Page 41 of Huntress

“Are you going to eat that?”

The demon pushed his tray away and leaned an elbow on the table, resting his chin in his palm. Jeshua watched her pilfer food from the demon’s tray, his mouth partway open as though he’d never seen anything so preposterous.

“Is it safe to take food from a demon?” he asked.

Elsie ignored the older hunter’s question. Mutt might be willing to go hungry, but she wasn’t. They still had work to do, and there was no use denying herself available food, even if it was terrible.

“While the number of entrances suggests an extensive system, there is not enough evidence to make us believe these tunnels are part of the rat colony’s housing. These are specifically being used to infiltrate the nest, and may have pocket areas for rest, storage, and feeding,” Grady said. “We do not have their central location.”

“Tonight we’ll begin collapsing tunnels. We need to close up everything on our side to start, but those on the outside need to be addressed as soon as possible. We’ll hit as many of those as we can tonight. It’ll alert them to what we’re up to, so we’ll have to work fast. Rat demons are extraordinarily efficient diggers, but this will slow them down. We’ll figure out where their colony is first thing in the morning.” She took another bite.

Surprise came from Mutt when he heard their schedule. Elsie hid a smile. The poor puppy had no idea what he was in for.

“Your witches need to expand the barrier twenty feet underground. It’s unlikely the rats are capable of creating tunnels of that depth. Any deeper and the weight of the soil will threaten the integrity of their walls, they wouldn’t risk collapse.” Elsie looked at both the squad’s captain and his second in command.

“Our witches are not capable of such spells,” Franklin said slowly. Everything about the man was slow. Calculated. Elsie understood immediately.

A new nest meant younger witches to guard it. Contracted witches were rarely given the opportunity to study their magic beyond keeping a barrier running twenty-four hours a day. It was the only spell they would use for the rest of their natural lives.

She let a hand fall to her lap, fingers curling into a tight fist. The demon glanced at her curiously, oblivious to what was going on. Just another of the hunter’s tightly kept secrets, he couldn’t be expected to know that the witches who protected nests rarely did so willingly.

They were sacrificial lambs, born from the efforts of yet another breeding program, sanctioned by outside covens. In return, male witches who had not found their mate could look among the humans residing in the nests for their match. Sometimes humans had long-dormant witch blood in their veins. There was a chance, however small, that such a pairing could produce magical offspring.

“That’s unfortunate. Our witch will teach your coven what they need to do. Our sniper will accompany her for her personal safety,” Elsie decided after a moment of thought.

“You have a female witch?!” Jeshua looked and sounded shocked. “Thank–”

“Don’t thank me. I am that kind of fae.”

He swallowed and gave her a sheepish grin, but she scowled in return.

“What I want to know is what the hell you’ve been doing this whole time?” Elsie demanded, tired of pretending everything was fine. “Everything we’ve presented to you is what should have been prepared before we arrived. The safety of these people is your responsibility, and you have failed in the most astoundingly massive way I have ever witnessed.”

Franklin paled for a few seconds, then a hot flush of anger overtook his usual blank face. Gurgling sounds of outrage came out of his throat, but Elsie spoke over him before being forced to listen to his blustery excuses.

“We found two small human skulls. Children. How many of your humans have they killed? Why wasn’t it in the report, and when were you planning on telling us?”

“Our original request for assistance was sent over two weeks ago. We sent another when the first girl went missing.” Jeshua cleared his throat.

“How. Many?”

“Just the two children.”

“They’ve been testing your response, figuring out your reaction to their taking the weakest among you, and your response is to sit on your asses and do nothing,” she seethed. “Those tunnels didn’t appear overnight, nor did that pile of bones. There were dozens of corpses. That takes either a whole lot of time, or a whole lot of rats, and overlooking either of those things is inexcusable.”

“A fine thing for you to say,” Franklin snapped, anger raising his pitch higher than before. “You field soldiers have no idea what it’s like, overseeing this many people, dealing with their daily needs. The responsibility of all those lives resting squarely on your shoulders. You wouldn’t last a week in my position.”

She mopped up the last of the gravy, scooping tasteless corn over the bread, then shoved it into her mouth. There wasn’t time for lady-like decorum. Elsie had shit to do, and it didn’t include spending time listening to a washed-up geezer make excuses.

“You have an entire squad under your command, given to you because of the rats, and what progress have you made with them?” Her eyes drilled into his. “Do you have any idea how many nests have to share a squad? If one hundred and forty-eight people are too much to handle, this career path isn’t for you.

Don’t whine to me about your responsibilities while failing this magnificently at carrying them out. It’s best if you provide us with what we need and stay out of our way while we’re here. And then pray to whatever god you believe in. Because from where I’m standing, a demotion is the least of your worries.”

“Demotion?” Franklin barked, his rheumy eyes sharpening.

“Humans have died on your watch. A demotion would be a blessing, because you could lose your head for this,” Elsie said. “I’d suggest putting your affairs in order now.”

“This is beyond the pale. Chantraine–”