Page 130 of Huntress

Elsie shook her head. “I already told Steve I’m not making that decision right now, and I meant it. He’s making steady progress, and I’m not ready to give up on him. What happened to your sense of loyalty, Mar?”

Marley scoffed, preparing a comeback when Grady appeared and met them halfway down the hall. His eyes darted to the doors behind them, then scanned the healer and captain's moody expressions.

“Everything okay?” he asked. The geographer was close with the warrior, and he visited Steve more than anyone else.

“Yeah,” Elsie covered. “Just checking in on Steve.”

“I’m sure he’s happy about that. His entire rehab goal is getting back to the squad,” Grady echoed Steve’s words, twisting the knife of guilt in her gut. Mordane kept her so busy that she could barely visit once or twice a month. “Oh yeah, Roz is looking for you.”

“Of course she is,” Elsie groaned. She’d been back for less than twenty-four hours. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“What happened?” Saint demanded as soon as they walked away.

“Steve.” She explained the circumstances. His eyes lit red for a brief moment, but he calmed quickly.

“You were in no danger of him becoming your mate, Mistress. A subordinate warrior is not worthy of you.”

“I don’t think worthiness has much to do with it,” Elsie scoffed.

“Have you ever been attracted to him?”

“No,” she answered quickly, unwilling to put Steve in that kind of danger. If Saint thought the warrior was a threat…

“Ever been impressed by his skills, or felt the need to get closer to him?”

“He impressed me enough to add him to my squad, but getting closer to him? No.”

“The Ancient Magic does not pair a woman with a man who’s beneath her. He is either her match or stronger, so he can take care of her,” Saint said.

“Are you trying to tell me that even the Ancient Magic supports the patriarchy, because that sounds a bit misogynistic.”

“It makes decisions based on its own survival. The magic cannot continue to exist without beings to carry it. The weaker those beings are, the more the Ancient Magic struggles, so it pairs the strong with their equals, or those who are even stronger.”

“That’s strangely reassuring,” Elsie admitted. With each passing decade, there was less magic to go around, but with the magic itself doing what it could to survive, she didn’t have to worry about it disappearing entirely any time soon.

“You have plenty of power, and it considerably narrows down the number of men with the potential to be your mate. There’s no one in this compound I’d deem worthy of you,” he said. Elsie snickered.

“Would you admit it if someone was?”

“I guess we’ll never know, because he’d never get close enough to you for either of us to find out.”

“Alright, I’m counting on you. Keep ‘em away.” She smiled up at him, then whispered, “I don’t want anyone else.”

She tapped on Roz’s door.

“Come on in, Chantraine.”

“Where are we going this time?” Elsie asked.

“Have a seat. I have a gift for you.” Roz wore a self-satisfied grin.

“I’m a little wary of gifts these days.” Elsie took her seat.

“You’ll like this one. I wasn’t able to do anything for your promotion, and you did well with that defector, so I wanted to get you something. It took calling in some favors, but it’s something you’ve been wanting.” She pushed a brass key across the desk.

Elsie picked it up, glancing at Roz with confusion.

“What’s this for?”