Huntress

Chapter 12

I ended up at Milo's house a couple days later. I wasn't sure why or how, but I did. One moment I was buckling up to go get groceries, the next I was pulling up to a driveway I had only seen a handful of times. Armond and Dawn hadn't offered me the comfort I so desperately needed and I was crumpling so fast that when I opened the café with Casey, she could practically smell it on me. I just needed someone who knew, someone who's eyes wouldn't glitter with optimism, someone who wouldn't push me or tell me what an honor it was to be selected.

To his credit, Milo didn't look the slightest bit surprised when he found me outside his door. He just invited me in and offered a listening ear. And I didn't hold back. It was impossible. There was no way that I was getting out of there after killing all three of them. It would be a miracle if I even got a shot at all of them. If I made it home again, it would be the stuff of legends. While I was many things, I wasn't sure if I was legendary.

Milo listened to each and every one of my concerns. He didn't tell me that everything would be alright. He didn't tell me that it was for the greater good. He just acknowledged what I was saying with simple nods and short questions. After what felt like hours, I finally felt that I had said it all. I raised the full tea cup to my lips, surprised that the liquid had gone cold.

"So, you aren't backing out," he said, somewhere in between a question and a statement.

"No, I'm not. And I didn't come here so you could convince me otherwise," I warned. I could feel my hackles rising instantly.

"I won't. this is your choice. I know what it's like."

Of course, he did, that's why I had come here. Because he knew what it was like to watch your family fall apart. He knew what it was like to feel helpless and weak. And he knew what it was like to risk your life, then wake up and do it all again the next day.

"I think you need to spend some time practicing," he announced after a moment of silence. "It sounds like Dawn and Armond are ready to toss you into the ring without prepping. At least we can make this routine for you, make it second nature to release those arrows and the sprint like your life depends on it."

"Dawn and Armond just want it to be over."

Milo didn't show a flicker of emotion aside from a tiny flinch. "If they were so desperate to end this, they could have done it themselves by now. Come on, let's go out back. I'll set up some targets and we can try and figure out some plans together."

"I don't even know what my pathway into the royal lands looks like right now. How are we supposed to plan anything?"

"We will do the best we can with what we have."

I didn't know if it was confidence or determination that rang out in his voice, but whatever it was, I didn't have it.

I suppose one of the nice things about living in a piddly mountain town was that privacy was very much a thing. Milo's home backed onto a steep cliff face. His nearest neighbor was almost two kilometers away. The nosy neighborhood watch was really just a chittering squirrel high above.

So no one batted an eye when he pulled out old target from his garage, positioning two at regular height and one low. Then, we got to weapons choice. He had always been a fan of knives, claimed they were great for throwing decent distances and intuitive when things got a little too close. I was more of an archer, leaning on knives when I had no other options. Unfortunately, the reality was that neither were ideal for mowing down three individual targets a quickly as possible. A gun would have been best, but we hadn't been able to get the coatings just right yet.

Milo sat on the sidelines, timer in hand as I went through my options. Or tried to, at least. I dispensed two arrows with ease, knowing that the feel of the arrows and the bow were different from my own but using them just as easily. They thumped into the targets with no complaint, both hitting an almost perfect bullseye. I swiveled towards the third, my body moving on auto pilot because this is what I knew. This was what I was good at. And I needed to be quick, Milo was watching every move, thumb over the stopwatch.

And I saw the lowered height. My bow tipped down. It was meant to represent a child. A little mixed girl who sometimes wore her hair in pigtails, according to the phots I had seen. A little girl who could go to school, who could collect stickers and dribble ice cream on her chin. A young life that had barely just begun.

I felt the bow leave my hands, tossed to the side as if it had scalded my skin.

"Ah, so that's the problem," Milo murmured, calmly standing from the camping chair he had set up for himself.

"Fuck, I feel like this is just one of a thousand problems," I confessed. A wave of emotion rose, clogging my throat briefly before I pushed it down. "I know what she is. I know what she can become. But it doesn't change anything. I wish it did, but..."

"I know," Milo murmured. He approached so casually it was like he hadn't just watched me obliterate two targets.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I swallowed down a frustrated cry and withdrew it. It must have been Armond, calling to lecture me. Or Cassey messaging me to see if I was okay after this morning. Frankly, I dreaded both of them equally.

Ryder's name shone up at me and it was like heavy clouds had parted around my heart.

The vile sickness that festered within me cracked just enough that I felt my mouth curl ever so slightly as the ends.

A simple text message stared up at me. Got off work early. You free?

"Ryder, huh?" Milo said, shamelessly staring at my phone. "Who is he? I've never seen you like smile that."

I almost told him that I used to smile at him like that, whenever he turned away from me. Milo used to be the one that caused butterflies to erupt within my belly. Instead, I forced my grin away and tucked my phone in my back pocket. "No one, just a distraction."

"Are you sure a distraction is what you need right now? Sounds like you already have a lot on your plate," he pointed out, jutting his chin towards the targets.

Murdering a child. A suicide mission. A shell of a family.

"A distraction is perfect for me right now," I assured. "Do you mind if he picks me up from here?"

Milo just shrugged. "Not at all."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

In the past, people were buried with things they would need in the after-life. What would you be buried with?