Page 114 of Huntress

“You threatened Angus Cornick?!” Perrie practically yelled as she shoved her go bag into the compartment above her seat.

“He was interfering with Trisse and Steve’s treatment!” Elsie yelled back.

Perrie looked at Elsie over her shoulder, then sat down with a thud. “Why would he do that?”

“Because, in his words, my health is more important than yours. He wants to take me off fieldwork and experiment on my seal. If he can figure out how to break it, he’ll force me to use my ethereal magic for the hunters,” Elsie lowered her voice.

“Why? You don’t need reaper powers to kill demons.” Morgan sat next to the witch. “Your record speaks for itself.”

Elsie refused to glance in Saint’s direction to catch his reaction.

“Who knows? He’s in weapons research, he’s probably got some idea in his head for how to use ethereal magic in some new, horrific way.”

“Or, maybe he’s coming up with some new, life-saving technology,” Perrie groaned.

“Maybe it’s not my place, since I’m not really part of your squad, but I wouldn’t want some creepy old fuck poking around my body, either,” Riven spoke up. “That man is known even among my people for his sick experiments. Would you be willing to submit yourself to it, or is only your captain expected to meet such high expectations?”

“Cornick wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.” Perrie rolled her eyes. “She practically has her own fan club that would riot if anything went wrong. Besides, if he manages to break the seal, why would you have to be forced into using your magic to help people?”

“Because I don’t believe helping people is his objective, Pear.” Elsie took a deep breath. “The point is, he interfered with Steve and Trisse, and that is why I threatened him. In that moment, I needed Cornick to know that you’re not pawns for him to wield against me as he pleases. I’m sorry that decision is affecting you.”

“Threatening him maybe wasn’t the best idea, but you’re not wrong that he needed to back off,” Morgan said. He’d listened to both sides and finally come to a conclusion. “Mordane must have been more or less on our side, since the punishment wasn’t any worse.”

“It’s bad enough,” Elsie griped, then recapped her conversation with Mordane, and by the time she finished, both the sniper and the witch had gone quiet.

“Basically, you’re all caught between two men in a power struggle over a particularly interesting toy.” Riven touched her fingertips together.

“Let’s hope Mordane continues finding our captain interesting,” Morgan said. “If he gives you up to Cornick, the rest of us are out of a job.”

“Nah. I’m sure Trenton would take you in,” Elsie joked.

“Trenton?” Perrie asked.

“Sure, once I’m out of the way, he’d be promoted to Captain. He’s proven his leadership skills many times over. It wouldn’t be as glamorous as all this, but I’m sure his squad would rank fairly well from the start,” she predicted.

“Elsie? Respectfully? Shut up and go drive the tram. You’re not going anywhere,” Perrie grumbled.

Their first destination was in the fourth colony, almost dead center of what used to be North America. Elsie and her crew stood over the twisted wreckage of what used to be an equipment facility. Barriers were fantastic at preventing demons and other magical creatures from raiding a nest, but they couldn’t stop a tornado.

“What are they planning to do with all this scrap?” Riven asked, waving at the massive piles of wood, metal, and plastic.

“They’ll reuse what they can. The metal can be melted down and reforged, and the plastic repurposed. They’ll probably burn or bury everything else,” Morgan answered.

“That’s disgusting,” the mage complained. “Why did they bring back the practice of making plastic in the first place? After all the damage it’s done? You know, my village is near the ocean, and we still find pieces of plastic on the beaches. Humanity collapsed centuries ago, and we’re still dealing with their trash.”

“You’re not wrong,” Elsie agreed. “It’s a cycle they’ve repeated over and over again, like they’re incapable of learning from their own history.”

It took three days of working from sunup until sundown before they finished clearing the space and sorting the destroyed materials. One of the local hunters came to inspect their work, giving them a nod of approval.

“Don’t hate me for this, but I’m going to request your group specifically when it’s time for the rebuild in a couple of weeks. You’re better workers than most.”

“Yeah, great,” Elsie sighed.

“That was humiliating,” Perrie complained as they got back on the tram. They weren’t even allotted time to stay the night and leave in the morning. “Does he not know who we are?”

“Probably not, Pear,” Morgan placated her.

“I got sunburned,” Riven whined, pulling a cream from her bag.