Page 180 of Huntress

“No. There’s been a lot of secret-keeping going around lately.”

Trenton explained why Mordane had sent Albright after her. “Elsie should have returned to the compound weeks before she did, but in Albright’s words, she wanted to spend time playing house with her demon. When he found them, they were in a compromising and intimate position. Captain Chantraine deserted, and only came back because someone she couldn’t say no to dragged her back.”

“That’s not true,” Elsie muttered.

Trenton’s furious gaze bored into hers. “Which part?”

“Cornick threw us out of Dominion and didn’t arrange transportation out of there. We were given no access to Apothecary’s tram station, and had no easy way to return. Since we were left to our own devices, we took a detour. I wasn’t deserting, and we weren’t planning to stay permanently–”

“That’s the part you take issue with?!” Trisse sneered.

Trenton cleared his throat. “The floor is open. Who wants to speak first?”

Marley raised her hand, but she didn’t stand up. “The accusations against her are terrible, and we can’t let it go, but we have to remember that Elsie started acting strange the moment he got here. How can we be certain the demon hasn’t been casting spells on her, or brainwashing her into this crap? The captain we all know and trust is not a demon sympathizer.”

“Maybe not before, but we’ve all seen the signs, we’ve all questioned how close she is to Mutt and how much she trusts him. Mordane would never accept brainwashing as an excuse. What solution is there in a situation like this?” Banks questioned.

“The solution is to dump his carcass in a swamp and pretend none of this ever happened. Once he’s gone, the captain will go back to normal. Problem solved,” Marley answered.

“The problem with that is the captain’s a big girl. She makes her own decisions, and we already know she won’t give him up,” Trisse said.

“Then we make her,” Marley argued.

“That’s not how this works,” Trenton interjected. “Captain, are you willing to give up your companion demon?”

“No.”

Her second-in-command made a gesture that said, ‘well there you go.’

“Are you fucking him?” Marley demanded. Grady sat back in his chair, hard enough that it rocked and teetered for a second, and Steve let out a long, audible sigh, hands in his hair like he couldn't believe what he’d heard.

“What did you say to me?” Elsie demanded, her voice low. Never had she been so blatantly disrespected by a member of her own squad.

“She asked what we’ve all been thinking. Roz gave you a new room and let him keep your old one, but you’re sleeping together anyway. Everywhere we go, you share tents and rooms, even when there are other options available,” Banks added.

“Is that what companion really means?” Marley asks.

“This is what you all think of me? Hell, if I’d known that, I may as well have fucked him, then at least I’d have had some fun worthy of the accusation. I keep him close because I trust him.”

“You’re supposed to trust us!” Morgan spoke up, then shut back down to glower at the floor.

Saint shifted his weight from one foot to another; every passing moment made it harder to abide by Elsie’s command to say and do nothing, no matter what her squad members had to say. Their blatant disrespect had him wanting to smash a few skulls into the walls.

“Trenton, Elsie’s supposed to be given her turn to present her side of things.” Grady changed the subject.

“Now we get to listen to her excuses.” The bitterness in Trisse’s voice was an ache given sound.

“That’s not fair,” Steve pointed out.

“She has the right to make her side known, as all of us would if we were put in this position. I’m sure she has a good explanation, right, Captain?” Perrie held onto hope, though she looked absolutely miserable.

Elsie rubbed the sweat from her palms onto her pants and stood, forcing the leaden weight of her legs to move into the center. She explained everything in great detail, from her suspicions of Cornick to what happened with Angela. The only truth she left out was her relationship with Saint. There was no way in hell they’d get her to admit to the one thing that would get him killed.

“I want to remind you that you guys had zero qualms spending a little extra time to catch and release those horseflies from the barrier in Colony Nine. Some of you played with them and thought they were cute. You even said you wanted to keep one, Perrie. Where exactly is the line between valuing life and sympathizing with demons?

We don’t hunt harmless demons and magical creatures. We never have and never will, because it’s needlessly barbaric. If we start hunting things that can’t defend themselves, we become no better than the humans that reigned before the collapse of mankind,” she said harshly.

Even Trisse and Marley accepted the truth behind it, each looking thoughtful in their own way for the first time.