Chapter 34 #3
“I only tried convincing you guys that Saint could be a friend and asset if you’d stop being hateful. I wanted peace in our squad. Riven was comfortable around him, and even Marley admitted he’s useful.” Elsie was quiet.
“Convenient for you to say now that Riven’s gone,” Trisse snorted.
“No, it’s true,” Morgan said. “I’ve noticed him talking to the mage. They were friendly with each other.”
“Yeah, but Riven wanted to fuck him too, so she’s not a great character witness,” Banks muttered.
Elsie stared into Morgan’s eyes. “And you witnessed how the people in Frost Hollow accepted him without batting an eye. Saint has never harmed anyone. You’ve been taught to have such a prejudice against demons that even when one becomes your ally—”
“Enough!” Marley shouted. “No one wants to listen to you prattling on about how great your toy demon is!”
The arguments dragged on for hours, and Elsie’s head pounded. Eventually, they found themselves going in circles while tempers and voices rose. Nobody on either side would give ground.
“It’s obvious that while we’ve come to irreconcilable differences, we do have one thing we agree on.
No one wants you to come to any harm, Elsie.
We share too much history together for that, and too many of us owe you our lives.
This squad will not bring charges and be the reason your head is on a block.
” Trenton finally brought the debate to a close.
“We aren’t going to Mordane with what we know. ”
Murmurs echoed around the room, and while nobody stood up to disagree, Trenton’s words brought no relief. Marley stared at Saint with unadulterated hatred. The healer wouldn’t be satisfied with allowing the demon to keep living a normal or comfortable life.
“That said,” Trenton continued. “I no longer trust that you have our best interests at heart. I can’t trust you to have my back, or anyone else’s if it involves Mutt, or any other demon.
I am filing for reassignment to another squad.
It usually takes a few weeks for the paperwork to be processed, and then there’s the recruitment period, though I’ll be asking Roz to expedite it as much as possible.
I’m asking that you don’t break any more laws that jeopardize the people in this room until then. ”
Elsie gaped at him, her brain racing to give his words meaning.
Her hands went numb as understanding dawned.
She looked at each member of her squad in turn, their familiar and beloved faces disappointed and hurt.
She’d let them down, and in their eyes, she was a criminal.
There was never going to be a way past it.
“Anyone else?” she asked hoarsely, intentionally taking long, slow breaths, barely holding herself together.
“Obviously me,” Morgan said.
She’d expected it, but the emotional blow was physical. He was her oldest friend. Perrie stared at Morgan, then lowered her head, not ready to speak a decision out loud. The witch was still torn, but Elsie didn’t dare to hope she’d stay. Not when Morgan was leaving.
“I go wherever Trenton goes.” Marley didn’t hesitate. “But you already knew that. Honestly? I’m relieved it’s over. I’m surprised it took this long to get to this point.”
“I warned you,” Trisse says evenly, leaning forward to steeple his fingers between his knees. “I told you that if you fuck this up, I’m gone. Clearly my continued presence wasn’t important enough for you to care.”
“I need time to think about it, but I’m probably leaving too, sorry Captain.
After everything we’ve been through together, I thought this squad was it for me.
My forever home, and my family, but look at us now…
you’ve torn our family apart.” Steve shook his head, defeated.
Banks pressed his lips together, and he joined them.
A tang hit the back of Elsie’s throat, and her jaw ached with the need to vomit. Almost her entire squad was gone in a single conversation, and there was no certainty that Perrie or Grady would stay. To be honest, she hoped they wouldn’t.
She’d never be able to put together another squad as solid as this one. Maybe this was the incentive she needed to take Saint’s hand and run. Ravens and her father be damned.
“If there’s nothing else productive anyone needs to say, this meeting is over,” Trenton declared.
“Hey, Elsie, you’re going to write our letters of recommendation, right?” Marley demanded. “With what we’re doing to protect you even now, you owe us at least that much.”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” Elsie’s voice cracked.
“If there are any missions before I’m transferred, don’t call on me.” The healer marched out, Trenton following behind her.
The others gave her long, measured looks before leaving in their own time until only Perrie, Elsie, and Saint remained. The witch’s eyes welled with tears.
“My coven would be ashamed of the things I’ve done since joining the hunters,” she said tremulously.
“I can’t go back to them with this stain on my soul.
They’d never understand, just like Morgan and the others don’t understand why we don’t hate demons as much as they do.
We weren’t raised in the same culture they were.
I’ve always thought of you as the younger sister I never had, you know? ”
“I know,” Elsie sniffed.
Perrie rushed forward and gave her a breath-stealing hug.
“I need to stay with the hunters, at least until I find my mate. It’s way past time that I do.
I can’t stay with you, Elsie. Your field ranking and reputation are going to tank, and the only men I’ll get the chance to meet will be at the bottom of the barrel. ”
Elsie huffed out a humorless laugh. Typical Perrie, always thinking of her unmated status, even at a time like this.
“It’s okay, Pear. Good luck.”
Perrie held her at arm's length, and Elsie saw a flash of something in the witch’s eye that gave her the sinking feeling that her whole act was performative. The tears and caring words didn’t match Perrie’s eyes, which looked more annoyed than sad.
“You, too. You’re going to need it.”
“Thanks.”
Perrie turned on her heels and flounced out the door, strawberry curls bouncing as she went. That was the last of them; even Grady, who’d lingered as though waiting for a chance to speak with her, had gone.
Elsie’s knees buckled, and Saint caught her before she hit the ground. She clung to his arms, holding herself up against the crushing weight of grief dragging her to the floor.
“I can’t–” she gasped, tears swimming in her eyes and blurring the world in front of her.
“Mistress,” Saint murmured, but listening to his sympathy was too painful.
“I can’t breathe.” Clawing at her throat, she pushed herself away from Saint, rushing outside to get some air. Shoving the heavy double doors open, she heaved in great, gasping breaths, but it wasn’t enough. Her lungs weren’t satisfied, as if she couldn’t fill them up.