Oh yeah, Bride was definitely nuts, she decided. Her mind had snapped completely. Maybe she was even dead.
Right now, she was game for just about any explanation.
Grace Kelly, or Bryani as the demon had called her, scrutinized Bride. "Has he hurt you, child?"
Bride looked at the demon. "Define 'hurt'? I mean, I didn't really want to be brought here, wherever here is."
"Not Alastor," Bryani snapped in an accent unlike anything Bride had ever heard. "The other one. The bastard wolf. Did he hurt you?"
Bride was twice as confused. "You mean my pet wolf or my boyfriend who thinks he's a wolf?"
Bryani grabbed her hand and held it up to her face. "The one whose hand matches yours. Did he rape you?"
"No," Bride said emphatically as she wrested her arm from the woman's grasp. "He didn't do anything."
Bryani let out a relieved breath, then nodded at the demon. "You got to her in time. Thank you, Alastor."
The demon inclined his head to Bryani. "We are done now." He vanished instantly and left them alone.
Bryani didn't seem the least bit concerned by the oddity of that action.
She held her hand out to Bride. "Come, child. I would have you at the hall where we can all protect you while you bear the mating mark."
Her first instinct was to pull away, but Bride forced herself to take the woman's hand. What the hell? She'd already lost her mind. The least she could do was see where this psychotic episode was going to take her.
Hopefully it would be someplace nicer and warmer than this spartan room. Bride laughed at the thought. "Have you ever seen that episode of Buffy where Sarah Michelle Gellar flashes between the insane asylum and her life in Sunnydale as the Slayer?"
Bryani cocked her head. "What is Buffy? Is she a Lykos too or another kind of Katagaria?"
Bride was a bit miffed that her conjured escort had no idea who Buffy was. "Never mind. Obviously this is my Sunnydale version and I'll be waking up real soon in my padded cell."
Bryani released her as they left the room behind.
Bride followed her out of the hut only to find herself in the middle of what appeared to be a green valley with mountains rising up around them. It was lovely, albeit rather cold for her taste.
How she had gotten here, she had no idea. This wasn't New Orleans, which was where she'd been five minutes ago.
Even odder, everyone around her was dressed in ancient clothing and spoke a language she couldn't even begin to understand.
And every person near them paused to stare as they walked past. Silence settled instantly. Eerily. The women at the makeshift well. Those who were carrying baskets and chatting. Even the children stopped playing.
But it was the men who captured Bride's attention, especially since every one of them stopped and turned to stare at her as if she were their target or prey.
She realized that with the exception of the demon, every person in this village was literally a gorgeous, stunning specimen of human physiology. This was definitely a dream or delusion of some kind.
Not even Chippendales had this much bodacious muscle. And never mind the women.
They were the epitome of why Bride refused to buy fashion magazines. If she didn't know better, she'd think she'd fallen down the rabbit hole of Hollywood extras.
Bride followed Bryani into a large wooden building that reminded her of something out of a low-budget King Arthur movie. Made of wattle and daub, it was spartan inside except for the large fire blazing in the center of the hall, surrounded by long tables and wooden benches. Something that looked like dried weeds and herbs were scattered over the earthen floor.
As soon as Bride entered, she found herself surrounded by gorgeous men, some of whom actually sniffed her.
"Excuse me?" she said, brushing them away. "This is my fantasy and I'd rather you not do that."
A tall blond man cocked his head in a way that reminded her of a canine. He directed a cutting glare at Bryani. "Why would you bring a Katagari whore here?"
Bryani pulled Bride away from the men and put herself between them. "She is not a whore. She's a terrified human female who doesn't understand what has happened to her. She thinks herself mad."