Ann Gimpel by Earth's Requiem (Earth Reclaimed) Page B

both her hands, palms facing outward. “Until a couple of days ago, I thought I was Mage and Seeker,” she explained. “I was, ah, on my way somewhere at the Old Ones’ behest when the wolf chose me. I tried to tell him I was no Hunter, but he insisted.” She shrugged. “I know it sounds odd, but my talents are still developing.”
    “You speak true, though it makes little sense.” Fionn’s words sounded grudging. He kept a respectable distance between them and eyed her, as if she was a powder keg about to blow.
    A corner of her mouth quirked upward. “How do you suppose it makes me feel? Part of me still misses being a teenager with parents in our house in Salt Lake. It took a while to get used to the magic I was supposed to have. To find out I have more—” she rolled her eyes “—is deucedly unnerving.”
    “You look older than that.”
    “Lost my dewy-eyed youth, huh?” She snorted. “That’s because I am older now. Twenty-two.”
    “Youngster. I’m thirty.”
    “So you had some sort of established life before—”
    “Stop.” He held up a hand and trained his gaze on her. It spoke a warning, as clear as if the words had passed his lips.
    She understood. One of the unwritten rules was never talking about the past. “Sorry.” She shifted gears. “You didn’t answer my question. About Rune and Bella.”
    “Bond animals have their own network. If they do not know one another, they will know others who know someone in the other’s circle. They are comparing notes. And complaining about their bond mates. Though I’ve never gotten Bella to actually admit that.” He laughed, and she felt the tension bleed out of him.
    “Do you Hunt alone? Or are there others like, ah, us nearby?” When she stumbled over the us , Aislinn realized she still didn’t see herself as a Hunter.
    An awkward silence hovered before he answered her. “For now, I Hunt alone.” Moving alongside her, he draped an arm over her shoulders. “Come sit with me. We can share conversation, food—and perhaps other things as well over time.”
    She slipped out from under his arm. Her flush from earlier had to be back in full force on her suddenly overheated face. “Now wait a minute,” she sputtered. “You’re being pretty presumptuous—”
    He held up both hands and laughed. “ No mas . I thought you might like to learn about your Hunter skills. That’s all.” He resettled his arm companionably around her shoulders.
    The heat from his body felt comforting. His fingertips caressed her, light as butterfly wings. She felt need in him with a sharp, desperate edge to it, sexual, yet more than that, too. Questions bubbled up, but she didn’t ask any of them. All the humans who were left lived with loneliness. She thought about Travis and what he’d said about taking comfort when it was offered. Good advice, she realized, walking next to Fionn. Against her better judgment, she let herself enjoy the feel of his body where it brushed against hers.
    They passed Rune and Bella. The animals were so deep in conversation that neither acknowledged their human. Fionn made a chirping noise, but the raven cawed so disapprovingly that he looked cowed.
    “What was that all about?” Aislinn asked, curious.
    “I asked her to come with me, and she told me to piss off.”
    “Hmph. Are all bond animals temperamental?”
    They reached a sheltered cove about a hundred yards down the lakeshore. He gestured for her to sit. “Only strong-minded animals seek the Hunter bond. So, I think the answer to your question is probably yes . Bella’s been my only bond mate. She’s certainly volatile, and the reason—” He broke off, looking uncomfortable.
    Reason for what? Aislinn thought about Travis’s civet. The cat had seemed somewhat retiring, maybe because she’d never been included in conversations with it. Lots to learn here.
    Aspens, their leafless branches twining together, grew thickly next to the shoreline. Sand and marsh grasses formed