Page 119 of Huntress

“Hmm. We’ll have to ask if they’ve had any outages recently. I guess if the girl was able to get out, something else snuck in. They couldn’t have gotten through by their own power,” Elsie muttered aloud, then had to explain herself when they gave her strange looks.

“There are small earth magic based creatures in these woods. They may be partially responsible for why the trees were able to grow quickly.”

“It’s one of the last nests built in this colony, it’s possible they were trapped here when the barrier was put up,” Perrie said.

“I haven’t spotted anything,” Morgan called over, echoed by Banks and Trenton, who were near enough to overhear what they were talking about.

“Keep an eye out. Whatever they are, they’re too small to be a problem for the humans. We’ll collect them and toss them out.”

It was normal procedure to disregard harmless magical creatures. Especially those of species that would never evolve into a problem later down the line.

When the sun got low, they returned to the hunters’ quarters, dirty, smelly, and exhausted. Elsie’s room didn’t have its own bathroom, so she gathered her things to shower with the girls.

Saint watched her, back in his human form, but he made no move to follow.

“Aren’t you going to shower?” she asked.

“I’ll wait until after.”

She sat on the edge of her bed, their knees almost touching. “You’ll never get comfortable around my squad if you don’t spend time with them.”

“Mistress, I’m not interested in making friends with your subordinates.”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“Not likely.” He smirked.

“Pain in the ass,” she muttered, then got up and left to the sound of his low chuckle.

“Oh, you can be pried away from that demon,” Riven teased when she joined the others in the showers.

“Careful,” Marley said seriously, though she flashed Elsie a quick grin. “That’s her emotional support demon, and she won’t be nice if you mess with him.”

“And he’ll threaten you for getting too close to her at the wrong time,” Perrie added.

“Wait, seriously?” Riven asked. “I haven’t seen any behavior like that out of him, he seems harmless, just follows her around like a broody ghost.”

Elsie rolled her eyes and took out her braid before getting under the water.

“He was more relaxed today than the last time I saw him,” Marley admitted.

“At least he’s nice to look at. I can take him back to my village with me if you want, Captain,” Riven offered. “I’m sure we can find some use for him.”

Elsie offered the girl a smile. “You can ask him if he’s interested. I won’t hold him back if that’s what he wants.”

“It’s a reasonable solution.” Marley’s eyes lit up at the prospect. “You can tell Cornick that Mutt took a liking to her, and you re-gifted him.”

“Mutt?” Riven laughed.

“His name is Saint.” Elsie’s voice came out sharper than she’d intended. Her back stiffened, and the blood heated in her veins. She rinsed the soap out of her hair.

“Well, maybe I can talk to him and let him know he’s got options. Then he’ll follow me around instead of you! It’ll give you some breathing room.” Riven wriggled her eyebrows.

“If you can even get him to talk to you,” Perrie said. “I’ve only heard him speak a couple of times, including that night in Frost Hollow.”

“What’s Frost Hollow?” Marley asked. Perrie leaned around the healer to look at Elsie, seeking permission.

“You’re allowed to talk about it, but only with members of our squad. It’s classified for everyone else.”