The Huntress : The Alterealm Series Book 1

Chapter 77

It was just a little over an hour when Crissy came wandering back out, she looked sleepy still, I knew if she felt safer she’d probably sleep a lot longer. I’d been in that position more than once, so I couldn’t say too much to her about it.

She dug around in her bag and pulled out a small container. Moving past me, she went out into the kitchen and put the kettle on.

Getting up, I tried to look relaxed when I followed her in, I was anything but. “Couldn’t sleep any longer?”

Shaking her head, she shrugged. “I think I’m just programmed now to have short rests when I can.”

Leaning on the doorframe I nodded. “Yeah, I get that.” I watched her make her tea for a few minutes. “Quinton ran out to get some things for me.” Clearing my throat, I tucked my hands into my pockets and stared at the floor. “I need to talk to you about everything that’s going on.”

She turned, her eyes searching my face. “You know something.” There was accusation in her voice but not in a bad way. Sighing loudly, she picked up the cup and moved out into the living room. “Tell me.” Sitting down, she turned and watched me with eager eyes.

I went out and perched on the arm of the chair across from her. “I don’t know where to start really. I haven’t been around for the last little bit because I’ve been with Quinton and his family…” I watched her closely, “where they live.”

As she sipped the tea, I could see her processing what I’d said. If I knew her she would be analyzing my tone and what words I paused on. It was just one more thing she had going for her. “He’s not from here either, is he?”

How did I explain that? “Not really.” It seemed like a safe answer. “Neither are the guys you saw at the club.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, is Quinton here to get them? He’s the good guy, right?”

I smiled. “Yes, he is.”

There was a knock on the door and both of us almost hit the floor. Holding my hand up to her, telling her to stay put I went over, my raptor already in my hand. When I peeked out the hole, I was so relieved to see Rafael looking back at me. “It’s okay, Criss, it’s one of Quinton’s brothers.” Opening the door, I let him in and then closed and locked it again.

Rafael looked down at me and then past me to the red-head now kneeling on the couch staring at him. He smiled at her and honestly all I could think was the baby in the royal family was a real player.

Criss smiled back at him and stood up. She glanced at me briefly before she walked towards him. “Is Quinton like the guys at the club?”

Rafael gave me an uneasy look.

“In a way, at least they’re from the same place.”

She stopped right in front of Raf and stood on her tippy toes so her face was closer to his. “Can your eyes change too?”

He slid me a curious look and I nodded. “Yes, they do.”

“Can I see?”

I was a little shocked she was being this forward, then again it was Rafael and when he wasn’t in battle he was a real charmer with that lovable demeanor of his.

Rafael nodded and stared down at her. I didn’t need to see his eyes to know they were now red because her gasp told me they were. She grabbed his face and pulled his head down closer.

Not used to that kind of reaction, Rafael smiled and Crissy gasped again. I stepped closer to see her run her finger over his fangs.

“Well,” she looked at me, “it’s sexy.”

My jaw dropped right around the same time Raf looked over at me with a very pleased expression on his face. This was not the reaction I expected from Crissy, at all. Clearing my throat, I tried to redirect things back to something a little less strange. “Raf, was there a reason you came?”

He blinked and the red eyes were gone. Criss still stood there looking at him with awe on her face. Straightening away from her hold, he turned, with a goofy grin on his face. “Quint told me to meet him here.” He shrugged, “so here I am.”

“The eyes on those men were yellowish, some kind of green I suppose, well except the scary man, his were the coolest purple I’ve ever seen.” Crissy touched her hair. “If I could find that shade for my hair I would do it.” Shaking her head, she studied Rafael with a puzzled look on her face. “Does the eye color differentiate who is good and who is bad?”

With a serious look on his face now, Rafael turned to look back down at her. “No, it doesn’t. Are all blue-eyed people on your side good looking?” She shook her head. “It’s what’s inside that makes us good or bad, not our eyes.”

She smiled up at him. “Good to know.” With slow steps, she walked around him, looking him up and down. “Is everyone from where you are from so big?”

He shrugged, that playful grin on his face once more. “Not everyone.”

Criss spun around and looked at me with her hands on her hips. “It all ties into your tattoo, doesn’t it?”

How she got from eyes and size to my tattoo, I will never understand, but then again that was how Criss’s mind worked. “Yeah, actually as weird as it is, it does.”

Criss jumped a few feet in the air and clapped her hands excitedly. “I knew it was destiny that placed it there.” With a quiet chuckle, she turned again and then went into the bedroom to dig around in her bag.