Page 21 of Hunted on Halloween

We search for the stronghold, Tieran said. “It could be anywhere in this mirror plane, but I don’t think so. I believe it’s right here in Montrea.”

“What the heck is Montrea?”

“It’s the name of the city,” Bryce said.

“That just seems like a strange name for my people to call a city.” Bryce shrugged and then the werewolf receded, and he became the male that Tia was used to seeing.

“We found an old, faded sign. On it were the letters M-O-N-T-R-E-A. Montrea.” Tieran said.

“Oh my gosh, Montreal! We are standing in Montreal. I know that because we have a Montreal in our world — or your world that’s now our world.” When she was young and people used to talk around her without censoring their words. She had heard all about Montreal and how beautiful it used to be, but how it was no longer beautiful.

Her mother had taken her there one day, and she thought with all the trees and the flowers that it was one of the most beautiful places she had seen. But now she realized they weren’t talking about the Montreal that they had. They were talking about the one they left behind.

“This city used to be beautiful.” She looked into Tieran’s eyes and then into Bryce’s, and realized that they didn’t care. Once again, she couldn’t blame them.

“So, how do we look for the stronghold? And maybe in looking for the stronghold, Tieran, you can show me where you used to live?”

“That, my queen, I can do.” He took her hand and gave her a wink before they started walking up the street.

“My abode is not that far from here.” They weaved around large pieces of concrete that had come up from the earth and couldn’t be moved. Tieran didn’t stop when they reached the building made of large stones that were slowly chipping away.

The stone was beautiful, and she wished she could have seen it when it was first made. But now it was drab and lifeless. There was dirt all over the building. Tieran gave her a bow before he opened the door and ushered them in. They were in a huge room, larger than any she’d seen before. It reminded her of stores they had on their part of the planet.

“This appears to be a department store, but I can’t fathom going to one this big.” There were dividers breaking up the space into rooms that she’d never seen before.

He showed her the kitchen area, his throne room, as well as what she would call a living room, and his bedroom. The place was beautiful in a very old-fashioned looking way. Everything here was mismatched. It looked like he hit a thrift store and picked whatever he wanted.

And yet the elegant male by her side made her see this through different eyes. This would be some place she would be okay with calling home. Why? Not because it was the most gorgeous, not because it was the cleanest, but because her mate lived here.

“When we were tricked into this plane, my father was drawn to this dwelling. After he no longer lived here,” Tieran didn’t wantto go into what had happened to his father, “I too was drawn to this dwelling and never left.”

Tia turned to stare Tieran down. What were the chances that two kings would be drawn to one spot?

Tieran took her hand. “Follow me,” he said to Bryce.

They walked through the large room to a small door in the back and then through that door. And then he took them to the opposite side of the room, where he pulled open what looked like a cage.

“What is this?” Tia asked, hesitant to walk inside of it.

“From what your nonstop media shows, it’s called an elevator: a skeletal one, since the doors don’t fully close and you can still see outside.” He shrugged, never having been on one himself.

“How could such an advanced people destroy themselves?” Tia asked.

“If you give a child fire, something will burn,” her mate replied. He tugged Tia onto the elevator with Bryce following them. Closing the door, he hit a button, and the elevator descended into the building.

When the door opened, Tia started sneezing, dust attacking her. The first thing she noticed was there was an absence of spider webs.

“Where are the insects?”

“The only thing that has survived on this planet is us.”

If she had the time, she would plop herself down in the middle of the dust and cry for people that have been badly abused. Tieran took her over to what looked like a vault. Tia immediately saw the line on the floor that separated the room they were in from the vault they were walking towards.

She stopped. A female stepped out of thin air. Her eyes were red and glowing.

Her smile was wicked, “I’ve been waiting for you, travelers. Time to die.”

Chapter Ten

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