Scarlet Huntress (Tales of Grimm Hollow Book 1)

by LeAnn Mason

  “Holy… you’re… huge.” The words dripped off my tongue like pancake batter from a spoon. I clapped a hand over my unfiltered mouth, my eyes hopefully conveying how stupid I knew I was. I mean, it felt like they were seconds from popping out of my skull from mortification.

  I slowly lowered my hand, a blush once again staining my cheeks as Ebony wolfie-laughed a little nervously from somewhere in my head. “I’m, I’m sorry. My filter doesn’t always work like it’s supposed to. And, let’s face it… I’m new to all this.” I slowly waved a hand to encompass the King of the Shifters standing before me. I recovered, pulling myself together. If I needed to be a fighter, I needed to collect myself and act as such. “What do you need of me?”

  “I think I see what Jason likes about you, Little Red. You are a feisty thing. A quick study and natural Shifter. It would be an honor to have you join us.”

  Well, with a speech like that, what could I say except, “Yes.”

  “Good, now that’s settled, let’s talk strategy.” Gloria broke in with a clap, forcing my attention away from the imposing male standing before me. I swore the woman had a complex. “We still aren’t sure how many people Seth has in his coven, where their base is, strengths, weaknesses… All things we believe you will be able to help us with.”

  “Is this going to be a Sentinel thing or a whole-town thing?” I looked between Gloria and Ryan. Those two seemed to be the ones intent on talking. Elsie and Jasper had been noticeably quiet throughout this exchange. It seemed like they were steamrolled by Gloria… or she their spokesperson, and they'd all decided prior to my involvement. Totally possible. I'd have to ask Elsie later.

  “Seth has been ignored for too long. We acted as though he was not our problem after his banishment." Elsie paused to visibly gather herself before continuing. “His misdeeds of the past two decades can be pinned on our inaction. It is far past time to rectify that mistake. Seth Morgan cannot be allowed to spread his vile craft any further. We must be the fist to crush him into dust. For Maya. For Evalyn. For Allya.”

  How could I say no to that? I was half-tempted to slather paint on my face and scream a war-cry of my ancestors in reply. I settled for an enthusiastic nod and had to clear my throat when a warble escaped instead of the mildly interested response I’d been going for.

  I finally had someone, maybe even several someones, in my corner. Man, it had been so long since I’d felt accepted, possibly even loved.

  Hold it together, Al. “Okay. I can get behind that. When do you want to do this?” I blinked around the room at the many faces staring back at me, every one of them far more experienced in both magic and warfare—because that’s what we’d be waging—than me, and all of them waiting to hear what I could tell them about Seth and the coven.

  “Oh, and I want in on the hunt. You…” I pointed past the king to where Jason waited in some kind of soldier stance. “I want to be the most badass Sentinel you can make me, and I’m going on the hunt.”

  “As long as you don’t haunt me if you don’t survive,” the infuriating male taunted with a wicked smirk.

  “Well, Hunter, she will be your trainee. Your responsibility.”

  My look turned smug. “Your king says I can go, Hunter.”

  CHAPTER 25

  M y next couple of hours were spent explaining everything I knew about Seth and the coven. After ten years of forced cohabitation, I was pretty fluent in witchy-wolf behavior and numbers. Now, I was starving. Elsie and I walked the few hundred yards back to the diner in contemplative silence… which promptly shattered when Bianca bounced into view.

  “Hi, Elsie. Hey, Allya. How are you this evening?” she chirped with a bright smile on her ruby red lips. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and I couldn’t suppress the answering curl of my own lips.

  “Got mangled by a sadistic Witch this morning, and then strategized on how to bring my Dear Old Dad to heel.” Now that I said it out loud, it sounded crazy. My heart began to thump a wild staccato in my chest, and little beads of sweat gathered in too many places to count. My smile turned wan as I brought my sweat-slicked palms down to run along my newly magicked jeans. Another thing I was indebted to Gloria for. Awesome.

  “Oh, man… that sucks. Hey, I love your cape. I couldn’t remember if I told you that or not.”

  “Thanks…” Maybe the girl, though nice, was a little… dim? I forced a smile that I hoped didn’t relay my recent thought while Elsie chuckled knowingly across from me.

  “If you need any help, I have a katana. I’m not really trained, per say, but it’s plenty sharp, and I know how to swing it.”

  Okay. That decided it. “I like you. We should definitely hang out sometime when I’m not training to stop a black magic coven from killing anyone who stumbles outside the town’s warding.”

  That too-bright smile returned, though something about this one seemed just a little more genuine, maybe because the flames in her eyes seemed to dance with a new fire. “You got it.”

  Our dining experience was more pleasant than I expected, probably due to Bianca flouncing around every few minutes, even going so far as to squish herself into the bench next to me after a few rounds. The talk was light, superficial, and I could have kissed her for it. At least it gave me—and Elsie—a break from worrying over Seth and just what we'd be rushing into.

  Two weeks. That's how long we had to get my skills up to par and a plan in place to take out Seth and the coven. They were a threat to Grimm Hollow. Hell, they were a threat to the world. I was sure the scale of Seth's misdeeds was unknown to me. After all, I wasn't a member of his precious witchy-wolves… well, before he'd tried to have his son kill me.

  We definitely didn't have all the answers, and Seth a formidable enemy. It seemed he had enough power to take over the Grimm Hollow coven. Well, if his methods hadn't been murderous, anyway.

  Needless to say, sleep didn't come easily that night. I tossed and turned, unable to turn off my mind. Then, Ebony was there. We were standing in the pretty, if unnatural, flower meadow, my beautiful companion regal before me. Whole.

  Before I thought better of it, I rushed the deadly animal.

  She didn't back away or bare her teeth at me as I dropped and flung my arms around her neck and squeezed, burying my face into the prickly hairs of her neck. "I'm so sorry you were hurt! I'm so sorry you're stuck with me, with only a shell of the life you had before… I'm so sorry you're dead."

  Tears streamed freely from my eyes, rolling to disappear into her dark fur.

  This was the first time I'd been able to touch her, and I couldn't find the strength to pull away. Almost as if she comforted me, I felt her head drop to my shoulder, the movement acting like a shoulder squeeze, the shorter hairs around her ears and cheeks rubbing against the back of my neck. When a leg lifted to wrap a paw around my back, I thought I’d never stop bawling, and I squeezed so hard, my arms turned to vises. I half expected her to speak, given that this was obviously a dream, but it seemed that even here, I wouldn’t know what she thought, other than her general feelings.

  “What do we do, Ebony? Can you trust me enough to give up a physical form if I promise you that I will let you out as often as I can?” I pleaded into those golden amber eyes that were now mine. I hoped that after today’s success… and failure, we could come to a compromise that would benefit both halves. I didn’t want to fight her, suppress her, or dominate her. I wanted a friend, confidant, and partner.

  Ebony’s oversized pink wolfie tongue snaked out to lick up the front of my face—from chin to hairline—before she sat back and smiled at me. Agreement and amusement danced in her canine features as that tongue lolled out the side of her very capable jaws as she panted.

  “Ew.” I glared at her in mock annoyance. “All right. I’ll take that as a yes. We work together, not against each other. Use the strengths of each other to make our new home safe and to bring down anyone who threatens us.”

  She gave a decisive nod before rising to all fours. Then, she lo
wered her head, flattened her bottle brush tail behind her… and snarled at me. Her dark lips curled away from startling white teeth that were inches long and ready to rip into anything that dared get between the little daggers.

  I jumped to my feet, backpedaling like my life depended on it. Maybe it did. Maybe I’d misunderstood, and Ebony made her play for dominance, to have ultimate control over what physical form we took. “Ebony? I thought we had an understanding. We’d split time. I need you, but you need me as well. And if you push this… I will fight back. I will not be a captive ever again.” With the words, my conviction solidified, and my back straightened. My hands became fists at my side as I stared her down. Never again.

  The mercurial beast lifted her head, wagged her tail, and just about danced around, yipping at me. I was so confused.

  “What was that all about?” I glared at the volatile creature I shared my mind with. “Why would you act like you’re going to attack me? Do you want to hurt me?” Damn, it was going to be frustrating not being able to communicate clearly. We’d each spend an eternity deciphering the other, but maybe we could do so in these dreams. I wonder what else we could do… “How would I fight a wolf?” I muttered, distractedly pinching my lower lip between a thumb and forefinger absently.

  I fell onto my back with a heavy thud, my head bouncing off the dreamworld dirt hard enough to have me seeing stars. My lungs burned as they tried to take in the air that had been punched out of me on impact. The weight now squarely on my chest wouldn’t allow them to expand enough to take in a breath.

  Snarling rent the air, and spittle dripped onto my neck as Ebony stood atop my body, claiming her domain like the kings of old. Panic threatened to immobilize me. My fear made my limbs seem heavy and uncooperative. My vision danced with little black dots that threatened to overtake my view of the nearly leafless trees and the livid beast straddling my prone body.

  Those dagger-like teeth snapped toward my exposed neck, and I screamed, a wild, feral sound that accompanied my arms’ push against Ebony’s solid body. It did little to dislodge her, but it was enough to pull me out of my inaction. As she bent toward my flesh again, my fingers wrapped around her throat, the same neck that I’d been hugging and sobbing into only minutes before. I locked my elbows to keep her as far from my own throat as possible.

  What would happen if one, or both, of my arms failed? Would she tear out my throat like I'd seen Hunter do to Colin? Would that then leave me a drooling, incapacitated mess in the back of Ebony's mind?

  No. I wouldn't let that happen. I had to fight! I scrambled, searching for a way to get her off of me without fear of those teeth making contact. There were only a few places I could grab with that result. I took a chance and pulled my right hand away from Ebony's vibrating throat, quickly redirecting it toward the farthest ear.

  Feeling the soft appendage beneath my grasping digits, I clenched and twisted as hard as I could. The wolf yelped, and as instinct dictated, folded her head in the direction her ear dragged; away from my face.

  Just as suddenly as it appeared, Ebony's weight left my body, which reflexively inhaled deep, greedy breaths with lungs now fully capable of filling.

  My relief short-lived, my eyes popped open—probably comically—when my gasping mouth was invaded by something warm, wet, and sticky. “What the—? Did you just lick inside my mouth?” Casting a grossed-out glance to where Ebony's dark form loomed—now completely casual—I rolled up to my elbows, wiping an arm across my severely violated face. “Ew.”

  The stupid, confusing, and now infuriating animal just grinned, that slimy tongue lolling out the side of her smiling maw. She was totally and utterly pleased with herself.

  “What was that about? Why did you attack me?” Finally getting back to my feet, I dusted off my body. Clouds of dirt and dust billowed around me as I worked. Several leaves and leaf corpses fell to the loamy earth.

  This is one vivid dream.

  Once clean-ish, I tuned back in to where Ebony roamed the trees, sniffing and circling the foliage with abandon. “So? Are you going to fill me in?” I pressed. I knew the ridiculousness of my question just as surely as I knew talking to a wolf wouldn't clear things up for me.

  I still felt her general impulses and feelings, but deciphering them a talent I'd not yet mastered. It seemed almost like she was trying to teach me something…

  “Are you trying to teach me something?” She'd seemed to nod earlier. Maybe if I kept to questions with “yes” or "no" answers, we'd get somewhere that didn't lead to me wetting my pants. Speaking of… I patted around the crotch of my dream pants warily. No wetness. Thank God! Maybe it wasn't reflex to pee yourself in a dream world. Whatever. I’d take it. I didn't need that kind of embarrassment weighing me down.

  “Okay. Teaching me?” I asked again. If she'd answered before, I'd missed it with my distracted crotch check. This time, I saw her head dip. “Yes? Okay. What are you trying to teach me? Oh, yeah. Yes or no only. Got it.” What could I ask that would give me enough information to run with? “That wolves can kill me?”

  I'd known that particular fact for ten years now, lived in constant fear of it. Desensitization by fire, maybe?

  Ebony shook her head side to side. “No” to wolves can kill. Got it. I nodded absently, more than glad that wasn't the lesson here. "Teaching me…" I trailed off when an answer didn't readily come. I thought about the simulated attack. She hadn't gone directly for my face or throat. In retrospect, I should have known that she wasn't trying to maim or kill me by that fact alone.

  Lesson #1: Fear is the enemy. Fear will try to immobilize you, keep you from the most basic functions. Things that you know will help you survive. Only doing nothing guarantees failure.

  I wasn't sure that was Ebony's lesson, but it was one I'd need to learn, regardless. I couldn't freeze, or I would surely fail and, likely, die. I got off my sidetrack and wracked my brain for another point.

  Once I'd overcome my fear and acted, Ebony hopped off. After I'd twisted her ear and forced her head away… “Were you showing me weaknesses? How to fight a wolf?” I cast another furtive glance at my companion-slash-attacker-slash-teacher. She bounced to her feet with an excited yip and bounded around my legs, jostling me with every bump.

  So, that's what it was about. My dreams would become my training time with Ebony. A place for my wolf to show me how to kill wolves and to be shown how to take down magic-wielders. Bring it on, Big Bad.

  CHAPTER 26

  T raining and strategizing filled the following ten days. I spent my mornings in various fights—mostly simulated—with Jason. Afternoons were reserved for shifting and strategizing, alternately. By the time he released me, I could barely function enough to eat and shower before collapsing into sleep. Then, my dreams were spent training myself, honing my oneness with Ebony.

  It exhausted me. But every morning, my aches, pains, and even my superficial wounds from the previous day were gone. I healed completely while I slept, a perk of the binding magic, it seemed. My only daily reprieve was lunch at the diner and Bianca’s ever-present smile. Jason grew on me a bit, too. Sometimes.

  “We’re going to put your new skills to the test this morning, Red.” Jason stopped in front of me and dropped a quiver of arrows at my feet. The bow that had come to be mine through our sessions was held aloft, waiting to be taken from his loose fingers.

  The reddish-brown of the oiled wood gleamed in the early morning light filtering through the trees. The yellowed bowstring between its notched tips sung as I plucked at it to check its tautness. The weapon was an extension of me. From my eye to my fingers was one long line that would put down my target. I'd gotten the hang of body position, draw length, and breathing pretty quickly and had moved on to moving targets and hitting targets while on the move, both aspects being very important as a Sentinel. Adaptability equaled survival, for me as well as for whatever I chose to protect. The fact that I could even manage these practices was a testament to how my new hybrid status enhanced
my abilities. Two weeks was hardly enough time for a Norm to have the skills I now possessed.

  So far, my targets had all been inanimate. The town was on lockdown to prevent Seth's goons from sending any more “messages” to the townsfolk, which meant I couldn't put an arrow into any animal I saw. There was too high of a chance that Bambi was, in fact, Bob in hooved form. I pulled a brightly-shafted arrow from the quiver—a giveaway that it was for practice—and noticed something different than usual.

  “Uh, there's a ball on the end of this…” I pointed the red-sphered tip at Jason to illustrate my confusion.

  “Yup. Today, you have live targets. You are to use these red-shafted and paintball-tipped arrows only on any live targets you see.” He quickly tacked on an amendment to his instructions after apparently realizing a flaw. “Anything bigger than a rabbit, that is. Smaller, and you might actually damage them.”

  “We can't have that.” I grinned, pulling the quiver's strap across my body so it rested across my back, the fletchings easily reached over my left shoulder. My flippant remark doubled with my devilish look had Jason rolling his eyes at me. It was fun to rile him. Sometimes, Hunter even reared his head. I'd come to love seeing the imposed figure. It meant I got a reaction from the man, one he couldn't fully tamp down.

  I'd come to revel in that thought and pretended it was because he liked me and couldn't hide it. I'd never admit to him that I hoped he was into me. We had a professional relationship, and I'd keep it as such, at least until the threat hanging over our heads was neutralized. No point in starting something—or trying to—when I could very well be dead and gone within a week.

  The reality check put a damper on my excitement, and I lowered my bow, all mirth gone from my expression. Maybe I could stick around and haunt Grimm Hollow. At least I’d have Elsie to talk to…

  “Oh, c'mon. No worries, there's still plenty to aim at. I've thrown in a surprise or two as well.” He winked. “Good luck, Red. Hope that cape doesn't spook your prey,” he taunted before shooing me away and leaning against a large oak to watch the show.