Hunted [Wild Hunt Series: 1]

Interlude III: Seduction in the Springs

"Don't You Know?" by the ever-talented Jaymes Young~

1. The  profile "thefictionawards" is currently looking for nominations! A few of you (thank you!) nominated Hunted for best Paranormal story. If any of you guys out there also loved it, please nominate the story! It's great exposure, since the stories with the most votes advance to the next round and get read. 

2. The profile @new_adult has chosen Hunted as it's book of the month! They're holding a discussion on June 30th. If you loved Hunted, please give the profile some love and check it out! I'll be there to answer any questions you guys have about the story and just to chat! If there's anything you want to know about me or the story, come visit us! Just head on over there, give the profile some love, and stick around for the discussion!

3. Hunted hit #1 on the Paranormal hotlist (06/07/2017)! OMG. Thank you! ❤ I even took a screenshot to mark the occasion.

OKAY THE IMPORTANT STUFF IS OUT OF THE WAY. Time to have some fun. :K

*

The rainy season arrived with cracking thunder and muggy air. Rushing torrents of water poured off the scarred palace walls and turned the garden flowers into soggy, rain-battered victims that drooped and bowed. Overhead, crocodilian clouds suffocated the waning sun, squeezed the last tender rays through the cracks in the stone, where it bled like tainted ichor into the courtyard. The scents of the Hunt—fear and death and chaos—were swept away with the final lord's arrival across the mud-soaked grounds.

Beyond the ancient palace, the Malumbrian Oaks stood tall against the torrential onslaught with prehistoric viridity. When the rains began all evidence of these past few harrowing weeks had been cleaned and consumed by one of nature's most fearsome forces. 

And what the rains hadn't washed away, the godforsaken Marrow Witch had surely stolen for Its own dark purposes. 

Chiro flipped a heavy wool hood over his head, caught a whiff of the dank wind, then abandoned the overhang he'd been standing beneath. There'd be no break in the rain. He couldn't delay any longer.

The instant he moved out from beneath his shelter rain battered the fabric and soaked him to the bone in a matter of yards. "Magic-infused waterproofing unless you're swimming," the merchant had promised. If he saw that one-eyed son of—

"That you, ya bastard?" came a hoarse voice over the roaring water. A fine mist had risen from the pounded ground, through which sloshed a hefty, balding demon. The man stroked a waterlogged red beard, wrinkles creasing his brow as he squinted through the wind-driven sheets. 

Chiro had no interest in talking. He had things to do, and an impromptu meeting with the Walrus wasn't one of them. But this conversation was a long time coming. He glanced around the otherwise lifeless courtyard, then stepped closer to the retired warrior. "Out in your element, I see." 

The man found room for a bracing breath in the cascading  sea. "Always loved this time of the cycle: fresh blood, young love." Water trickled over the Walrus' fat grin. A heavy hand dropped onto his companion's shoulder. "Chiro, my fine feline friend. Did you enjoy your first Hunt?"

"No," the younger man snapped, and shook him off. 

Completely unperturbed, the Walrus flipped Chiro's hood back and stared down the annoyed grey eyes. "And the girl?"

"Too nice." he said, pulling the defunct hood back on. "No sense of self-preservation. Thought she might have wised up after Gabe killed the calf, but all she's done is transferred her instincts to saving the women."