Grim Echoes

Chapter 36 - Will

Revived after his shower, Will flexed his arm on the way to the room and hoped he wasn't gonna have an infection. He had no patience for any wound that took too long to heal. Maybe the shower irritated the wound. Somewhat ridiculous for him to be so impatient to heal when he was injured so often, but he figured that's why he was impatient.

Ander was bent over Mason's leg and gently gave her shit for her terrible stitches. Will sat on one of the chairs at the table and tried not to look at Maeve, who sat across from him. Disappointed, it looked like she'd brushed her hair. He liked her messy hair better, gave her a wild look. He shook his head. Fucking christ, it'd been seconds since he'd got there and was already thinking about how hot she was. His lips flattened into a thin line. The small smile disappeared from hers when he raised his eyes to meet hers. Ander finished the bandage and lectured Mason on how to care for it. Will pulled out a black cigarette and lit it.

"Will, let me look at your arm." Ander stood next to him and donned a fresh pair of gloves.

Will grumbled, but didn't bicker with him. He moved his arm so Ander could get a look at the wound. Ander poked around and re-cleaned it again. He kept smoking. Ander removed his stitches and re-did them all, proper and neat. Maeve just stared at Ander, in awe. Weird, most of the time, women looked at him like that, not Ander. Ander was just doing his job.

"So this protection force field thing, you think you could do it again?" Will asked, and lit another cigarette.

Maeve shrugged. "I don't know, maybe if another angel or demon showed up and tried to hurt either of you?"

"I'm asking cause it could be useful if the shit was hitting the fan on a mission. Course that also means you gotta know how to use it." he waited. Perhaps the new tactic would reveal something about her ability or who she was as a person. Maybe she was the type who liked to show off if properly motivated, although didn't seem that way. Or maybe she was the type who wanted to be seen as useful. Either way, if she somehow managed to use her power on demand, then that proved she was full of shit before and couldn't be trusted.

"Yeah... I don't know. I really can't remember anything other than being worried about Ander and then I got dizzy." 

Ander paused while she spoke before he finished the bandage. "You are already healing, but you need to keep the bandage on for today and most likely tomorrow."

Will nodded. Ander didn't bother to drone on about other care needed for his wound because he knew Will would ignore him. Since they were always together, if it was anything important, Ander would make sure it got done.

"How were you hurt?" She squished her eyebrows together.

Will laughed. "It'd take a lot more than this to consider myself hurt,"

Her rosebud lips pressed together into a thin line.

Hadn't meant to upset her, he'd been kidding. "Seriously, I'm fine" he covered her hand with his.

She smiled again, but this time it was broader and made her eyes crinkle around the corners. He really liked her smile. It was cute. He felt himself smile in return. Ander cleared his throat and walked out of the room. Cute? When was the last time he'd used that word? Probably talking about a puppy or something. Didn't tend to think of females as cute, or if they were, he wasn't interested in them. He pulled his hand away from Maeve, glad when she frowned. That wasn't as cute.

The rest of the afternoon passed too slowly for Will. Ander hadn't done his job and researched the list of names they'd created. Irritated they had to wait, Will decided to talk to Mason about creature abilities that were similar to what Maeve had done. They looked through Mason's collection, but nothing quite fit.

When they were upstairs in her shop, she told Will things to look for as they babysat Maeve that might give him a better idea. She'd also suggested they get on the road. Will agreed. Hated sitting around doing nothing, and he knew Mason was still upset for bringing a stranger to her place without notice.

He'd have to wait till next time they popped in to upgrade the SUV. Hopefully Maeve wouldn't be with them and they could stay for a few weeks so he could make modifications to their gear and weapons as well. He narrowed his eyes at them, cozied up next to each other at the table.

"You done?" Will asked curtly. 

Ander shook his head no. "I have not found anything useful to us yet, everything looks very, normal." he didn't look up from the laptop screen.

Yeah, she read as a normal. She had some type of dormant abilities, but all actions and thoughts other than those were very normal. His instincts warned him appearances were deceiving. Deep down, something nagged him in the back of his mind. She wasn't a normal. Maybe a half-breed? But if that was the case, one of her parents or her grandparents or somewhere in her family tree would show that. A monster's family tree always had branches covered in blood.

"Well, you 're gonna have to finish it on the road. We need to head out. Mason has a mission for us and we need to stop by her place before we leave," Will said and turned to Maeve.

"Really? We're going to my apartment now?" her voice trembled with elation.

Will nodded and enjoyed the excitement that spread across her face. Damn, she had nice lips.

"Where are we headed?" Ander asked, his eyes still glued to his screen.

"Springfield, Illinois,"

"We are going to Illinois?" Maeve asked, surprised.

"Yeah, till we figure things out, it's better to keep moving. Keeps the things that are looking for you confused or at least guessing where you are."

"So I'm going on another mission with you?"

Amused by the childish enthusiasm in her voice but he kept his expression impassive. He'd thought after the werewolf mission, she'd be upset by the idea. Something must've changed her mind, or she came to terms with things. He nodded. 

Ander finally looked up from the laptop at him with trepidation. He glanced at Maeve's glowing expression. "What is in Springfield, Illinois?"

Ander's tone gave away he probably already knew. Will assumed he'd looked at the file while they were on the Succubus mission or he'd seen communication about it on the soldiers of night portal. Will shrugged. They could discuss it once they'd left.