Page 109 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

Torid growled again at him.

Astria groaned. “Torid, enough.”

The dog continued.

She stiffened, her eyes widening. “He’s not getting your name wrong, is he? When he says hunter, he means it. You know the Fae symbols. You’re a Fae Hunter!”

Surprised she even knew what a Fae Hunter was, Stratton released her for only a second, but it was long enough for her to stumble backward, attempting to put distance between them.

Elis soaked in the sight of everything. “He’s a Nightshade Hunter. They’re sort of like us, but with magik and stuff. Well, and they’re kind of known for being ruthless. Not that I’m saying he is.”

Astria grabbed at whatever was under her shirt again, moving back more and more, shaking her head. Fear radiated off her.

Torid moved in front of her, going low and snarling at Stratton.

Astria’s gaze darted around and then back to Stratton. “I didn’t make these monsters. I swear. I’venevermade any. I don’t even know how to make them. I mean, I probably could figure it out. I’m really good with math and science, but I’ve stayed away from those things. I listened to the sanctions. And I don’t know how my father is still doing it or if he even is the one still making them. Don’t take me in or hurt me. I swear I’ve been trying to stop the monsters for almost twenty years. Since I realized they were tracking me.”

Confused, Stratton shook his head. “Take you in? Hurt you? And of course you didn’t make the monsters. You’re not a Frankenstein.”

The color left her face as her breathing increased.

At the same moment, the bluish-purple lightning cut through the sky once more.

Torid foamed at the mouth and shook hard, his body morphing from a large dog to something Stratton had seen before. It was the very same Dark Fae creature that had been at the Frankenstein Manor thirty-six years prior. The one from the child’s pendant. The one who had not liked him at all but who had protected the little girl with the big green eyes.

Eyes just like Astria’s.

“Oh shit,” Stratton breathed out in a hushed whisper. “No.”

It couldn’t be.

She kept backing up more and more. “I’m not like Henry. I swear.”

The lightning increased.

Dave moved toward her, as did Stratton.

“Noossss,” hissed Torid. “Astria is…scared of hunter. Hun-ters are bad. I eats the hunter.”

“Astria, Stratton won’t hurt you,” said Dave quickly. “Trust me when I say the guy will lay waste to anything or anyone who tries to do you harm. Please calm down before you electrocute us all.”

“Electrocute you all?” she repeated, appearing baffled by his statement.

He pointed at the sky to the lightning that was now pretty much flashing nonstop. “That’s your doing, hon. It’s tied to your emotions.”

“It’s not,” she protested.

Dave edged closer. “Hon, I knew your mother well. We used to run in the same circles years ago. I was there when she met your father nearly two hundred years ago.”

Hysterical laughter bubbled up and out of Astria. “Two hundred years ago? My mother died in her twenties in a car accident. My father blames me. He says my imagination caused it. That what I know I saw on that bridge wasn’t there. That he lost control of the car because of me and that’s why we crashed into the water. That’s why she died.”

That was all the confirmation Stratton needed. She was the little girl from the Frankenstein Manor, and she was his mate.

Dave lifted a hand slowly. “Hon, Amice was Fae. Nearly full Fae, to be exact.”

Stratton’s brow creased. “No. She wasn’t. I’d have sensed it on her.”

“Like you sensed Fae on Astria?” Dave questioned with a grunt.

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