Huntress

Chapter 34

No one had the energy to squabble. There was no arguing with Hades it seemed. Whatever he was, whatever he represented to them, was not something they wanted to tamper with. Ryder didn't go after Hades. Ajax didn't go after me.

I stared at Ryder, stared at the wrists that had suffered the brunt of his fighting. He had done that, for me. and I had no doubt in my mind that, had Ajax not been holding him, he would have lunged for Hades. I did doubt that the lean and lanky man could have done anything to the hulking creature who continued to study me though. But he would have tried.

I didn't know if that delighted me or horrified me. on one hand, someone had fought so hard. Someone had wanted to keep me alive. On the other hand, he would have been slaughtered and he was a damn fool for even thinking he could do any damage to someone so much larger and so skilled.

And now, that I was out of immediate danger, he couldn't even force him gaze to me.

"So, what do we do with her now?" Ryder demanded into the silent holding cell.

"I don't know," Ajax confessed. "I feel there is not much that can be done right now. We are all running a little hot. It might be best to take a step back."

No one argued with the king.

Taking a step back then meant all of us climbing into the vehicle that brought us here in the first place. Ajax was naturally behind the wheel, but it was Ryder who climbed into the passenger seat. I didn't want to admit it or even acknowledge it, but something struck a chord with that. Less than twenty-four hours ago, we were a tangled mess together. He had touched me in places that no one else had explored. Sure, it had only been because neither of us assumed we would make it out alive, but this felt wrong. Cold even.

And what was worse, was the fact that I then ended up sitting next to the man who had been sent to kill me.

I pretended none of it bothered me in the slightest and climbed into the vehicle. I sat beside the man who only had to make one move moments ago to end my life, the one man that the werewolves seemed content to let play god. He could have killed me. Ajax had wanted him to kill me.

I kept my gaze trained forward. I was alive. That was what mattered. I was going to see another day.

The drive was quiet for the most part. Ryder was wrapping his wrists with bandages that Ajax had provided because, clearly, Ryder was never a target and clearly, they knew what wolves did when mates were threatened. Ajax was focused on the road, but every so often, I caught his eyes in the review mirror. I tried not to think about what he was looking for.

I knew some of these roads. I knew the mountains that loomed over us and the forests that were filled with cottonwoods and old growth. This place had become my home, the little town and all the wildness that refused to be tamed under a human thumb. Now, seeing it from the backseat of someone else's vehicle, knowing that it had never belonged to me, it all seemed so different. The branches didn't bow to anyone. And if I hadn't come out of that holding cell alive the ponds nor the sky would have noticed.

We returned to the log cabin.

Ryder didn't come to me when I slipped out of the SUV, almost crumpling on legs that felt like jelly. I didn't know if I was still suffering from what had transpired in that dreaded shed, or if I was now reacting to my near-death experience. Either way, he didn't blink. I repressed a sharply worded comment and straightened.

Ajax was the first to enter the home. Keiko was in the open area, singing along to a classic Disney song from the couch with Clementine, a laptop on her knees. The pricey computer was slammed shut as we entered and she was on her feet in an instant.

"Oh Ryder, you're back," she gasped, darting towards him already. Her arms were open as if she were ready to embrace him.

Something sickly and ugly uncoiled in my belly and I felt like baring my teeth at her.

Thankfully, I didn't have to do that because her eyes landed on me. it was a quick change. The arms dropped. Her shoulders rolled back. Her chin ticked up. "My, it seems that you're all back. And in one piece."

"Hades couldn't do it," Ryder grumbled. Like he hadn't been snarling and roaring the entire time that Hades had his hands on me.

"Couldn't and wouldn't are two very different things," Hades said evenly. His voice was as firm as it had been when he announced that I was not to die. I just wondered if the others saw the confusion in his face when he glanced at me. "You asked me for my judgment and I gave it. she has done bad things, yes. But she is not evil."

"That makes zero sense," Ryder snapped.

"Ajax, Clementine was waiting for you to come home. She wanted to go look at the wild raspberry bushes," Keiko announced.

There was not a single flicker of frustration or indecision in Ajax's features. His queen would handle things. "Is that so my little orange?" he asked, extending a hand to her. "Surely they aren't good enough to eat yet, but we can have a look."

There was a tense, heavy quiet as the king helped the little girl pull on a pair of pink sneakers – with lights – and then led her out the front door.

Once they were gone, Keiko's sunshine fell behind heavy clouds. "Hades, maybe your...gift doesn't work on humans. Or maybe you can't channel it like you thought you could. Your visions come at night and have been exclusively for werewolves. Maybe it would be best not to base our decision on your findings."

Hades didn't waver. "That's not entirely true now, is it? I see Nero, the alpha committing horrible crimes against sirens. Those crimes don't hurt our community specifically, but I still see them. And even if that wasn't true and my powers only work with Nero because he himself is a werewolf, I was still able to force my powers. It took longer and wasn't nearly as smooth, but it worked. I saw her, in the forest hunting us. I saw her parents and even Ryder in her mind." My face flamed instantly, thinking of all of the things he could have seen. The moment on the couch, the giddiness of my first real date, the decision that sex wouldn't matter since we thought we would be dying anyway. Everyone was too focused on Hades to notice me though. "I felt her for what she really is and she doesn't feel evil like the others that I've hunted have."

"I don't understand how this can happen," Ryder groaned, falling onto one of the leather couches.

I stayed rigidly in place.

"Those are my findings, do what you wish with them, but I have made my decision and I will not be the one to kill her," Hades stated.

"You're the queen, you decide," Ryder said to Keiko. "Because having her alive is torturous. But I was on the brink of killing Hades when he came in."

Keiko sucked in a deep breath through her nose as if she were trying to soothe herself. It only made her shoulders tense more, bunching towards her ears. "And did you think that mating with her would make these choices and their consequences easier?"

~~~Distraction Section~~~

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! I'm thankful for my amazing family, my wonderful partner, and you! Thanks for coming along this journey with me. If you're Canadian - or just feel like sharing - what are you thankful for?

Question of the Day: 

If you had to live in a video game, which would it be?

Skyrim for me. Just ride a horse around all the time and live a simple little life harvesting things for my potions.