Merdon how smart and strong I was, but my lips wouldn’t move. Even in sleep, I was too tired. So, I quietly drifted in the feel of her touch while dishes clanked in the background, noise I associated with home and better times. I exhaled contentedly.
Bits of conversation drifted in and out of my awareness.
“…good she’s eating.”
“…manipulative. Don’t trust…”
“…biting necessary?”
“Do you trust me?”
I tried to ignore it all, but the words kept worming their way in. Pressure on my arm tugged at my consciousness, demanding my attention. But sleep held me tightly until the loud crackle of velcro jolted me awake.
I blinked, disoriented, and tried to focus.
“Her vitals are good. But what you did was dangerous. People are supposed to be weaned.”
I couldn’t place the woman’s voice.
“Not Hannah.”
I definitely knew Merdon’s. Fighting the remnants of exhaustion that still wanted to pull me back under, I struggled to sit up.
“How are you feeling, Hannah?” Cassie asked, moving close enough that I could see her.
“Tired.”
“I bet. Emily said that you’re exercising with Merdon. That’s really good. Make sure you eat and drink more, though, to compensate.”
I nodded like I understood her, but my brain was still stuck on how tired I was.
Cassie patted my leg and moved away from me. I wilted back into the cushions, my eyes already closing again.
“She’s lucky to have you both in her corner. Be careful with the biting, Merdon. Fey teeth are much sharper than human teeth, and our skin is fragile compared to yours. And she needs rest as much as exercise. Her body needs time to heal.”
Teeth? Biting?
My eyes popped open, all traces of exhaustion gone, as the door closed.
I swiveled around and found Merdon watching me from the front entry.
“People know you’re biting me, and they’re okay with it?”
He didn’t answer.
I looked at Emily, who was in the kitchen, mixing something up. Surely, she couldn’t be okay with that.
“I’m making biscuits to go with dinner,” she said hesitantly, avoiding my question.
“Unbelievable.”
I flopped back onto the couch and stared at the ceiling. What had the world come to that everyone was completely calm about some grey creature from myth biting me? None of what was happening should even be real.
My mind had barely begun to question the level of insanity in my life when Merdon’s face appeared over me.
“Get up. You’ve rested enough.”
“Cassie said I needed rest to heal. Are you saying you think I’m healthy now?”
He blinked at me, and I knew I had him.
“Because if I’m healthy, you have no reason to keep me a prisoner here.” I got to my feet. “I think I’ll go for a walk.”
He didn’t try to stop me from bundling up or leaving the house. But he did follow me. I could live with that.
It was easy to ignore my shadow when it felt so good to be outside. Now that I wasn’t running, I paid more attention to everything around me and noticed the fey were still present. They were just working extra hard to stay out of my sight. Traitor chickens.
A low moo brought me up short. I listened and heard it again.
I looked back at Merdon in disbelief.
“Was that a cow?”
He came to stand beside me, his suspicious gaze sweeping over my face.
“Yes.”
“How?” I demanded.
“One of the new arrivals in Tenacity knew where to find the cows. We went to get them the night before you were kidnapped.”
I’d forgotten about that, somehow, and the reminder stirred some things I wasn’t ready to feel. Pushing aside the regret and shame, I focused on what livestock might mean for the humans here.
“Cows?” I asked. “As in more than one?”
“Many.”
“Where?”
Merdon led me toward a pair of vacant lots on the corner of one of the cul-de-sacs. At least ten cows meandered there, chomping grassy looking stuff from loose piles placed on top of the trampled snow.
“We have cows and cow food?”
“Some. Ryan is going out to the farms to look for more. The animals eat a lot.”
A smile started and grew. It wasn’t one of my fake smiles but a real one filled with fragile hope. Animals were alive. That had to mean something. At the very least, we would avoid eventual starvation when the existing food supply ran out.
I hugged my arms around myself and just watched the animals graze. They did eat a lot. Would Ryan be able to find what the cows needed? Granted, Mya’s brother had been leading supply runs since we had settled here and seemed to know what he was