Page 23 of Heart of the Cursed
“You’re mostly right in your assumption,” he told her. “Certain species prefer to ‘stick around with their own kind’, as you put it, but not all.”
“Well, apart from some of the small towns, that’s not what I’ve seen.”
“Well, you couldn’t have seen much then,” he countered. “I’d be more than happy to show you, if you’d like.”
“I bet you would,” she sneered. “Do I look stupid to you? Because I’m not.”
Arun was taken aback by her outburst. He didn’t have a clue what he’d said that set her off, but whatever it was, he had meant no offense.
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m not going to fall for any of your tricks, buddy,” she said, poking a finger in his chest. “So, don’t even bother trying.”
“There was no ulterior motive hidden within my offer,” he quickly assured her. “I apologize if I gave you that impression. It was not my intent. I was simply offering to show you that there are species out there that co-exist peacefully.”
“Why would I want to see that when my own kind is hunted to near extinction?” she frowned. “I would much rather see the Human race living peacefully, than yours or anyone else’s kind.”
“Humans didn’t live peacefully before we came along,” he pointed out. “They were constantly at war with each other. Not to mention, the amount of animal and plant life that has gone extinct because of them. So, don’t try to make out that they are completely innocent in all of this. If they hadn’t been trying to destroy the realm, we wouldn’t have turned our sights on them after the war.”
It was probably a bad idea to lose his temper, but he’d had enough of her blaming everything on everyone else and not placing any of the responsibility or blame on her own kind. Selene may not be to blame, but the ancestors of those she claimed were her kind, were to blame. If they hadn’t been slowly killing the planet and everything on it, they wouldn’t have made themselves targets.
Selene didn’t say a word. She glared daggers at him and then stormed off.
Yep, I’ve definitely pissed her off this time.
It wasn’t the first time he had managed to piss her off, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, either. If they were going to be together for an extended period, then he was bound to piss her off again, and probably soon.
Arun didn’t care. He wasn’t there to be her friend. He was there to make sure she stayed alive. As soon as he knew she was going to be safe, he would be heading straight back to Taredd and Dain.
So, the sooner he found out what she was doing, the sooner he could return to… what? What would he be returning to? He didn’t want to hunt down and kill Humans anymore, so what was he going to do instead?
Arun didn’t have a clue. He just knew he couldn’t carry on doing what he had been doing. He’d been surrounded by death and destruction for long enough. It was time to make a change, hopefully for the better.
