Chapter 2
Elsie tore off her gloves, throwing them into the nearest laundry basket. She frowned, glared at them, then picked the basket up and threw it across the room with another scream of rage.
Albright pranking her with something this absurd wasn’t unheard of, but Mordane?! The general was too experienced in diplomatic consequences to concoct the spectacle she’d been forced to take part in out there.
That meant someone else had put it together, someone Mordane had to place nice with, even when he risked pissing her off. Elsie kicked the basket when she remembered there was another player involved. Cornick wouldn’t have orchestrated this circus act unless he wanted something.
The door to the entrance hall opened and slammed shut, almost as hard as Elsie had. The intruder's long stride and sharp heel click identified Marley, her squad’s healer. She came into view, scowling, her lithe body stiff with contained anger.
Elsie had never seen her healer look this disheveled at the compound. Except for a cowlick in the back, her blond pixie-cut hair was flat, and she wore rumpled civilian clothes rather than her usually crisp uniform. The bastards had dragged her out of bed, too.
“I vote we kill him,” Marley said, her tone cutting. Elsie didn’t have to ask who the healer meant. Marley hated demons more than anyone else she knew.
“If you’d been talking about Albright, I’d have been on board,” Elsie replied, then frowned.
This was the first time in two weeks she’d seen her healer up close.
They’d been sent out on separate missions.
Deep shadows darkened Marley’s eyes, and she was thinner than usual; her tall frame was starting to look more waif-like and willowy than brutal and strong.
Elsie’s people were being spread too thin and worked too hard.
They hadn’t had a proper break in months.
“Let’s kill both of them, then,” Marley suggested without hesitation. Her eyes roamed over Elsie’s body as she approached, already assessing her captain’s injuries.
“Sure. Why stop there? If we take out Mordane and Cornick, we’ll get a week off for the funeral preparations,” Elsie snapped. Marley snorted, jerking her chin upward with silent instruction. Elsie peeled off what remained of her shirt.
“Leave Angus Cornick off the list.” Marley shook her head and circled around Elsie, deciding what needed healing and what would mend on its own. “I don’t know about you, Else, but I wouldn’t consider a court-martial and a short drop from the gallows as adequate vacation time.”
“Please, with our reputation? We’ve earned a firing squad, at least. Besides, they can’t send us on missions if we’re dead,” Elsie said, intentionally taking a deep breath, then releasing it slowly.
Her muscles were too tense, ready for the next fight.
The indignity of being used stung, and the reality of what Mordane was trying to saddle her with left her in a white-hot fury.
She paced the floor, torn between confronting the men and taking it out on some unsuspecting recruits on the training field. The healer trailed after her, finally tugging on Elsie’s braid to get her attention.
“Stand still,” Marley said. Her cool fingers touched Elsie’s ribs, pressing gently on bruises and searching for any broken bones or internal damage. The captain had a history of ignoring and failing to report serious injuries. “What the hell were they thinking?”
“You heard Mordane out there. The demon was Cornick’s idea.
” Elsie held back a hiss. Her wounds weren’t life-threatening, but they were irritating.
If she’d been well-rested and armed properly, the wolfhound wouldn’t have gotten close enough to leave a scratch on her.
“Albright didn’t tell me why, or what they’re up to. ”
“What are you going to do?” Marley asked, the lowered volume of her voice doing nothing to hide her anger. The demon may have been foisted on their captain, but that made him the entire squad’s problem.
Elsie’s skin warmed under Marley’s touch as she worked on a puncture wound from the hound’s teeth on the back of her arm. Flesh began knitting itself together, and seconds later magic penetrated past her muscles to seep into the bruises on her bones.
“I’m not accepting the demon, that’s for damned sure,” Elsie grumbled, refusing to grunt or whine at the pain. Marley’s healing was second to none. It’s why she’d gone through all the trouble of pursuing and poaching her from another squad. But she tended to be a little rough when she was angry.
“Good. We’ve got enough to deal with without having to constantly watch our backs. What were you thinking, Boss? A knife?”
“Ha! It’s lucky I even grabbed that. You think Albright gave me time to think?” Elsie laughed bitterly, flexing her fingers. “I’ll deal with him later, it’s Cornick I’m worried about. We need to figure out what he wants from us.”
“Us?” Marley shook her head. “This isn’t about us. You’re the one he targeted, we’re just being dragged along for the ride.”
“Give yourself more credit. You’re more experienced than I am, every person on the squad except Steve has been around longer than me. He might be interested in any of you,” Elsie said.
Marley snorted and tapped a finger against the slightly raised markings around her captain’s throat. “You don’t think these have anything to do with it?”
“They have everything to do with it,” Albright said, approaching them with his hands raised in front of him, as though fending off a group of angry tigers.
“Just the man I wanted to strangle. What the hell was that all about?” Elsie fumed, outrage scrawled across her face as she stalked up to her mentor of the past nine years. “What point were you trying to prove?”
“Ugh, I told you to stand still,” Marley chided, following after to continue her healing. Elsie walked up to Albright and stood square in front of him, chin lifted in defiance as she looked him straight in the eye.
“Aww, are you trying to say you didn’t have fun out there, Chantraine?
” Albright asked, the lines on his face growing more defined as he grinned.
Though he’d started showing signs of aging, he looked good for an old-timer.
Like most hunters these days, his blood content was almost half human, which meant eventually time would catch up with him. Elsie snorted.
“You could have chosen literally any other sucker in this hellhole. Next time, leave my squad and me out of your bullshit, or I’ll report you and everyone else involved for harassment.”
“Nobody else has your talent.” He pointed at a mirror along the far wall. “Look at yourself. Who else could have fought that thing? Besides, you’re my favorite sucker.”
She glared at him and waved Marley away. The healer’s mouth pressed into a thin line with impatience. She wouldn’t allow Elsie’s injuries to go untreated.
“Sorry, kid,” Albright said, his grin widening.
“This was partly my fault. I get to choose my successor, and naturally I chose you. Think about it, this is a massive lifestyle upgrade. As first field captain, you have more choice in which missions you take. What were you out there fighting this time? A shifter? With this promotion, you’re given the authority to say no to that shit. ”
Elsie’s hands balled into fists, her arm muscles tensing, but Marley’s hand landed on her shoulder before she swung at him.
“Sit down, Captain,” the healer ordered through gritted teeth.
Elsie’s eyes narrowed, but she obeyed, sitting heavily on one of the benches, allowing Marley to keep working.
“That spectacle out in the arena wasn’t my idea. Any idea how many resources went into capturing that demon?” Albright’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into the creases in his forehead.
Elsie scowled. The crap in the arena was obviously Mordane, but the demon itself? “Okay, let’s get into that. What the hell does Angus Cornick want with us?”
“He’ll explain that himself. He and Mordane will be here shortly.”
Elsie let out an exasperated groan. Marley glared at him too; the older girl’s sharp eyes cutting deep.
“Stop irritating my patient,” she commanded.
“It can’t be helped.” Albright shrugged. “She’s always irritable.”
Until his retirement was signed on paper, Albright was still captain of the first field squad, while Elsie captained the second. Technically, he outranked both women, but he knew better than to antagonize Elsie’s healer.
“He’d better have one hell of an explanation for this,” Elsie muttered, speaking of Mordane. The guy was the top-ranking general in the entire Hunter Clans, with command of the northern compound, but Elsie put him on edge. He wasn’t afraid of the girl herself, but of the goddess who’d birthed her.
“Oh, trust me, you’re going to hate it.”
A sharp knock came at the door, and Marley sighed. She was a field healer, capable of healing her patients under the wildest of circumstances, but it was easier to concentrate when her patient wasn’t running off and threatening to harm their superiors.
“Come on in,” Albright called out, uncaring that Elsie was only half dressed. Hunters had to change, bathe, shower, and heal out in the open regularly. Modesty and privacy were privileges, both in the field and the compound.
General Mordane came first. He usually spoke with her in his office, where he called her to visit monthly to make sure everything was going all right.
The man was perpetually paranoid that she might be unhappy in her role among the hunters.
Santa Muerte was a powerful enemy he wanted to avoid, though she hadn’t checked in for fourteen years.
She’d seen the other man around a couple of times, but she wasn’t familiar with him.
He oozed the confidence of a man who starred in people’s nightmares.
His hair was more pepper than salt, and a scar ran down one side of his face.
He studied her with calculating eyes, his gaze lingering on the seal around her throat. Bold. Angus Cornick was far too bold.