Chapter 32 #4
The demon glanced toward the tents and stepped in front of her as one of the canvas flaps opened. Elsie roughly swiped her tears away, then looked over her shoulder at Riven sneaking out to join them.
“We eavesdropped on your meeting with Trenton, and heard what came after,” the mage whispered. She caught Elsie’s eye, her lips drawing into a frown. Sweeping forward, she grasped the captain in a tight hug.
“I have a spell to shrivel his dick to the size of a peanut.”
Elsie snorted and shook her head. “He’ll get enough punishment, the proper way.”
“Okay, but the offer’s still on the table if you change your mind.” Riven accepted her answer, then let her go. “Sit still for a second?”
Digging through her pockets, the mage produced a little bag filled with a bone char powder. After taking a pinch out, she muttered under her breath and blew it in their faces.
“What the hell was that?” Elsie asked, but the sound never left her throat.
“For privacy,” Riven replied, her lips moving, but the words were caught by Elsie’s mind instead.
“It’s creepy.” Saint gave her a dirty look. Riven stuck her tongue out at him.
“Get over it. Marley’s pissed enough that she refused to come out after what happened with Grady unless you specifically asked for her. She didn’t know about any of what you guys were talking about. I claimed innocence, of course.”
“It’s more than I told them, but judging by the way things were going, Trenton wasn’t going to listen,” Elsie explained what Saint had told her about the creatures Cornick had brought with him to the pack lands.
“That definitely falls in line with your suspicions. It would have been beneficial to say something, and it’s not too late.
Plant the seed of doubt while you can. Even if Trenton doesn’t believe you, he’ll at least have heard it.
He’ll sit with those thoughts in the back of his mind, and if he ever sees something a little off, memories of your concerns will resurface. ”
“She makes a good point,” Saint agreed.
“I spied on them quite a bit while you were gone. They’ve already been talking about it among themselves, theorizing and arguing.
Grady told Morgan, Trisse, and Banks, too.
They want to believe you, Elsie, you’re their captain, and they trust and rely on you.
But you’re working against a lifetime of indoctrination and believing what they’re told to believe.
If you’d have come back with real evidence, they’d have followed you into war. ”
“I have evidence, but only for things they don’t consider a crime,” Elsie groaned.
“Hunter politics are scarier than I imagined they’d be. You guys are working under circumstances and subterfuge that the mages would have burned someone to ashes for even thinking of. There’s no such thing as choosing self-serving desire over the well-being of the whole among my people.”
“Sounds idyllic,” Elsie said. “Take us home with you.”
“Yeah, no. That sounds like inviting a whole swarm of angry hornets to dinner. As delightful as that could be, I’m gonna pass.”
“Worth a try.”
“Steve was something else today.”
“That’s not normal for him. He’s usually efficient, no blood where it isn’t needed. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on him.”
“He may not ever go back to normal,” Saint said gently. “He went through hell, and sure he made it through, but some people never fully come back from that trauma.”
“He’ll be fine,” Elsie said defensively. “He needs more time.”
Maybe if she believed it hard enough, it would come true.
They talked for a bit longer, then went to their tents. Elsie stripped down to her shirt and underwear by the time he’d finished zipping and tying the damned thing up. He took off his boots and shirt, stripping to his boxers.
She grabbed him and pushed him down onto the blankets, snuggling up to his side and using his shoulder as a pillow, completely wrapping herself around him. He held her close, stroking her back and kissing the top of her head.
“I’ll never leave your side again,” he promised.
“Are you angry with me? The bond felt like it had been betrayed, like I’d done something wrong.”
“No,” he soothed, petting her hair and kissing her again. “That wasn’t me, it was the bond itself. The anger, and the desire to snap his fucking neck, was me. I’m sorry it hit you so hard.”
“I welcomed it.”
They eventually fell asleep, but Elsie startled awake less than an hour later.
“Shhh, I’m right here.” Saint tucked her in closer.
“Don’t leave me.”
“Never. Tell me,” he said.
Elsie told him about the visions the shadow coyotes had put in her head. “It was a convoluted mix between memories and my worst fears. I killed you, Saint. I love you and Cornick, and Mordane made me kill you. I won’t ever do it. I’d kill myself first.”
Her whole body trembled.
“I know you wouldn’t. It wasn’t real, Mistress. You’d never hurt me, and I’d never hurt you. We’ll run before it ever comes to that, okay?”
Sniffling, she nodded and propped herself up on an elbow, leaning in to kiss him. “I’ll never hurt you, and I’ll never let anyone else hurt you either,” she promised, kissing him again. “Never.”