the horse, and rubbed my shoulders into his chest with an inquisitive, "Where are we?"

Wrapped in fluff, I turned my chin up like a curious kitten and peered at him.

"Where?" I began in a small voice.

"Not. Now."

"Give you this fur back." I fiddled with the clasp near my neck. "I'm not married to the thought of wearing it. I don't even know what a Marl is. Talk to me from here to the castle and it's all yours. I'll just fashion a potato sack into a dress or something. It's cool."

His chest rose and fell on a heavy sigh. "It reeks of human now."

"It reeks of death." I pointed to the imposing skyline, where the castle loomed ever so slightly nearer. "Don't you have slaves to wash it for you?"

"I don't trust servants paid to stand around me, let alone those forced to," he said.

When my eyes met his, his attention reverted to the skyline. The beginnings of a blue aurora shimmered over the castle's spiraling towers. The castle and its crown city were surrounded by a wall higher than the hoover dam. Light glowed over its perimeter. Though I couldn't be sure, for the briefest moment it seemed as if a large shadow had snaked down from the highest tower and disappeared around the far side.

Cairo frowned. Maybe he'd seen it, too. "You are wearing the cloak. You have hands. You wash it." 

"We don't do much hand-washing in the century I'm from." I didn't have time for that, anyway, unless I was scrubbing my boots or hosing the flies out of my head net.

"If you borrow something, do you not return it cleaned?"

"Oh yeah, I'll bring it back lavender-scented and fluffy, just the way you returned my calf."

"I didn't promise anything."

"God, no," I said. "Demons make deals, not promises."

Irritation slipped into his tone. "No God here, human."

"Tay," I snapped. "My name's Tay. The Walrus says names have power. Well, mine doesn't carry much weight at current, but it will. So say it. Tay Wilson. T-A-Y Tay. Wilson like the volleyball."

He was quiet for a long stretch. "Not very smart, are you?" he finally asked. Before I could say something mean, he carried on. "I am Cairo. Like the human capital of Egypt. C-H-I-R-O."

I laughed. "Not very smart, are you? That's not how you spell Cairo."

I couldn't read his expression, but he sounded almost embarrassed. "I was making the letters very fast when I chose the name."