Page 168 of Huntress

“They’re gone,” he said in a great gust of breath, the torment easing from his face.

Marley approached cautiously, searching him for injuries before she reached him.

“Steve, what did you see?” Marley asked gently, a hand landing on his shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He straightened up and gave a half-smile with nothing even remotely like his usual carefree self shining through. “It’s fine. I know it wasn’t real. I’m okay, Marley.”

Elsie shared a look with Trenton and raised an eyebrow. He pressed his lips together, and she nodded her agreement. Steve’s testing period had just been extended. He’d held out and done his job, but his behavior was too far off. She’d require him to continue his therapy, and she’d be keeping an extra close eye on him until she was completely convinced he was running at a hundred percent.

Saint glued himself to her hip, his hands balled into fists and shoved into his pockets to keep himself from reaching out to her. She sent as much reassurance through their bond as she could.

“What about you?” Riven asked Elsie as she walked up. “They got you, too.”

“Like Steve said, it wasn’t real.” She twisted her leg to see the twin punctures in her calf. It was bruised, and the skin around each hole was already softening, beginning to rot. “Ew. I’m not going to get rabies or anything, right, Mar?”

Marley snickered and rolled her eyes. Demons’ temperatures ran way too hot for infections like rabies to survive in their bodies. The healer made Steve take off his shirt, and she wiped the blood off his skin using the back of it, the only part of the fabric that wasn’t already saturated.

“Want me to soak him?” Riven offered with a grin. She stepped in front of Elsie and Saint, blocking everyone’s view long enough for the demon to give the huntress’ hand a quick squeeze.

There weren’t any serious injuries beyond the two bites. Steve had a few bumps and scrapes from running blind through the woods, and Elsie had one minor scrape on her arm that she refused treatment for. It would heal on its own before bed.

She grabbed the feet of one of the yotes and dragged it over to dump it on top of another. Saint, Trenton, and Grady joined in, and soon all seven bodies were stacked in an unruly pile. Branches and sticks were quickly added, and then the demon’s bodies were set on fire.

Grady started a separate fire for dinner, and they all settled around it to dig in.

“Those things were fast,” Trenton complained, “but I still can’t believe you let one bite you.”

“Shut up,” Elsie muttered, taking a big bite of beans.

“You screamed like a girl,” he teased.

“She is a girl,” Marley snorted.

“The Captain’s not a girl,” Grady disagreed, drawing everyone’s eyes. “She’s a legend.”

“Suck up.” Trenton flicked a stick at him.

Elsie burst out laughing, followed by the others. Not Steve, though, she noticed. The warrior was too caught up in his own thoughts to join in their goofing around.

It was morning before the demons were burned to ash, and the sun was coming up by the time it was cool enough to handle. Riven soaked the smoldering ash to prevent lighting the forest on fire, then she, Elsie, and Saint loaded them onto a tarp.

“What are you doing?” Trenton asked, standing next to Marley, both of them with their arms crossed over their chests.

“We’re doing what’s right,” was all Elsie said.

They dragged the ashes back to the remains of the pack’s demolished den and spread them there, returning their souls to their home. They’d have to sort themselves out from there.

Grady had followed out of curiosity, and he’d pulled a disgusted look when he realized what they were up to, but he stayed and observed in silence.

“Was your ritual necessary?” He asked on the way back, a healthy dose of condemnation in his voice. “They were harassing the humans. These demons weren’t even remotely harmless or deserving of your pity.”

“We killed them because we were ordered to, and because they were a danger to the humans,” Elsie said. “But they were still living beings deserving of a proper burial. Do you ever wonder if any of the demons we’ve killed have come back as vengeful spirits because we failed to treat their remains properly? What if those spirits killed someone? Are we as responsible for those deaths as the demons themselves?”

Grady didn’t say anything after that, but he seemed to consider her questions along the way back to camp. Everyone washed up and got ready for bed, but before she made it to her tent, Trenton approached.

“Can we talk for a minute? Without the demon?”

Elsie glanced at Saint, careful not to groan in complaint. They’d slept in separate tents the entire trip, not wanting his scent to linger on her body while hunting the yotes. She was looking forward to curling up in his arms.