Page 39 of Huntress

His lip curled in disgust. “They still wear the skins of animals. This room reeks of it, and it was on the others we traveled here with.”

“They don’t think of animals the way we do,” Elsie said as she finished unpacking. “Most humans and hunters don’t see animals as sentient beings deserving of life. To them, those animals were born to die for their selfish desires.”

“They seem to feel the same way about my kind.”

“I don’t think that about your kind.” She glanced up at him. He stared blankly at the closed door, his head against the wall. She could tell he didn’t believe her. His eyes rolled in her direction, piercing her with his gaze.

“Tell yourself whatever you want, but don’t lie to me. You treat me like an animal, just like the rest.”

“Stop acting like one, and I’ll treat you differently,” she snorted, then bit her lip, regretting her words. Elsie frowned and stuffed her empty bag into one of the drawers. She wouldn’t apologize. There had to be some effort on his part, too.

She pulled the bracers over her wrists. They hooked around her thumbs and covered the back of her hands, coming short of cupping her elbows.

She was ready to leave, and he hadn’t made a single attempt to unpack. They were running out of time. Her team would be finishing up within the next few minutes, and then they’d be off and running. Elsie untied the sleeping bag from his rucksack.

“At least roll out your sleeping bag. The last thing you’ll want to deal with when we return is fighting with the damned thing. By the time we return, it’ll be late, we’ll be dirty, cranky, and exhausted. All you’ll want is food, a shower, and sleep.”

“Maybe that’s all you will want, but my body is built differently than yours.”

Elsie rolled her eyes so far back into her skull she could practically envision the past. “Quit acting like some kind of badass. You’re still healing, and I guarantee you’re going to be every bit as tired as the rest of us.”

“That sounds like a wager,” he rumbled. Elsie cocked a hip and planted her palm on it.

“What’s the prize?”

“If you’re right, you get to keep that bed. If I am, I’m sleeping there tonight.”

A grin pulled up one corner of her mouth, and she held out a gloved hand. He gripped her palm hard, squishing her fingers together as they shook on it. “You have yourself a deal, Mutt.”

Her squad split into three groups for reconnaissance. Their meeting had lasted fewer than five minutes when Elsie discovered that the nest’s hunters had not yet created a comprehensive map of the rat’s known locations, nor figured out how the fuck they were getting into the nest.

“What purpose did the previous squad sent here serve if not even the basics were accomplished?” Elsie demanded. “And what the hell have you guys been doing all this time?”

Franklin and Jeshua fumbled through questioning, unable to provide simple information, such as places they liked to hunt, how they were getting into the nest, or even a guesstimation of their numbers. The appreciation and respect she’d given upon their first meeting plummeted.

Elsie wanted to know who was responsible for giving these men comfortable leadership positions when they evidently couldn’t perform basic fieldwork. She could only imagine that someone in the ‘good ol’ boys club’ owed Franklin a favor, and his assignment here had settled it.

Trisse, Banks and Steve were grouped together, walking the interior of the barrier. They would do half of it while Marley, Trenton, and Grady managed the other half. That left Elsie with Perrie and Morgan, as she’d decided they wouldn’t openly rebel against spending the day with the demon.

Their group had the exterior, searching the quarter-mile dead zone between the barrier and the world around it. In general, the wider the dead zone, the safer the nest. A quarter-mile was considered the bare minimum. Without it, demons could waltz right up to the barrier, hidden by bushes, trees, and other natural blinds.

Elsie’s group moved fast to keep up with the groups on the interior as they had more ground to cover, and though they’d already done half of their round, nothing inherently suspicious had been found. With her senses extended, Elsie didn’t spot any magical trails that matched what she’d expect from the earth magic-imbued rat demons.

Perrie flitted along in a light jog, occasionally popping in and out as she jumped from one place to the next. She continually returned with increasingly dejected expressions on her face.

Morgan’s sharp eyes caught everything, constantly darting as he moved across the flat ground. He naturally kept himself between Perrie and Elsie’s demon, keeping a watchful eye on the immediate threat. Perrie was precious to Morgan, and Elsie found it tragic that the witch was hoping so hard for a mate, but no bond had formed between them.

For his part, the demon was worse than useless. He’d switched into his hound form and trotted alongside Elsie, offering zero insight. With his strong sense of smell, he’d know exactly where the rats were, but he wasn’t sharing any information. They crossed two more miles when they finally came to something of interest.

“This way!” Perrie called from where she’d jumped. She’d gone out of sight, but magic carried her voice to their ears. Morgan grinned and shared a nod with Elsie. They finally had a lead.

Breaking into a run, they caught up with the witch, who’d entered the tree line further from the barrier than they’d previously been searching. She stood on a small, domed hill. At first, Elsie didn’t see the cause of excitement until she noticed that the hill was more of a mound, and it wasn’t natural. It extended through the trees, slowly leveling off. This was a tunnel, and they’d dug it deep enough to hide its presence under the dead zone.

“Nice find,” Elsie praised, walking up to stand next to Perrie. “How thick do you think the surface of their roof is?”

“Thick enough for him to stand on,” Morgan said, nodding toward the demon. He walked light-footed across the top, but was so massive he must weigh several hundred pounds.

Elsie walked along the top of the tunnel. The rats gained access here, though they were generally too smart to have only one way in or out. There would be others, and now that they knew what to look for, they’d find them.