Page 69 of Heart of the Hunted
"There's more to it than just a promise, isn't there?" Dain asked him.
Taredd nodded. The problem was, he didn't know how to start explaining it to Dain. It still didn't make any sense to Taredd, so how the hell he expect Dain to understand it, when he didn't understand it himself?
Even still, Taredd filled Dain in as best as he could on everything that had happened since they split up. He admitted that he’d grown attached to Natalia, and did his best at explaining about the confusing feelings that were swirling around inside him.
Once Taredd was finally finished, Dain shook his head and said: "It sounds like you've fallen in love with this Human."
"That's not possible," Taredd said adamantly.
"Why's it not possible?" Dain asked. "You know as well as I do that anything is possible."
"Because, it's not," Taredd said. "I'm a Demon, for fuck sake. I hunt down and kill her kind, not fall in love with them."
"That doesn't mean it's not possible," Dain told him. "And from the looks of you, I would say that is exactly what's happened."
Taredd didn't want to agree with Dain, but he couldn't deny the evidence. It was the only explanation that made any sense of why he couldn't think straight around her. Why he acted the way he did when she was close to him, and why he was having this reaction now that she was gone.
No, not gone, taken. She was taken from him, but he swore to hell and high water that he was going to get her back. No matter what it took, she was going to be by his side once again.
"I need to find her, Dain,” he said. "I can't lose her."
"You won't lose her, Taredd. I'll help you find her, no matter what it takes," Dain told him before he asked: "What do you need me to do?"
Taredd looked around the room. It didn't appear as if Natalia put up much of a fight, but even if there was only one assailant, she wouldn't have stood a chance against them.
It didn't matter what species it was, Natalia wouldn't have been able to fight against them, and he couldn't see it being one of her kind. They wouldn't have made it far into town on their own, let alone manage to drag Natalia out of here with them without being seen.
"I need your nose,” he said out of the blue.
"Okay," Dain said, dragging out the word. "What do you need my nose for?"
"Why the fuck do you think?" Taredd said, rolling his eyes. "I want you to follow her scent."
"Ah, I see. You want me to be your personal sniffer dog," Dain said dryly.
"Something like that," Taredd admitted, shrugging a shoulder. "So, come on then, shift already."
"Fine," Dain gave in. "I'll do it, but you tell Arun I did this for you and I'll flat out deny it."
"I promise not to say a thing to Arun about this," Taredd swore. "Just hurry up and shift already."
"Okay, okay," Dain said.
A moment later, he was stood on four paws. Taredd thought Dain would have chosen to shift into a wolf like he normally would have done, but instead this time he shifted into a bloodhound.
"Really?" Taredd asked him with an eyebrow raised.
When Dain growled at him, Taredd couldn't help but laugh at him.
"I already said I wouldn't tell Arun,” he said, holding his hands up. "I didn't agree not to laugh though."
When Dain growled again, Taredd added: "Fine, I won't laugh either. Just get on with sniffing around already."
Dain growled once more before getting on with the task at hand. When he picked up her scent, he barked at Taredd and raced out the room. Taredd kept up easily with Dain as he tracked down Natalia, neither of them slowed until they came to a rundown building a few blocks away from the tavern.
Taredd recognized the building, he remembered walking past here after he left Natalia sleeping this morning. They must have seen him with her the day before and assumed he had left her alone in the tavern... which he had done... and taken the opportunity to snatch her from him.
It didn't matter who they were, they wouldn't have stood a chance against him if he had been there, which is probably why they waited until they had seen him on his own without her.
