Chapter 3 – Ender
ENDER
We’re supposed to stay hidden in this fucking alley, but I can’t seem to relax.
My instincts are going crazy. We were sent here to find a monster, and we damn well found one.
Over and over I can picture those birds attacking the humans.
We’d watched from the building, wanting more than anything to intervene, but Grey made it clear.
The Elites had sent us here to collect the monster.
If we gave away the fact that we were near, we’d never figure out which of the people below was the harpy.
So we’d stood. And watched. And witnessed the tiny woman race into the alley and shift.
My heartbeat speeds up as I imagine her. I can’t believe she’s a harpy!
Old tales of the harpies filter through my thoughts. They’re supposed to be monstrous creatures. Beings with the faces of women, with wings and sharp claws. They were creatures who abducted people and tortured them. Guardians of the Underworld.
This woman… she was none of these things, so far. Except for violent.
She was tiny. So tiny that I can’t imagine her small frame containing all the power that she’s supposedly capable of. And instead of holding herself with confidence, or even anger, she just seemed… lost. Almost sad.
“Was this what you expected?” Journey asked, his tone troubled.
I try to sound casual. “No, I kind of thought we’d find a monster in a cave filled with human bones.”
He doesn’t laugh. He just continues to stare off toward the busy road. “I’m glad we’d prepared for the possibility of her being a shifter. And that the rumors about her controlling birds was true.” Journey doesn’t sound happy.
“Then everything is going well, right?” I ask, studying him.
The big guy is leaning against the other side of the alley, arms crossed over his chest. His blond hair is a little tousled from the wind, and his skin is a little darker from all the sunshine we got on our flight here. But his expression… he’s worried about something. But what?
“I don’t know. It’s nothing,” he says.
“Come on,” I press. “It’s got to be something.”
He sighs and runs his fingers through his tangled hair. “I guess I just don’t like the idea of harming a woman… even if she’s a monster.”
“Neither do I.” I shrug. “But I think we’ll never be sent on another mission if we fail this one.”
Journey’s quiet for a long second. “I just keep thinking about killing her when we’re done…”
I think back to the tiny woman. Hopefully she’ll attack us. Hopefully it’ll be the kind of epic fight we used to have. Because yeah, I couldn’t just kill her either. Not in cold blood at least.
But Grey could. When he hears about a monster, he sees red.
I picture the tiny woman, and my stomach twists. I don’t even think he’ll keep her alive long enough to finish our mission, not if he gets to her without us close enough to stop him.
Again, I think about the scene we witnessed. I see the people gathered around her. She was too far away to hear, but she looked out of control. Not evil
And we’re sitting here like assholes while Grey hunts her alone…
“Okay, I’m done waiting to regroup.” I stretch my massive grey wings out behind me. “I say we go looking for this Celaeno.”
“Grey said—“
“I don’t care; I’m not missing out on all the action!”
Shooting into the air, I make sure my glamour is in place. No use scaring all the humans. And then I go soaring over the buildings, searching for the dark-haired woman. She can’t have gotten far, right?
For some reason, I already suspect this mission won’t be going the way we expect. Not at all. And that should bother me, but it doesn’t.
The unexpected is exactly what I’ve been craving.
And hunting a harpy seems like the perfect way to insert some excitement into our lives.