betrayed yet again before all of this is through.”
“Figures,” I said. “Any idea who?”
She shook her head sadly and rubbed my back in a motherly way. “I wish I knew, hon. I wish I knew.”
Chapter 15
“ W ell , besides the freaky aviary show, that was a complete waste of time,” I huffed and shoved my hair from my face after Timbra and I traced back to The Root.
“Oh, Stella,” she admonished, “you know it wasn’t. She gave you some direction. You can feel—well, kinda safe—about going to Prime Minister Shaw for help.”
To my dubious look she sucked a breath through her straight square teeth and shrugged. Then she took on an expression so serious it seemed foreign on her sweet face. “You do realize that our conversation about your mother isn’t over, right?”
Dread skittered across my back like a line of fire ants. I needed Timbra on my side. Besides her I didn’t really have a side. That was not a conversation I was looking forward to. I abhorred the thought of her being frightened…or disappointed. Timbra Redfern’s opinion of me meant a lot.
“I know, Timbra,” I said. “Just promise me —”
She’d stopped listening to me. Her attention was focused across the lawn in the direction of Sabre Hall where a very large, very loud man shook his fist and pointed his finger at anyone stupid enough to stop and give him attention.
“What’s his problem?” I mused as he transferred his anger from actual people to berate the shrubbery. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but Timbra’s cervid ears twitched wildly. She let out a long breath that sounded suspiciously like the word “shit.” At the same time, Mr. Loud and Gnarly whipped his head in our direction. His eyes widened with recognition and he let out a bellow surely heard throughout the entire campus.
“Timbra Dawn Redfern!” he hollered, and both she and I ducked.
I looked to Timbra to see if she was in some sort of trouble. She was in trouble, all right. I could tell by the frantic look in her eyes that her mind was racing. Her normally tawny complexion had paled to an unnatural puce. She unwittingly took a step backward and I followed her lead. It was obvious she knew him. That he was pissed was even more apparent, but about what I sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to find out. I clasped her hand, readying to trace and take her with me when she was suddenly jerked from my grasp. I looked up to find that the man had hold of Timbra’s shoulder and was pushing her toward a small copse of trees.
“Hold the fuck on,” I found the nerve to say. “Get your hands off her!”
“It’s okay, Stella,” Timbra said meekly as the man turned his ire toward me. “He’s my father.”
It was at this point that I noticed the ears—and the antlers. His ears were bigger than Timbra’s; proportional to his broad body. But those antlers . My god he was menacing. Though covered in a gray-brown velvet because it was June, they were nonetheless one of the most extraordinary things I had set eyes on. They grew back from the top of his head before shooting out and upward into a comb-like structure at least four feet wide. The physics of how he remained standing upright was a mystery. The sheer neck and upper body strength it took to support those things was unfathomable. But he was definitely built for it. His thick chest held a bulk of muscle apparent even through his khaki button-down shirt.
My enthrallment must have been obvious because Timbra reprimanded him sharply. “Oh, put the antlers away, Father. You’re scaring my friend.”
“I’ll do what I damn well please,” he said, unable to control the volume of his words. “And you’ll bite your tongue if you’ve got any sense left in your head. But if what I’ve been hearing is true, you either never had any to begin with, or it’s been corrupted by your perverse sexual escapades.”
Timbra jerked at his words. She stood dumbfounded as he continued to berate and
“Figures,” I said. “Any idea who?”
She shook her head sadly and rubbed my back in a motherly way. “I wish I knew, hon. I wish I knew.”
Chapter 15
“ W ell , besides the freaky aviary show, that was a complete waste of time,” I huffed and shoved my hair from my face after Timbra and I traced back to The Root.
“Oh, Stella,” she admonished, “you know it wasn’t. She gave you some direction. You can feel—well, kinda safe—about going to Prime Minister Shaw for help.”
To my dubious look she sucked a breath through her straight square teeth and shrugged. Then she took on an expression so serious it seemed foreign on her sweet face. “You do realize that our conversation about your mother isn’t over, right?”
Dread skittered across my back like a line of fire ants. I needed Timbra on my side. Besides her I didn’t really have a side. That was not a conversation I was looking forward to. I abhorred the thought of her being frightened…or disappointed. Timbra Redfern’s opinion of me meant a lot.
“I know, Timbra,” I said. “Just promise me —”
She’d stopped listening to me. Her attention was focused across the lawn in the direction of Sabre Hall where a very large, very loud man shook his fist and pointed his finger at anyone stupid enough to stop and give him attention.
“What’s his problem?” I mused as he transferred his anger from actual people to berate the shrubbery. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but Timbra’s cervid ears twitched wildly. She let out a long breath that sounded suspiciously like the word “shit.” At the same time, Mr. Loud and Gnarly whipped his head in our direction. His eyes widened with recognition and he let out a bellow surely heard throughout the entire campus.
“Timbra Dawn Redfern!” he hollered, and both she and I ducked.
I looked to Timbra to see if she was in some sort of trouble. She was in trouble, all right. I could tell by the frantic look in her eyes that her mind was racing. Her normally tawny complexion had paled to an unnatural puce. She unwittingly took a step backward and I followed her lead. It was obvious she knew him. That he was pissed was even more apparent, but about what I sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to find out. I clasped her hand, readying to trace and take her with me when she was suddenly jerked from my grasp. I looked up to find that the man had hold of Timbra’s shoulder and was pushing her toward a small copse of trees.
“Hold the fuck on,” I found the nerve to say. “Get your hands off her!”
“It’s okay, Stella,” Timbra said meekly as the man turned his ire toward me. “He’s my father.”
It was at this point that I noticed the ears—and the antlers. His ears were bigger than Timbra’s; proportional to his broad body. But those antlers . My god he was menacing. Though covered in a gray-brown velvet because it was June, they were nonetheless one of the most extraordinary things I had set eyes on. They grew back from the top of his head before shooting out and upward into a comb-like structure at least four feet wide. The physics of how he remained standing upright was a mystery. The sheer neck and upper body strength it took to support those things was unfathomable. But he was definitely built for it. His thick chest held a bulk of muscle apparent even through his khaki button-down shirt.
My enthrallment must have been obvious because Timbra reprimanded him sharply. “Oh, put the antlers away, Father. You’re scaring my friend.”
“I’ll do what I damn well please,” he said, unable to control the volume of his words. “And you’ll bite your tongue if you’ve got any sense left in your head. But if what I’ve been hearing is true, you either never had any to begin with, or it’s been corrupted by your perverse sexual escapades.”
Timbra jerked at his words. She stood dumbfounded as he continued to berate and
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