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Once we finish removing and packing up our equipment, I turn to Bonnie and pat my knees. “Good girl,” I praise, and open my arms to her. Her jittering body flies toward me, jumping straight into my arms, her nose sniffing wildly over my face. I run my fingers through her mousy brown hair and give her a good rub before setting her down, and we start down the trail back to town.

When I found Bonnie as a pup a few years ago, I didn’t think I’d keep her. Ever since Alistair killed Treasure, I didn’t think I’d have another pet. But I couldn’t leave her. Her mother was a farm dog who was bred by one of the wild ones. When the farmer realized, he tried to kill them. I found Bonnie crying in the cluster of her dead siblings' bodies. Her mother? She and the farmer were lying dead on the opposite side of the room. Bonnie made herself comfortable in the forge, and both Dahlia and I enjoyed her company. She loves coming out for a hike to meet us at the top of whatever cliff Dean and I are climbing that day.

An hour into our descent, the bare canopy lighting the trail with the final rays of sunshine has vanished, giving way to the gray shadows of the night that veil the secrets of the monsters who choose to walk through it. I’m perfectly at home here. The gravel crunches with every step, and Bonnie’s panting seems louder as our sight is hindered.

“Gah…Gugh…”

Thud! Crack!

Grrr Grrrr

“Bonnie!” I whisper-yell her name and snap my fingers. She quiets herself and rushes to my side, her sights set on the woods.

A silhouette stands four to five yards into the trees. I motion for Dean to follow and for Bonnie to wait. We press on through the woods and the brush, stalking, our steps in a toe-heel motion.

We’re close, I can make out her bloodied dress, a bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, and her long, curly, black hair brushing the small of her back. She’s holding a large rock in both hands, and she’s standing over a dead man with an arrow in his chest.

Snap!

Goddamn. We make it this far, and my prosthetic lands on a stick and snaps it.

The woman’s gaze shoots up at us; she drops the rock and, with the seamless skill of a professional, grabs her bow and nocks an arrow.

Aiming straight for us.

We lift our hands slowly in front of us as she shifts her aim from me to Dean, then back to me.

“Dobryy vecher, madam,” Good evening, my lady, Dean greets her with his welcoming tone and award-winning smile. Her eyes lock on him for a beat, then they widen, her lips part, and she lowers the arrow. “Wait… I know you, Mila?” Her throat works with a swallow, and she nods.

While Dean approaches her with the care of a hunter approaching a wounded animal, I inspect the body. He has broad features, a sharp jawline, piercing blue eyes, and clean-cut black hair.

Artem Vinogradov.

This girl took out one of the guys on my list.

Bending over, I grip onto his arm and thigh, then swing him onto my back with a heave and a wobble on my new leg. I turn towards the trail when desperate fingers dig into my arm. I look down at the girl, she’s shaking her head and motions towards the man, then the ground, pretending to dig with a shovel. A shovel that is nowhere to be seen, I might add.

“Nah, the ground is already starting to freeze. We’ve got a better way to take care of this.” Dean offers her a smile, and she exhales. Her lips purse, but she nods and follows behind us.

I’m huffing and puffing, swallowing thickly, and pushing through to get to the basement. The weight of the man is adding enough pressure to my stump; it might actually be bleeding through. Dean offered to take him once his friend, Mila, eased up a bit. But I need to do this. I’m too pumped up for what’s coming next.

The thought of Violet, being my doctor and all, scolding me makes me almost giddy. I’m most certainly NOT an ideal patient. She’s been keeping a close eye on me when I come in for checkups and when I’ve seen her around. She backs off when I start flirting. Earlier today, I had to grab her for a Code Pear. When we left Pru to rest with Cal, I touched her hair, and she flinched away.

That stung.

But this space I’ve given her, this distance between us, comes to an end tonight.

And she doesn’t even know it yet.

“Good girl, Bonnie, go home,” I command as we reach the theater, and she trots off down the road towards the forge.

We walk to the back of the theater, where Dean unlocks the walk-in freezers for the restaurant. I step in, then turn to Mila. She stiffens, meeting me with her sharp, guarded eyes.

“You don’t have to come. I’ll take it from here,” I say. She moves to step past me, but I step to block her. “This isn’t just about your guy… If you follow me, you’re in this with me. My secrets are your secrets; my blood is your blood. And I will kill you if you share what happens here with anyone. Do you understand?”

She swallows, her teeth biting on the inside of her cheek as her eyes flit from me to my personal entrance to hell. Her lips purse as her breath jumps for a beat. Then, she nods me forward.

Looks like I have another little devil in my corner.