Page 44 of Heart of the Hunted
"What? Did you think that an egg just fell out of the sky and I popped out of it?" he asked.
"Well, no," she said, looking at her feet. “I just thought you were created a different way.”
The blush that crept up Natalia's face told him that she was embarrassed by her comment.
"What other way is there to create life?" he asked.
"I don't know. To be honest, I can't say I've really thought too much about it. After all, it wasn't a priority to know where you came from," she said. "We were too busy trying to stay away from you so we could stay alive longer."
"You keep saying we,” he pointed out. “Were there more people with you other than just your mother?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," she said. "I'm not going to tell you anything you can use against my kind. So, you might as well save your breath."
"I wasn't trying to pry," he said innocently. "I was just curious, that's all."
"Yeah, I know why you're curious,” she told him. “But I'm telling you now, I'm not going to give away anything about my kind, so you can just forget about it."
"That's not what I was after. I was just trying to get to know you a little better." Which was true.
Taredd didn’t have a clue why he wanted to learn all about her when he’d never wanted to know anything about the Humans he’d come across before, but he did. There was something about her that intrigued him.
"Why?" she asked, tilting her head to one side as she looked up at him.
In that pose, she looked rather cute. Taredd didn't think she would appreciate him telling her that though, so he kept it to himself.
"Because I do."
"That's not an answer," she told him.
"Yes, it is."
"No, it's not," she countered.
"Well, it's the truth whether you believe it or not."
"Well, I don't."
"That's your choice. There's nothing I can say, or do, that will change your mind, is there?" he asked, knowing what the answer was going to be before she answered.
"Not really, no," she said.
Which was exactly what he thought she was going to say.
"See?” he said. “So why should I bother trying to prove to you that I don't have an ulterior motive?"
Instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own. "Are you like this with all of my kind?"
"No."
"So, why the interest in me?"
"I don't know," he said honestly. "You just intrigue me and I want to know more about you, is that so hard for you to believe?"
"Yes."
It was his turn to ask "Why?"
"Because, I'm nothing special,” she was pensive. “So, why me?"
"I already told you,” he said. “But you didn't accept my answer."
Taredd didn’t know what more she wanted from him. He already told her he didn't know why she intrigued him, she just did. He felt compelled to learn all he could about her, and each moment that passed in her company, made him want to know even more.
