Page 64 of Huntress

“Wait–” Elsie’s ears perked up. “Do you hear that?”

A low whine cut through the air, the pitch rising higher as it grew louder and stronger. A siren warming up.

“The attack siren,” Banks said, and her squad groaned as they rose to their feet. It was an easy assumption to make. They’d torn down the barrier protecting the nest from the outside world, after all.

“No.” Elsie shook her head. The tone was all wrong. “It’s the evacuation siren.”

The clouds in the sky took on a golden glow as every light in the nest snapped on, including massive floodlights on every street corner. No shadows for invading demons to hide in, leaving no way to sneak up on fleeing humans.

“Fuck,” Trenton and Trisse groaned at the same time.

Her squad knew exactly what it meant. An attack siren would send the humans to the safety of their bunkers. The evacuation siren would have them panicked, running through the streets to congregate at the tram station, desperate to escape to another nest. An evacuation siren meant the nest was lost.

The pipers hadn’t expected her squad to be able to destroy their entire army of rats, save for those smart enough to retreat. Instead of admitting their loss, they were going for the old coward’s try. They were taking the humans hostage.

“I guess it’s time for round two,” Perrie whined.

“Looks like we’re going to need you to heal us on the fly.” Elsie sat up slowly. The world swam in and out of focus, and Marley helped her to her feet. The worst of the pain had eased, but she still had a lot of blood loss to make up for. “I don’t care if you have to sit on each other’s laps, we’re all fitting in that truck, one way or another.”

“What about Mutt?” Grady asked. The demon was nearby, buckling on the scabbard he’d pilfered off the dead female rat. Apparently he had no superstitions about keeping the sword he’d been stabbed with.

Elsie glanced in his direction as he shifted into his demon form, stretching and giving a booming bark. “He’ll run.”

1. Holy mother of death, please let this work!

Chapter fifteen

Chapter 15

Trenton drove helter-skelter back to the nest, the only one of them to claim his own space, though he had to sit with the seat pushed forward to make room for those behind him. Elsie sat in Marley’s lap in the passenger seat, giving the healer unfettered access to her wounds.

The others had crammed into the back, with Perrie perched on Morgan, alternating between administering to Banks’ wounds and gently clearing the concussive fog from Morgan’s head. Steve sat curled on the floor at Grady’s feet.

Elsie looked in the rearview, spotting the hellishly glowing red eyes of her demon, running behind them. Her breath caught, her heart squeezing. He’d chosen to run without complaint, but the worry still plagued her. He wasn’t healed.

“What’s the plan?” Trenton asked, his voice cutting through the tension.

“The humans will gather at the tram station. That’s where we’ll find Franklin and Jeshua,” Elsie said. “The pipers will probably use them to watch us from a distance, and the nest’s hunters might also be there.”

“You think they’ll resist us?”

“If the pipers are using magical manipulation or mind control, we may have to fight our own.” Elsie stared out the window at the lights getting closer with every second. “We won’t know until we see the situation for ourselves.”

“Sounds like a great time,” Trisse muttered from the back.

Silence stretched until the truck hit a ditch and caught some air. For two long seconds they were suspended, stomachs left on the ground. They landed heavily, jarring everyone around with more than a few uttered curses.

“Watch where you’re going,” Marley hissed, grabbing Elsie to stop her head from smacking into the windshield. Elsie grimaced, the impact of their landing ricocheting through the wound in her stomach.

“Almost there,” Trenton bit back a retort.

The truck streaked past maintenance buildings and storage facilities with reckless abandon; their priority was getting there on time. They drifted around a corner, and Trenton slammed on the brakes.

Humans were everywhere, running for their lives through the streets, the adults dragging their children along. A few kids were abandoned by their parents entirely, and they stumbled along, desperate to keep up, tears streaming down their cheeks. Everyone knew where to go, even the youngest children. It was drilled into them before they’d even arrived in their new nest.

They piled out of the truck, and Elsie sprinted ahead, making quick judgments as she assessed the chaos. The whole world was trembling. The sirens gave her a headache, and dark clouds had rolled in, concealing both moons. An eerie urgency pushed her into motion, sending her jogging toward the crowd.

Her demon materialized at her side in human form, his dark eyes sweeping the area for threats. No other hunters yet, but the entrance to the tram station was blocked by four massive rat demons, larger than any they’d faced on the battlefield. The piper’s personal guard. They formed a square, and the humans were huddled inside.