Page 88 of Huntress

“We’re all soaked and could use a break. Let’s eat and rest for a couple of hours, we’ll continue after we dry off and warm up,” she decided after noting the water still dripping from his clothes.

Albright found a patch of moss to sit on and watched them work together to build the fire and set up a clothesline. They stripped down to their underclothes and hung them up close enough to help them dry. Elsie fished her dry clothes out of her go bag, but the demon didn’t bother. He squatted next to the fire in his boxers and started cooking his dehydrated food pack.

Elsie cooked her dinner, then sat down close to the light with the file, flipping through the pages and gleaning insights into her quarry. After a while she set it aside with a sigh, unsure she’d ever get over the squeamishness of creeping on someone’s personal information.

She pulled out the map. Elsie stared at it for a long while, finger tracing the different streams and rivers that branched off from where they were now.

Grady had taught her to read maps beyond the basic classes she’d taken, and he’d taught her how to guesstimate the distance a demon could travel in an hour through different terrains. She grabbed her bag and pulled out a pencil, placing an X over where they’d started and where they were now.

“What time of day did Levi set out?” Elsie asked Albright.

“You know I can’t tell you that,” he snickered.

“Aren’t I allowed to get witness testimony? It’s the easiest way to find out when and where my target was last seen. If I can’t ask witnesses, I’d be getting the information from Mordane, and you’re his stand-in for this game, aren’t you?”

“You make a fair point, I’ll concede this one. The last time I personally saw him was after breakfast, the day he left,” Albright relented. “He had a go-bag with him.”

Elsie nodded, thinking of how much vitality was left in that handprint down by the river. Much of it had been washed away, but what remained gave her a rough idea of a timeline. She drew a circle around the area he’d possibly reached by now, with their current location as the center.

“Saint,” she called, waiting for him to come and crouch next to her. He peered at what she’d already drawn, watching as she marked out the most logical paths Levi would be following. There were two streams that made the most sense, and both were within the circle. She pointed at a spot on the map where the topography showed a drastic rise in height.

“See it?” she asked.

“That’s a big drop.”

“It’s a waterfall, and there are cliffs on each side. There’s potential for caves, lots of places for him to hide, and with his magic, an easy getaway plan that would hold us up.”

“What do your instincts say?”

“It’s not a place I would hide, but I don’t have water magic. I think this is where we’ll find him. We’ll leave as soon as our clothes are dry.”

“Well, in that case, I’m going for a piss,” Albright announced, standing up and stretching.

Elsie wrinkled her nose at him. “Don’t get lost.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He scratched his belly as he walked away.

“I think your instincts are pretty good on this one,” Saint admitted.

“They usually are.” Elsie grinned and folded up the map, then glanced up at him, and her breath caught. Saint was studying her, his soulful brown eyes thoughtful. He had his emotions locked down, keeping her from guessing his thoughts.

“I didn’t hate today,” he said at last. Elsie’s insides flipped upside down.

“Even though you ended up sitting around a fire in your underwear?” she teased, trying to lighten the heavy air between them.

“This game is a lot like one I played when I was a kid, except we were chasing wolves.” He bit his lower lip and gazed at the fire for a moment before meeting her eyes once more. “It’s a relief to get away from the constant noise and restrictions of the compound.”

“You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to.”

“What?”

“It’s just Albright and I out here with you. I can tell him you got mouthy, so I sent you back to the compound, he’ll never be the wiser. The collar is off, there’s nothing to stop you.”

“Except for your mentor, the expert in hunting down runaways. He’d find me one way or another.” Saint pulled away, standing up. “You want to wash your hands of me as much as I want the same from you, but I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

“It’s more that I’m trying to assuage the guilt of knowing you were brought here to benefit me. Every time you help me with something, or get hurt, it gets worse. I won’t feel better until I know you’re out there, living a good life. Until you’re happy.”

Saint sneered and reached for her hand, stopping before their fingers met. “You stole any chance of that ever happening the moment you touched me.”