Deleted Scene from Hunted

“You look like you want to punch someone,” Remy said.

“Yeah,” Sykes added, dropping beside me on the bench. “Didn’t you sleep?”

“Sleep has nothing to do with it. My life sucks.”

They stared, not masking their shock. I tended not to whine about stuff, except to Bran.

“That’s extreme. Did you and Llyr have a fight?” Remy asked.

“Want me to hunt him down and beat the crap out of him,” Sykes added.

I rolled my eyes. “This has nothing to do with Bran. I just found out I’m Goddess Xenia’s vessel.” I expected amazement or, at the very least, utter disbelief. They just shrugged. I jumped, faced them and glared. “What kind of lame response is that? Shrugs? I just told you I am Goddess Xenia’s vessel. It is freaking me out.”

Remy made a face. “Why? You’ve known since you joined the program.”

I shook my head. “No-oo.”

“Uh, Red,” Sykes said slowly, getting up to peer at me, his hand hands resting on my shoulders. “You are the Chosen One, and everyone knows the Chosen One would one day be her vessel.”

“Everyone but me,” I snapped. “Why is that? Is it a conspiracy?”

Silence followed.

“Forget it.” I sighed, feeling terrible for getting mad. “I shouldn’t take out my frustration on you guys. You probably grew up hearing about all this while everything is new to me.”

“We did,” Remy said. “How did you find out?”

On a different day, I would have balked at removing my T-shirt in their presence despite the sports bra. I turned around, removed my shirt and showed them my back. “It started with this.” They didn’t say anything. I pulled my shirt back on and faced them. “Did you see the writing?”

“Uh, no,” Remy said slowly.

Sykes frowned.

 The writings were gone? What did that mean?