Page 31 of Hostile Holiday

“What will happen if we do?”

“Her life will change, and you will fade. I don’t want that to happen.”

“Ah. Well, I am more fun this way. And I want her to go through it and for you to remove the curse so she can feel herself again, but what happens when we sync up?”

“You blur into each other.”

She grimaced. “I don’t want to consume her, but I don’t want to disappear myself.”

“Discuss it. Talk to her. Explain where you are and where she is.”

“Right. This is odd no matter how you look at it.”

“You are correct, but this is where we are.”

Orla watched as they drove around the city and into the hills toward Whehel.

She rode in silence as she tried to calculate what her other self would be thinking when they came out of the arena dimension. She guessed it would be something to do with soft white fur and nachos. She was really craving nachos.

The drive was forty-five minutes, and she was hungry when they pulled up at a cute bed and breakfast in the hills.

Orla unbuckled and opened the door, hopping to the ground as Hunter walked to her side and smiled. “I was going to help you out.”

She cocked her head. “Maybe next time.” She closed her door.

He held out his hand, and she took it. “I am only holding on because the heels are high.”

He nodded and tucked her close to him. “I will take it.”

She cuddled up next to him, and when they reached the porch, the front door opened, and a woman with golden grey hair appeared and smiled. “Come in. Everything is waiting.”

They entered and wiped their feet, and Orla bent to remove her boots and put on some of the slippers from the basket nearby.

Hunter asked, “What are you doing?”

“The slippers are here for a reason.”

He paused and sighed, following her lead.

She picked a set of slippers for him with puppy dog faces, and she wore kittens.

He shook his head. “You have a fetish.”

“I like order. I first saw you as a wolf and then a wolf-person and then human. So, anything I give you will have a puppy theme.”

“And you like kittens?”

“Yeah, but they are so helpless. I can love them, but I worry about them.”

“You can just love them immediately?”

They followed the scent of food to a large dining room, and there was a table with dishes on it, obviously left by guests. Their host was bringing out a fresh carafe of coffee.

“Sit, sit. It is so nice to see another one of my kind out in the world.” The woman paused. “Oh, so sorry. I am Strella. I fell from the sky a hundred and fifty years ago.”

“Hello, Strella. I am Orla.”

Strella set the coffee down and came over to hug her. Orla imagined it was how a hug from a grandparent would feel. “Oh, you look so bright. I remember when I was that bright. It feels like thousands of years ago.”

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