He leapt to his feet, reaching out to grab her by the arms. His grip was tight, desperate, a lot like his darting eyes.
“There is a woman, a queen from our world that is looking for you. She wants you dead, Selena.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“Nothing!” he roared. He closed his eyes and shook his head, taking a deep breath, in an attempt to control his emotions. “You didn’t do anything,” he said calmly. “She banished you and the other six princesses from Fallada when you were only children because she knew that you were a threat to her plans. Now that there’s a chance the Fae may try to bring you all back she’s sent her hunters out to find you.”
“Whoa, slow down.”
Selena felt as if the whole world was spinning three times faster than normal. The chaotic whirling of her thoughts made her dizzy, until all she wanted to do was sink to the ground and bury her face in her hands.
“That whole speech touched on a lot of things I’ve only ever read about in books. Faeries? Evil queens? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I wish I was, Selena. I wish I’d never come here, but I had no choice.”
He was suddenly drawing her close, hugging her tightly as if she were a life preserver in the middle of a raging sea.
“I didn’t think it would be this hard. I didn’t think that I would come to like you, Selena.”
Foreboding gripped Selena and she stiffed in Titus’ arms. The warm and fuzzy feeling that had crept over her at his embrace was now gone and fear stiffened her spine. She jerked away from him, her heart hammering like a kick drum in her chest.
“You mentioned something about hunters. You’re from this world—you called it Fallada, right?—you wouldn’t know anything about these hunters, would you?”
The second she’d asked the question, Selena already knew. As she took a second and then a third step away from Titus, he lowered his eyes and sighed, his shoulders and chest swelling as he inhaled.
“I’m sorry, Selena,” he whispered.
His eyelids lifted and his gaze met hers, but instead of the icy blue she’d been so lost in, his eyes were a fiery, glowing red. His lips opened to reveal the sharp canines, bathed in dripping saliva. A growl vibrated through his chest as he leaned toward her, the dripping canines elongating before her eyes.
Just before she turned to run, Titus dropped to the ground, his body contorting and twisting as he snarled and groaned. As her feet carried across the open field, the figure of a four-legged beast sprinted alongside her, its snowy white fur like a shot of lightning through the brown grass.
~*~
Chapter Three
Selena increased her pace as her house came into sight, running so fast that her feet left the ground several times. Her lungs were on fire, but she couldn’t stop now, not when Zoe was walking up the driveway, oblivious to the danger lurking in the line of trees just across the street.
“Selena, what the hell?” Zoe screeched as Selena crashed into her.
Selena grabbed Zoe by the arm and pulled, yanking her friend into the house and sending the books and papers she’d been carrying flying across the driveway. Ignoring her friend’s protests, Selena pulled the flailing girl into the living room where Rose was watching a re-run of Oprah. Freckles jumped down from his spot on the couch and darted into one of the bedrooms.
“Selena, what’s going on? Is everything all right?”
“You tell me, Gram!”
Selena was very aware that her voice was raised above the limits of normal conversation, but she couldn’t seem to control it. Her breathing was harsh and swift, her eyes wide as Rose shot to her feet, her eyebrows wrinkled with concern.
“Sweet pea, whatever is bothering you, we can work it out. Why don’t you sit down and we can talk about it.”
Rose moved forward to grasp her hand and Selena backed away.
“Maybe I should leave you two alone to—”
“No!” Selena screamed as Zoe backed toward the door. Her voice stopped Zoe dead in her tracks. “No, don’t go out there, it’s not safe!”
Tears filled Rose’s eyes as she grasped Selena’s other hand. She held both tightly and searched Selena’s face.
“Selena, please. Tell me what’s wrong?”
“Everything! Why didn’t you tell me the truth about where I came from? The truth about my parents? You’re not even my real grandmother, are you?”
“Okay, this seems like a family discussion,” Zoe said softly as she continued backing toward the door.
“No one is going anywhere,” Selena said, her voice low. “Answer me, Gram.”
Rose’s chin trembled as she released Selena’s hands and fell back onto the couch. Her dark head streaked with gray lowered and she drew a heavy breath.
“Selena, I have wanted to tell you for so long but I thought it would only hurt you. You see, I don’t actually know who your parents are.”
“What?”
“I did have a daughter; her and my son-in-law did die in a tragic car accident. Their two year old daughter, Abigail, died with them. They were all the family I had left and I thought I’d never be the same again. I was so alone and so miserable. But then you came along, Selena, my little blessing.”
“How did you find me?”
“It’s ironic how much you hate the county fair, considering it’s also the anniversary of the night I found you.”
Zoe, now drawn in by the unfolding drama, drifted back toward the living room and stood beside Selena, her jaw slack as she looked from her to Rose and back again.
“I was walking home from the fair that night, through that old field you like to walk in. It’s almost like your subconscious knows that something special happened in that place, the way you always seem drawn to it. Anyhow, I was walking and I heard a baby crying. I waded through the grass and found you a few feet away. I estimated your age to be about fifteen months. You were sitting in a large basket on a cushion, with your thumb in your mouth and tears in your eyes. You were such a beautiful little thing and so alone. Small as this town is, I couldn’t think of anyone off-hand that had had a baby less than two years prior, and I figured someone visiting had lost track of you. So I picked you up in the basket and brought you here. I couldn’t believe it, but you crawled right into my lap, stared up at me. and smiled. I never thought I could feel as happy as I did that day. It was like you knew me, chose me.”
Rose paused and swiped at her watery eyes, took a deep breath, and continued.
“I called the police and told them what I had found. They asked me if I wanted to keep you while they searched for your missing parents. None could be found and after a while there was talk of placing you with a foster family. By then you and I were thick and thieves and I knew I could never let them take you away. I kept you, promising myself every day that I wouldn’t become attached, but you stole my heart, Selena. It felt like I had my little Abigail back after losing her not long before you came. When no one claimed you, I offered to adopt you and the papers were drawn up. I have presented myself to you as your grandmother all of these years because of my age, but the papers I have say that I am your mother. I have been since the day I found you and named you, Selena.”
Selena squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her fist against her mouth, holding back tears and wild sobs. Zoe’s hand came up to her shoulder, but her friend was thankfully quiet. When Selena opened her eyes again, Rose was reaching up into the hallway storage closet. She pulled down the basket they’d used to transport muffins to bake sales for as long as Selena could remember.
“This is the basket I found you in,” she said, extending the basket to Selena. When Selena took it and glanced down into it, Rose reached up into the closet again, this time coming down with a small jewelry box.
“This was the only thing you had on you other than a little green dress which I still have with your other baby things.”
She opened the black box and held it out to Selena, her wrinkled hands trembling uncontrollabl
y. Selena reached for the box and removed a gleaming gold necklace. Amazingly, the metal had not been tarnished and seemed as if it had been polished only yesterday. The chain was long, and hanging from it was a large, red jewel—a ruby maybe—surrounded by a golden cage of leaves and flowers. Selena held the necklace up to the light, stunned by the necklace’s beauty.
Zoe whistled. “One thing’s for sure. Whoever your parents are, they’re loaded.”
Selena rolled her eyes at Zoe. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s what’s important right now.”
Zoe shrugged. “Just saying.”
Selena looped the necklace around her neck. The stone settled against her chest heavily and Selena gripped it tightly as she turned back to Rose.
“It’s okay,” she said, noticing the anxiety in Rose’s eyes. “I understand why you had to hide this from me. You’re right, it does hurt, but not in the way you think. You see, today I found out—”
She was cut short by the sound of pounding at the door. It wasn’t exactly a knock. It was more like a booming followed by the rattle of the door in the frame, as if someone were trying to kick it down. Selena pictured the white wolf throwing its massive body up against the door, its eyes red, its teeth barred in a feral snarl.
Rose exclaimed loudly as the banging started up again, this time with more force and intent. Selena stood in front of her, pushing Zoe behind her as well. She wasn’t sure if she could hold her own against Titus—or that thing he had become—but she was darn sure going to try. Hearing the commotion, Freckles came hissing from the back of the house, standing beside Selena with his hair standing up on his back.
“Selena, we should call the police!” Zoe screamed as the banging continued. The door splintered under the assault, and Selena knew that in minutes it would be broken down.
“TOPD can’t help us right now,” Selena said, holding Rose back with one arm and Zoe with the other.
Selena trembled as the door shook and cracked. The split wood folded inward and she could see Titus, Wolf Boy, on the other side, snarling with his red eyes glowing as he threw his body against the door. She could hear the scrape of his claws against the wood and the deep, throaty barks that escaped his throat. Freckles was going ballistic by now, mewling and hissing as she barred her tiny, pointed teeth at the wolf. Selena swallowed the vomit that rose up in her throat and tried to breathe. It was hard with Rose and Zoe screaming like banshees behind her.
In an instant, the door was torn from its hinges, broken in half by Titus’ bulky body. He stood framed by the doorway, his fur standing on end in jagged, fury spikes. Selena squeezed her eyes shut as Zoe’s fingernails dug into her arm.
“Oh shit, we’re going to die!” she screamed as she held on to Selena for dear life.
Selena couldn’t have said it better herself.
There was nowhere to run in the small living room except the kitchen, and even there they’d be cornered. Selena gritted her teeth and braced herself for the inevitable. She was going to die and all before she ever learned anything about where she really came from. She braced herself for the pain, praying that Titus would make it quick and leave her grandmother and friend alone.
A splintering sound startled her and the house rumbled and shook forcibly. Selena fell to the floor, her grandmother and Zoe landing in a heap on top of her as chunks of roof fell in on them. Selena covered her head, unable to stop the screams that tore from her lips as the house seemed to fall down around them. She curled into a tight ball, sure that she was either going to be crushed by the roof or eaten alive by Titus.
Another jumble of sounds assaulted her ears and Selena snapped to attention at the sound of a thud and a canine yelp.
Then, silence.
Was this what death sounded like?
“Uh, Selena,” Zoe’s shaking voice called, telling Selena that she wasn’t quite dead yet. She tapped Selena on the shoulder. “You need to see this.”
Two old men stood in the middle of the living room, gazing about them curiously before their eyes landed on Selena. She looked down at the wolf’s motionless body, laid out across the carpet on its side. Other than the rapid heaving of its chest, it … he? ... was completely still. She glanced back up at the two men and her eyes widened at the gleaming silver gun still smoking in the hand of one of them.
They were the strangest men she’d ever seen, dressed from head to toe in shades of brown and off-white: buttoned shirts, suspenders, vests, trousers, and boots. Each of them wore a pair of strange goggles, and one of them—the one not carrying a gun—wore a floppy brown hat. The one with the gun had scraggly white hair down to his shoulders. Both had bushy gray eyebrows and the hatless man had the rough stubble of a five o’clock shadow gleaming silver across his jaw.
“What the heck did you just do?” Selena screeched.
“Put a hole in our roof, for one,” Rose said with a scowl in the strangers’ direction as both men lifted their goggles from their eyes. Selena followed the direction of Rose’s gaze and gasped, not at the hole in the roof, but at what hovered just above it. Several feet above their house was what appeared to be a floating ship. It cast a shadow over the little home and darkened the living room considerably. It appeared incredibly bulky, yet hovered over them as if it weighed no more than a cloud.
“Hope you guys have ship insurance,” Zoe said, yet there was not an ounce of humor in her voice. She was eyeing the ship, Titus, the two old men, each one at a time and over and over again as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“It’s her,” said the man holding the gun, pointing at Zoe with his free hand. “It must be.”
He was walking toward Zoe while shoving his gun down into a brown leather holster at his right side. Zoe took a step back as he approached, inhaling swiftly.
“Selena, what’s going on?” she whispered as the old man approached, eyeing her closely.
“I don’t know,” Selena said, her eyes still on Titus’ lifeless form. Worry filled her and frustration gnawed on her insides. Why did she care if he was dead or hurt? He had just tried to kill them for God’s sake! She should be thanking these two strangers, yet couldn’t find the words. Especially since the one wearing a hat was staring at her intently as he removed round, wire-rimmed glasses from his vest pocket and slipped them on.
“She’s not the one, Wil,” he said, still watching Selena.
“Of course she is!” the one named Wil blustered in a voiced tinted by a German accent. “Look at her height and the regal features, Jake.”
Jake adjusted his spectacles and sighed, rolling his eyes as if used to putting up with the other man’s posturing.
“Fine then,” he said with a shrug, his accent just as thick as Wil’s. “Why don’t we just check her for the birthmark? That will prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt.”
Wil snapped his fingers as if he’d just had an epiphany and smiled. “I know! We’ll check her for the birthmark. Honestly, Jake, you’re supposed to be the smart one.”
“God help me,” Jake groaned as Wil took another step toward Zoe.
“All right then, girl, let’s have it.”
Zoe pursed her lips. “Have what?”
“Your birthmark, princess! Come, come, we haven’t all day and that beast will only be out for so long and then we’ll all be in trouble.”
“What the hell is everybody talking about? Princess? I’m not a freaking princess!”
Suddenly everyone was talking at once, a cacophony of voices that grated on Selena’s nerves. Wil kept insisting that Zoe had to be the one they were looking for. Rose wanted to know who these men were and why they were here, and Zoe kept asking about the birthmark and whether being a Princess came with a castle and a pool. Jake merely shook his head and pulled his hat down lower over his ears. Selena had finally had enough.
“Shut up!” she bellowed, holding her hands up, annoyance edging her tone. “Everybody just be quiet for a minute, please! There is too much going on and I think I can help fill in some of the gaps if y
ou give me a minute.”
“Definitely sounds like a princess,” Jake muttered from beneath his hat.
Selena shot him a dirty look before continuing.
“This guy,” she pointed at Titus, “appeared in my life the other day out of nowhere. Next thing I know he’s telling me that I’m different and I’m not from this world. He says I should be afraid of him because of what he is. Then he morphs into a wolf and chases me here. My grandmother tells me that she found me in a basket years ago and raised me as her own. So I think it’s safe to say that I’m the one you’re looking for, although Titus didn’t say anything about any princess.”
“What’s your name, girl?” Jake asked softly once Selena had finished.
“Selena,” she answered. “Selena McKinley.”
Jake shook his head, moving forward to stand beside Wil. “If I haven’t missed my guess, then your true name is Eladria. Princess Eladria of Damu. Have you a birthmark on your ribs? It would be on your right side, a brown smudge visible when you lift your arm.”
Selena’s heart beat in double time and the call of the familiar echoed within her chest, resounding throughout her mind. She’d always wondered about the chocolate brown patch of skin shaped like California a few inches beneath her armpit. Eladria. She wasn’t ready to admit it out loud, but she knew deep within her heart that old Jake had called her by her true name.
“Princess,” Rose whispered, staring off into space as if in deep thought. “The dress you were wearing that night was so beautiful and the material so rich. And that jewel—”
“Jewel?” Wil snapped to attention. “You have the stone in your possession? The Ruby of Damu?”
Selena reached into her shirt and pulled the golden chain and robin’s egg-sized stone from its confines. “What, this?”
Wil gasped and snatched the stone from her hand, yanking Selena along with it as the chain was still around her neck. Oblivious to her discomfort, Wil studied the ruby with a smile.
Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) Page 4
