Page 68 of Heart of the Hunted
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Taredd
Taredd used the time away from Natalia to try and clear his head, but it hadn't worked as he had planned. If anything, he was more confused than ever. It didn't matter how far, or how long, he walked in the crisp morning air, nothing helped change the way he felt about her.
After looking up at the sun, he'd realized he had been out walking for quite some time. Natalia had more than likely been awake for a while by the time he noticed, so he had turned around and headed back to the tavern, stopping along the way to grab some breakfast for them both.
Once he was back at the tavern, Taredd took the stairs two at a time. When he was in sight of their room, he stopped dead in his tracks. The door to their room was completely destroyed.
Snapping back into motion, Taredd raced straight into the room. He knew it was going to be empty before he even looked, but he needed to be certain.
"I thought that was you," Dain said from where he stood in the doorway.
Taredd spun on his heel and had Dain pinned up against the wall before he could take another breath.
"Where the fuck is she?" he growled.
With a confused look on his face, Dain held his arms up in surrender and asked "Where the fuck is who?"
"The female that was in this room. Where. Is. She?" he demanded.
"Dude, I don't know who the fuck you're talking about," Dain said, shaking his head. "I didn't even know you was here until I saw you walking into the tavern just a minute ago."
Letting go of Dain, Taredd backed away from him and started pacing the room.
"So, who is she?" Dain asked.
Instead of answering Dain's question, he asked one of his own "How long have you been here?"
"I've been in this town since you and Arun went off on your own," Dain said. "I didn't know you were here as well until I saw you heading in here, so I followed you to see how your hunt was going."
"I won the bet, if that's what you're asking," Taredd said.
"That's great, I knew you could do it!" Dain said excitedly.
"It's not great!" Taredd roared. "Because now she's missing!"
"So? Find another one," Dain told him as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't want another one," Taredd yelled as he hit the wall.
It was a choice of either the wall or Dain's face, and since Dain hadn't actually done anything wrong as far as Taredd knew, it was better he took his rage out on the wall instead.
"I can see that." Dain said, eyebrows raised as he looked at the hole Taredd had just made in the wall. "What's going on, Taredd? What makes this Human so special to you?"
"I made a promise to her that she wouldn't die."
"You what?"
Taredd could tell he had shocked Dain with his admission, but he didn't care anymore. All that matter now, was getting Natalia back.
He dreaded to think what could be happening to her while he stood around talking to Dain, but if he had any chance in getting her back safely, then he was going to need Dain's help.
"I promised that she wouldn't die,” he repeated himself.
"Why the fuck would you promise a Human something like that?" Dain asked. "Have you forgotten what we do?"
"Of course, I haven't forgotten," Taredd said, shaking his head. "I don't know why I promised her, but I did, and now she's gone, so I've probably already broken my promise."
