Page 110 of Huntress

“Saint–”

He took one look at her face and stopped her.

“You don’t even have to participate until you’re ready. You don’t have to accept me, because I’ve already accepted you, but I think you want this as much as I do.” His bottom lip brushed against hers, and his tongue slipped out, gliding along the slit between her lips.

Elsie gasped, only then realizing that she’d been leaning into him, unconsciously getting closer. She pushed him away, barely managing to get him to sit up. He didn’t let go of her hand, and she couldn’t bring herself to make him.

“Don’t overdo it,” she ordered. “I need time to think about this.”

“So long as you’re actually putting real thought into it, I’ll wait. Since you’re dead set on waiting for your mother’s miraculous return, all we have is time. But I won’t wait forever, Mistress. I want you to be mine.”

Elsie shivered at the delicious prospect of being pursued by her own mate. She couldn’t pretend he didn’t affect her anymore, but she couldn't lose her head over him, either.

They went their separate ways at the inn, each going to their own rooms. Perrie and Riven sat on their beds talking, a metal wand in the mage’s hand.

“What are you two up to?” Elsie asked.

“Talking about the salamander demon. That thing was dangerous! It’s a good thing we were able to take him down. Can you imagine what a terrorist he’d have been ten or twenty years from now?” Perrie said.

“He was a little kid, Pear, jeez.” Elsie grimaced.

Perrie froze, eyes narrowing. “A kid who only didn’t blow the whole village up because I trapped him.”

“He wasn’t going to blow up the village. I had him neutralized. He wasn’t a danger to us anymore.”

“Don’t tell me you feel sorry for that demon?!”

“I’m saying you need to learn how to read the room. We’re not amongst other hunters, and this is not a nest. Frost Hollow does well because they don’t treat demons the same way we do,” Elsie pointed out.

Riven looked between each of them as they spoke, her eyes traveling back and forth as if she were watching them pass a ball.

“And that’s why they called us all the way up here to dispatch their problem.” Perrie crossed her arms over her chest.

“They messed up this time, and they regret it! For gods’ sake, they’re holding a funeral for him tomorrow,” Elsie hissed, then she sighed. “If you can’t keep your opinions about it to yourself, you can stay here instead of attending.”

“I wasn’t planning on attending. Are you seriously going to a demon’s funeral?!”

“Let me ask you something. Would the elders of your coven approve of celebrating the death of a child who’d just been searching for the remains of his dead father?”

“Don’t bring them into this. Our coven has no problem removing a threat with no regrets. That’s how it works out there in the real world, Captain. The humans here had nothing to do with that salamander’s father, you and Morgan confirmed it. That demon had no right to burn those buildings down, and the danger he posed escalated with each attack. It was only a matter of time before a human got killed.”

“Anne believes that a trader visiting the village had the father’s remains, which is why his scent was here. They had a misunderstanding with a grieving child, whom they’d never even seen before all this,” Elsie explained.

Perrie looked down at her lap, her eyes reflective.

“I don’t blame anyone for what happened. There wasn’t enough time to communicate what we’d learned. Morgan reacted as he should have in almost every situation. You did a great job on your part. Hell, I almost killed the kid myself before we found out the truth. But if a line has to be drawn somewhere, it’s at celebrating the avoidable death of a child.” Elsie finished.

“I’m starting to think Marley was right,” Perrie muttered. “We should have killed that mutt while we still had the chance.”

“What did you say?” Elsie asked.

“We saw him stop you from killing that demon. That’s why Morgan shot the kid. To protect you from your own bad decisions,” Perrie said coldly. “And he’ll do it again next time. We all will.”

“He–”

“You know what? I don’t want to hear it.” Perrie hopped up, crossed the room, and snatched Elsie’s bag.

“What are you doing?”