Page 87 of Teeth To Rip & Tear

I put down my fork, unable to eat another bite.

I puncheda god.

The Locket pack surrounded me, taking up the other table seats as they ate silently.

I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t eat like a guillotine wasn’t about to drop on my neck. I stood up, pushing away from the table, ignoring the questioning glances from the Locket pack as I left my dinner and strode from the canteen.

No matter how much I breathed, there wasn’t enough air.

Wolves sensed weakness; I couldn’t break yet but I neededair.

My knees were weak when I made it up the steps of the kennels, falling onto the lawn on all fours. My mouth tasted of metal, and my vision narrowed to a pinpoint.

The Huntsman was agod.

Something unattainable and beyond strength.

And I’d made him angry.

I looked up to the castle, my vision blurry with tears, as I watched the clockwork pieces twist in the sky.

I want to go home.

But there was no home. Not anymore.

The Huntsman had found my store.

The humans in town had put a target on my back.

My ex-husband was dead, found in my office.

At least I knew why the Huntsman needed a Weaver.

My grandmother had taken something of his.

In the office, he had been convinced that my grandmother had woven reality, torturing him in some way.

Sometimes, I’d wondered the same thing every time I found the strange wooden coin in my pocket; when I knew I hadn’t put it there.

Maybe he wasn’t wrong. Maybe my grandmother had set up her little tortures like dominos, ready to fall. Maybe my presence was one of those tortures.

Maybe it wasn’t about me at all.

I sat back and looked up at the sky.

Six days had passed in the Aos Sí, six hours in the Human Realities.

Melly was dead.

Joel was dead.

Once Samhain was over and the Locket pack went home, it would be a miracle if I returned home with them.

I didn’t hear Kaleb approach as he padded up the steps and settled beside me on the grass, looking at the sky. His orange eyes were surprisingly clear.

I hadn’t spoken to Kaleb since we’d slept together in his room. Not really. I didn’t know where we stood.

---