Page 124 of Huntress

“Yeah, I guess I did,” Elsie muttered.

She and Saint sat away from everyone else at dinner, spreading the folders across the table. She read through each one, assessing how long each would take, and which among her squad would do best with each. They stayed until she finished, knowing what was coming.

“These missions will finish out our final three weeks.” She handed three folders to Trenton when she’d made her decisions.

“We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning. Morgan, Perrie, and Banks will be going with Trenton. Marley, Grady, and Riven will come with me.” She glanced between the healer and the mage. “This will give you two the chance to get acquainted and start learning from each other.”

They separated the next day, Trenton’s group heading to Colony Five, Elsie’s group on their way to a compound in the south.

They spent four days training new recruits while their regular instructors undertook training of their own. Grady leaned into the role, taking groups out beyond the barrier to work on their map-making skills.

Riven took the opportunity to teach a bunch of kids how to concoct a magically imbued salve that would clot blood and stop bleeding in an emergency, allowing ‌the healer to tend to more serious injuries. Marley was both a teacher and a student in that class, absorbing Riven’s knowledge like a sponge.

“Now remember, only use this on a wound if you’re absolutely sure there’s nothing needing to be cleaned out of it. It will help kick-start the patient’s natural healing abilities, and if you leave any kind of debris in there, you’re going to have to reopen the wound later,” Riven said as the class ended.

Elsie took on the physical work, sparring with kids four years younger and twice her size, defeating each one, though she was gentle. She didn’t want to discourage anyone. Saint sat in the shade nearby, watching Elsie play with her underlings with zero motivation to join in. He wouldn’t take part in raising the next generation of killers.

They moved from compound to nest, taking on missions one after another, making their way north and closer to their home compound with each move. When they got off the tram for the last time, they looked half feral, drawing stares from anyone who happened to pass them by.

Dirt was packed under their fingernails, and Marley and Grady’s short-cropped hair had taken on a shaggy appearance. Their clothes were dingy and worn, and they shuffled when they walked, bowed under the weight of their travel packs.

“Eleven missions in six weeks,” Mordane said when Elsie visited his office. “Your squad’s efforts were praised in every location you visited, increasing your visibility and cementing the argument for keeping you in the field. You freed up four lower squads that would ordinarily take on that kind of work. They were sent on higher-level missions than usual, and each one is stronger for it. Well done.”

Elsie stared at him with blank eyes.

“Have you learned anything from this?” the general asked.

Elsie snorted. “I learned quite a lot about how poorly the nests are run. None of it relevant to this conversation.”

Mordane sighed. “You’ve got two days’ leave before I send you out again. Make the most of it.”

Chapter twenty-five

Chapter 25

Elsie took to the trees, sprinting from branch to branch and making split-second decisions on where to jump and where to land. Saint was right behind her, and Trenton pushed hard to keep up from the ground. Elsie sped up, catching splashes of magic her quarry had left behind. She was catching up.

‘Albright said you’re ready. You’ve completed your training to his satisfaction,’ Mordane’s voice echoed through her mind. He’d handed her a man named Patrick Murphy’s file in a pair of manila envelopes so fat they couldn’t close a little less than a week ago, and she’d been on the move ever since.

There was a gap coming up, at least twenty feet between the trees. She refocused, mapping out her path, each step landing precisely where she intended. Reaching that last branch, she let her leg spring into a near crouch, then pushed the release hard. Launching into the air, her heart pounded, and a savagery split her lips in a tooth-baring grin. Wind whipped at her hair and clothes, and for that one split second, she knew what it was to fly.

‘Take your most trusted soldier.’

Elsie’s boot landed solidly, and she took a second to check on Trenton, who still wore a look of disbelief. Taking her second-in-command was a calculated risk. She’d had to leave the squad in Morgan’s hands, but when she’d read what was in that file, she knew it had to be Trenton. She’d need the assassin’s help.

‘There is no coming back for Murphy, Chantraine.’ Mordane’s order to take this man’s life haunted her. Her mind had replayed it so many times that she couldn’t shake the general’s voice.

She caught a slight motion, so far ahead that she couldn’t quite make it out, but the half-second of silence from her own pounding heart told her she was right. Her quarry was just ahead.

Wind roared in her ears, and she pointed slightly to the left, hooking her hand around. Trenton caught the instruction, peeling off the direct path at an all-out sprint to cut Murphy off.

There was a lot of fae in Patrick Murphy’s blood, and he was even older than Mordane. He’d started to slow down in recent years and had requested retirement six months ago. Unfortunately for him, this was shortly after Haberly and Pax’s squad was wiped out, and the request was deferred for one year.

Initially, he’d stuck it out, though according to witness accounts in his file, he’d grown more agitated and impatient as time stretched on. He’d lost it two weeks ago, killing two hunters and a human soldier on his way out the door.

Elsie understood his frustration, maybe even his rage. She may even have been sympathetic if he’d directly targeted those responsible for his predicament, but the people he’d killed were underlings who’d had nothing to do with his deferment. Now it was Elsie’s responsibility to put him down like a mad dog.

She caught another glimpse of him, a little closer. This was different from playing ever more complicated games of hide-and-seek with Albright and his volunteers over the past four months. The stakes were real, and it was exhilarating.