by Hickory Mack
“Perhaps you would be better served in a more active location,” Hasprey muttered, and Cross laughed.
“I think they’re perfect for the job they have,” he said, earning him a grateful look from the two. “They obviously know their assignment. Besides, I’m sure they had to have been thoroughly vetted to get approval to be down here in the first place. Though I suppose you could bring it up with Rand if you want.”
Hasprey looked uncomfortable, and Elsie chewed on her thumbnail. The old-timer wouldn’t say a damned thing. She took one last look around the room, her eyes lingering on the fox demon, then turned and walked out. She’d be spending a lot of time down here in the future, but she couldn’t let Hasprey think she was any more interested in this place than any other.
“Is this everything?” she asked, sounding unimpressed. “For some reason, I thought it was bigger.”
They’d just spent the better part of the day on this tour. Hasprey gave her a condescending smile as though placating a child. “Would you like to go back up to the games room? I’m sure we could find something you’d enjoy.”
“No, I think I’d like a shower and something to eat. I want to check in on my cat, too,” she said, tapping the end of her staff on the floor impatiently. Her eyes found her cuff. She wanted to convince Frost to come out so she could promise to track down the other five mages with him.
“Alright,” Hasprey said, looking to Cross. “Let’s get our precious little reaper back to her room.”
Chapter 34
It wasn’t until after the food arrived that Frost made his appearance. He lay with his huge pot of rice and vegetables between his paws and ate it all without a single acknowledgment of Elsie or Frida. For her part, Elsie gave him the space he needed without forcing herself on him. It didn’t matter how curious she was or how badly she wanted to know what was on his mind. He didn’t owe her anything, not even an explanation.
Elsie ate her stir fry, feeding Frida bits of carrots so the cat wouldn’t steal food directly off her plate. The hunters were providing her with plenty to eat, but Frida was certain she was chronically starving.
Frost finished his meal and pushed his giant pot away before laying his chin on his paws with a sigh. Elsie licked some teriyaki sauce off her fingers, watching him with a critical eye. He generally lay with his face to the side, his jaw tilted. The way he lay now was awkward, his neck bent upward as though he were laying on top of something. It looked uncomfortable.
“Are you okay?” she asked without thinking. Obviously, he wasn’t mentally okay, but she was wondering about his physical state. He huffed out a breath of air, and tendrils of rage swirled around her. His time running through the woods hadn’t been enough to calm him down.The energy he gave off was that of a creature tightly wound up and ready to explode.
“I hear you,” she murmured. The great wolf rolled an eye in her direction, staring at her affectedly. She tapped her chopsticks on the side of her plate thoughtfully. “I know I haven’t given you reason to put any faith in my promises, but I want you to know I haven’t given up. Maybe we need to hunt the other five mages down to convince them to help us. Maybe we need to kill them all. Either way, we will free you. The both of us, together.”
The wolf made a grumbling sound that was more of a complaint than a growl. “Yeah, that means you’re stuck with me for a while longer. I’m hoping you’ll be okay with that. I’m also hoping you’ll stick around once you're free and help me dismantle the hunters,” she said.
There was a long moment of silence, and then a feeling of approval settled over her mind. He wasn’t blaming her for their current predicament, at least not for now. He was giving her a reprieve. Some of the rage in his belly settled, as though he’d needed something else to focus on. She’d given him some hope for a future other than what the hunters presented him with.
Over the next week, they settled into a routine. Elsie wandered the facility, familiarizing herself with its levels and rooms until she could open a portal to almost anywhere. The more she knew a place, the easier it was to visualize and travel there. She practiced with the staff on the training floor every day, but not one hunter had stepped up to spar with her. Even Cross kept his distance while the staff was in her hand.
Every day, she visited with Wren on Earth, and every day, Saint drew a little closer. Something else was coming from the north, too. Elsie didn’t know what it was, but it felt like an opposite magnet to Saint’s, each pulling her in a different direction.
“Do you think we should get a room reserved at one of the boarding houses in town?” Elsie asked as she and Wren walked hand in hand down one of the sweltering roads. Almost all of the demons sent there by Cornick’s people had vanished, and no one in the town seemed to know where they’d gone. No one in Cornick’s camp was willing to talk about it, either.
There were a lot of positives in it for Elsie. The most likely explanation was that those demons had escaped, and it also meant the town wasn’t as busy, leaving a handful of rooms open to rent out.
“That might be a good idea,” Wren said, distracted by some shiny bauble in one of the shop windows. “If those demons return, the rooms will fill up quickly. Better to be prepared. Didn’t you say the hunters have drones over the gate sites? What if they have them here, too? Would anyone recognize him?”
“I don’t think so. Cornick is the only person in there who’s met Saint in person, and he’s so full of himself I doubt he’d recognize one demon from another this many years later,” Elsie answered. “He’s a lot closer today.”
“I wonder if that means he got on one of the ferries,” Wren guessed. “At this rate, he really will make it back before the equinox.”
“You make that sound like it’s such a bad thing,” Elsie snorted. She wanted Saint’s return. She couldn’t stop thinking about it, her need for him increasing as he came closer. Every cell in her body wanted to go to him, the mate she’d waited far too long to claim as her own.
“I’m secretly hoping your excitement will be too great to wait for his return, so we will forge our bond,” Wren said wickedly.
The equinox was only two weeks away, and Elsie’s expectations went up every time the spirit mentioned it. She’d be meeting the male half of Wren’s spirit for the first time, and their bond would finally form, connecting them the way they yearned for. They’d still be able to feel each other when they were in separate dimensions.
“What if he doesn’t like me?” Elsie asked suddenly, and Wren’s bright blue eyes turned her way. She flipped the raven mask upward so she could look at her reaper’s face.
“That’s not something you have to worry yourself over. We are one and the same, him and me. I adore you, reaper, and he will too. We’ve never had someone to call our own before. He’ll love you.”
Elsie nodded, but she wasn’t completely convinced. In all the old stories, the wrathful side of Korshyo was the male side, while ot much was said about the female side. Elsie couldn’t be sure if that was because Wren’s female side was gentler and more mellow, or if those stories had simply been lost to time.
They found a big, respectable boarding house on Main Street with some open rooms, but Wren shook her head resolutely. “If anyone working for your employers were to stop in, this would be the place they’d choose to stay.”
Elsie couldn’t help but agree, though she seriously doubted any of the hunters would be bold enough to come to a place like this. Such an act would be akin to committing suicide. They’d never survive surrounded by hundreds of demons like this.
Wandering some more, they settled on one of the pleasure houses. The rooms were surprisingly clean, and the hunters would rather die than enter a place with the purpose of having sex with demons, no matter how beautiful they were. Besides, Saint wouldn’t be interested in any of the merchandise, so there was no cause to be jealous.
“It’s also a great place for getting information from the locals,” Wren added, then smiled. “And let’s not forget
the added bonus of having somewhere private for ourselves while we wait for him to arrive.”
“You sneak,” Elsie snorted, and the spirit gave her a sultry stare. She sidled up close and slipped a hand up the reaper’s dress.
“It’s too bad you’re needed back at the compound. We could spend a little extra time together…” Wren said temptingly, and Elsie snickered. The reaper raised her hand, and time came to a standstill.
“Are you trying to send me away unsatisfied?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Me? Never.” Wren gave a devilish smile. “I wouldn’t want you going back to your other mate with your needs unmet.”
It was unspoken between them, but Elsie had no intention of sealing her bond with Cross anytime soon. She needed more time with him outside of the hunter compound to get to know him better.
“Do you think it’s fair to send me back to him smelling of you?” she questioned, and Wren laughed before kissing her.
“You get to spend more time with him than with me. So yes, I think it’s absolutely fair. Now stop talking and let me take care of my mate.”
“Why do you always have that stupid look on your face?” Hasprey asked later in the day while he was bringing her dinner. Elsie pointed at her face in surprise.
“Which face? This one?” she asked, blinking at him.
“You know the one. The recently fucked face.”
Frost picked his head up and growled. He’d become so complacent lately, moping around and waiting for his chance to get his revenge, but even the muddle-headed wolf could sense a man stepping over the line.
“That’s an incredibly inappropriate question,” Elsie bit out.
“It’s distracting. We’re trying to do our jobs, and you’re walking around every day like you’re on your honeymoon. How are we supposed to protect you properly if none of us has any idea who it is your fucking every time we’re looking the other way?”
“Why are you acting like this?” She’d noticed him watching her more closely than usual over the past couple of days, but she hadn’t guessed the reason. What a shitty way to remind her why she didn’t trust anybody. Not even seemingly harmless old men.
“Well, a few of us were wondering if there was a price for admission, is all. Is there something you want that I can get for you? A favor for a favor?” Hasprey asked, and she noticed a few of his words were slurred. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she caught the faint scent of alcohol. He’d tried to cover it up by chewing spearmint.
“You’re drunk,” she accused, standing quickly as Frost came to her side. “Get out of here. Don’t let me see your face again.”
“Don’t be like that,” the old man laughed, his face slightly flushed. Elsie silently cursed herself. How had she missed it?
“I don’t know what you think you’re going to get out of this, but you’re mistaken,” she hissed. “You can’t treat me like this.”
“Treat you like what? You’re our prisoner, remember? At least that’s what you keep telling us. Prisoners shouldn’t be getting special treatment the way you have—even if you were the top field commander at some point. Most of us don’t even believe it. You’re way too young.” Hasprey laughed again.
“It wasn’t long ago that I was in charge of whatever shitty little field squad you retired from,” Elsie said, maintaining control of her voice, though her hands were shaking with outrage.
“And how you climbed your way to the top at such a young age is what we’ve been wondering, the boys and me. Climb right out of someone’s bed and into that promotion, did ya? You don’t have whoever it was to protect you here, girlie.”
She’d thought to kick him out and be done with it. Never seeing his face again would have been good enough for her... but he’d just kept fucking talking.
“All I’m asking is that you show me the kind of good time that gets someone like you into one of the best paying positions in the Clan,” Hasprey continued, his words continuing to mush into one another. Elsie paused for a second, thinking, and then a smile slowly spread across her face.
“Yeah? All you want is some fun, right?” she asked, twirling a bit of her hair around her finger.
“That’s better,” Hasprey praised. “I knew you’d get the drift.”
“Oh, I get it.”
Hasprey never had a chance.
She launched herself forward so suddenly Frost jumped sideways in surprise, snarling as he followed right behind her. Elsie slammed the heel of her palm into his chin, knocking him off his feet. She was on top of him before he finished falling, twisting him around so he landed on his face, his arm twisted around behind him.
“If you try anything, I’ll break your fucking arm. That sounds like a lot of fun to me. How about you?” she asked.
“You bitch, you can’t treat me like this!”
Now Elsie was the one laughing. “Is this not the kind of fun you were talking about?” she asked, using her knee to apply pressure to the small of his back while she raised his wrist until he cried out in pain.
“Alright, enough, I’m sorry!” he said. His voice took on an aged quality, trying to gain her sympathy. What better card to play than the frail elder card?
“You are sorry,” she agreed. “And now you owe me. Do you know what it means to owe the fae?”
Elsie smirked, feeling the fear in his gut eating away at the air around them. Why so many overlooked the basics of what they were had always baffled her. Perhaps she took it so personally because of who she was rather than what. Her father was a king, after all.
“You’re no more fae than I am,” he grumbled, and she nodded her acknowledgment. He was two generations older than her; one of his parents had clearly been full fae. They must have been one of the last survivors in the breeding program.
“Ah, but it hasn’t done you any favors. Look at you, Hasprey, already an old man at what? Sixty? Have you ever bothered using your fae powers? It looks like they’ve abandoned you.” She dragged him to his feet and across the room to the door, holding his arm in place the entire way.
Opening the door, she steered him into the hallway, where one of the other security guys looked on in shock. She shoved Hasprey forward, pressing his face into the wall. The security guard shifted from one foot to the next and looked at Elsie like he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
“Get Cross, right now. Where do you fuckers live?” she demanded.
“We don’t need to get anyone else involved in this sweetheart,” Hasprey said, digging his hole even deeper. The other guy touched the radio on his collar and quickly spoke into it, barely daring to look toward Elsie or the wolf glowering at her side.
“On my way.” She heard Cross’ voice come over the radio, and part of her instantly calmed.
“What the fuck?” she muttered, then raised her voice. “I don’t want just your boss. Get every member of my security detail down here. Security Chief Rand as well.”
“Now you’re being dramatic. This was nothing,” Hasprey stressed. “Colton, you’ve gotta get her to let me go. I’m an old man! I might have a heart attack.”
“Do you think I should let him go, Colton?” Elsie asked, learning his name for the first time.
“No, ma’am, I don’t. If you feel the need for such drastic measures, I’m sure there must be a good explanation,” he answered. Hasprey fell silent after that.
It took less than ten minutes for everyone to arrive. Some of them weren’t well put together, as though they’d had to jump out of bed and run to her location, but every single member of her team was there.
“What’s going on here, Commander Chantraine?” Rand asked as he arrived. He looked irritated as hell, but he’d come, and that counted for something.
“I need a change in my staff,” Elsie told him. “I believe some of them are here for the wrong reasons. Who among you is of the opinion that I slept my way into the position of First Field Commander?”
The hallway went dead silent, and Elsie could feel the
cold anger emanating through her bond with Cross. The big man looked from one face to the next, trying to gauge which of them he would have to beat the shit out of.
“Come on now, don’t be shy! Apparently, it’s something you boys talk about all the time, right? I couldn’t possibly have the skills to have earned my title, could I? Come on, fess up!” she demanded. When nobody said anything, she yanked Hasprey’s wrist back until he squealed in pain.
“Chantraine, was I really needed for this?” Rand sounded bored. She barely glanced over at him, but Frost’s eyes bored into the man.
“Don’t you need to know how many of them you’re going to need to replace?” she asked innocently, and he sighed. “All I need to know is which ones were involved.”
“What is your planned punishment for these men?” Rand questioned.
“I’m going to show them how outclassed they are, nothing more.”
“Fine. Do as you please. Send Cross with the number later. Make sure you’re at the second gate at eight sharp tomorrow morning,” he ordered, then walked away. Elsie glanced at her mate with satisfaction. The security chief hadn’t even given her any boundaries; she could decide what constituted showing them where they belonged.
“Since nobody wants to confess, we’re going to go in order from left to right. All you have to do is say the following words,” Elsie began. “No, ma’am, I have never spoken of you sleeping your way to the top. I have not discussed the method of payment it would take to have sex with you.”
Miller cleared his throat, looking painfully uncomfortable, and Cross glowered at each of them. He wasn’t on the far left, but he started them off anyway with a sure and steady voice. Not that she needed to hear it from him. Aside from Frost and Frida, he was the only person in the whole damned place she trusted.
“Good,” she said when he finished. “Next.”
As each man repeated the words, Elsie took mental notes. Three times, her skin prickled and tingled, telling her who was lying. There were only eight men present, including Frost and Hasprey. Half of the men on her security detail had taken part in these discussions. She pointed out the ones she wanted.
