Chapter 200 - 4 year old renter.

Zyra’s heart skipped a beat. She froze, her brain frantically spinning its wheels. Maybe now was the time to come out and tell the nanny the truth. After all, why hide the truth from her when Hunter trusted her?

Hunter had an inkling of where her thoughts were going and he whispered, "She has a bad heart."

"Ah_ yes!" Zyra squeaked out, her voice dropping an octave higher than normal. "Yes, that room! But_ but I need to clear it out first! It’s, uh, full of_ old clutter!" She would not be the one that gave Hunter’s precious sweet nanny a heart attack.

"Clutter? Nonsense, child," Nanny Rosita said, rolling up her sleeves with brisk enthusiasm. "Let your old Nanny help you. I can sweep a room clean faster than a cleaning machine."

"No! No need!" Zyra blurted out, jumping over a couch to block Nanny Rosita like a human shield.

Before the old woman could utter another word, Hunter leaped over a couch like Zyra, grabbed her firmly by the wrist, and dragged her down the hall. "We have some things to clean up nanny." He shouted to her.

"Personal things." Zyra added, louder than him.

Zyra let herself be hauled along like a reluctant sack of grain. Hunter shoved open the door to his room, pulled her inside, and slammed the door shut, locking it with a sharp click.

Zyra let out a breath she felt like she’d been holding for a century. She turned around to face him. Hunter took a few steps to the center of the room, one brow arched so high it practically touched his hairline. "Personal things!" He had an amused smile on his face.

Zyra immediately dropped her hand and threw both arms up in self-defense. "Don’t look at me like that! What else was I supposed to say? She thinks we are married anyway."

"We aren’t?" Hunter asked, his tone dry enough to cause a drought.

"You know what I mean!" Zyra hissed, pacing left and right. "Married couples don’t sleep in separate rooms of the house! If Nanny Rosita sees you sleeping across the hall, she’s going to start asking questions. Next thing we know, she will drop dead because of the shock or tell us to divorce. And then you will have to move away. Where will I find a free bodyguard as great as you? So_ you have to shift your things to my room in order for this arrangement to continue working."

Hunter stared at her.

For a second, she thought he might flatly refuse.

"Right," Hunter said simply, finally. "As long as I sleep on the bed. I want that made clear. I spend the day laboring; I am not sleeping on the cold hard ground. Put a curtain between us if you wish. We will lock the door."

Zyra looked at him. "No problem, no curtain. Just keep to yourself side of the bed."

Without another word, he turned around and started packing his clothes into a large cargo bag. As Hunter bent down to gather his heavy iron training weights and other stuff, he casually threw out a question. "So, what do you plan to do with the little girl?"

"Her name is Yaya," Zyra corrected quickly, crossing her arms. "And she is an orphan, like your nanny said. I do not have any plans yet. Let your nanny take charge of her."

Hunter remained entirely expressionless, throwing a folded coat over his shoulder. "Many orphans exist under the sky of the new earth, her condition is pitiful, but she is not the first. Will you give them all bedrooms in this house?"

"Well, I can’t just throw her away!" Zyra snapped, her voice tightening with emotion. "She’s just a baby, Hunter! Look at what happened to her village_ at her mother! The villagers are sympathetic, but they are not eager to adopt her and I understand why. We can’t think of other orphans for now, only the one here right now."

Hunter stopped packing for a fraction of a second, his blue eyes fixing on her. "If you keep her, she will get attached to you. And you will get attached to her. Are you ready to look after her full time? You have your goals and I have mine. We have a deal to go beyond the veil. The girl_"

Something inside Zyra just snapped. "Yaya!" she practically screamed, stomping her foot so hard the tiles groaned. "Her name is Yaya! Stop calling her ’the girl’ or whatever!" When she lost her own parents, many people had referred to her as ’the girl.’ It was a word she hated. She huffed, staring him down with furious eyes. "What do you expect me to do, huh? Dump a toddler by the side of the road and tell her, ’good luck with your growing up journey’? I’m a human being, Hunter, not a block of ice!" Like you, she thought.

Hunter didn’t flinch. He walked over to the corner of the room and lifted two massive wooden crates. They were filled to the brim with high-grade energy stones_ heavy enough to crush an ordinary man’s toes_ yet he held them as easily as if they were filled with feathers.

"Give her to the villagers, they know her better." Hunter suggested calmly, his voice steady and devoid of malice, just cold logic. "They have families. They raise children. You said it yourself, children in this world..." He stopped and exhaled. "You are on the run. How will you protect her? I am not being difficult, I am being realistic, as cruel as it may seem."

Zyra opened her mouth to yell at him again, but the words caught in her throat. She looked at him, her chest heaving slightly. As much as she hated to admit it_ he was right. She wasn’t a mother. She was struggling just to keep her own life together, grow her strength, take revenge and dodge those chasing her. But, what harm would it cause, though_ just to let Yaya stay for a little while? Even if they had to find her a new family, it would have to be a good one. Not a hellish one like the one which raised her.

She let out a short, defeated sigh. Her shoulders slumped. "Fine," she muttered, rubbing her temples. "I’ll find a family for her among the villagers later."

Hunter narrowed his dark eyes, scanning her face. He had seen that exact look on her face before_ it was the look she gave right before she did something completely reckless anyway. He didn’t believe her for a single second.

"Later," Hunter repeated softly, a hint of suspicion lacing his voice. It could be tonight or ten years.

"Yes, later!" Zyra snapped, grabbing a pillow from the bed and pushing past him toward the door. "Now hurry up and move your stuff, husband. Nanny Rosita is waiting to transform this room. She might as well move closer too to help take care of Yaya. That baby will probably have nightmares for a while. We should put a baby monitor in her room, and stock up on milk. I wonder if Beauty can provide clothes for toddlers."

Hunter groaned. This toddler was beginning to look more and more like a long term renter!