The Hunter Beside Me

13: Brothers

Bash

After a long day of hanging around the motel room watching TV and napping, I realized a couple of things. One, Lilla and I had the same taste in movies and snacks. Two, Owen wasn't good at relaxing; he couldn't hold still. He wouldn't even help pick a movie, he was too busy pacing.

We decided to go to Food for dinner before going to Shifty's Bar, and Owen was thrilled. He stood with his hand on the doorknob, ready to leave the room as soon as I mentioned it.

Lilla rolled her eyes at his impatience. "I need a minute to change if we're going to blend in."

"You're dressed like us. You look good to me." I shrugged.

"Thanks." She watched me for a second before giving her head a slight shake. "A t-shirt will be fine for guys, but more is expected from women. Why don't you wait outside and I'll be right there?"

"Okay." Owen had the door open before she'd even finished her sentence. I followed him outside, where he shuffled back and forth by the truck.

"What's going on, dude? I get you're bored, but damn, calm down."

Owen stopped in front of me, his face tight with emotion. "I can't stop thinking. This might be it. We could find Catriona and be done tonight."

He turned away and my stomach twisted. Of course I knew, but it was easy to forget magic was all that held them here. They were too real to just disappear. "I don't want you guys to leave."

"Me neither. But we don't have a choice."

My eyes burned, and I stared at the toe of my boots so he wouldn't see the tears forming. His arms wrapped around me in a hug, making me flinch in surprise. I hugged him back and when I felt him take a ragged breath; I knew he was crying, too.

"You're my family," I said, not caring when my voice broke.

"Brothers."

"Brothers." I nodded against his shoulder, just as the door to our room opened and Lilla stepped out.

Owen and I pulled away from each other and quickly wiped our faces. When I peeked at her a second later, she was staring at us with wide eyes.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Owen said.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure? Because you don't seem fine."

There was no reason to hide it. "We were talking about how you both might be gone soon."

Her face fell. "Oh, that."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" I asked. "A spell maybe? Anything to keep you guys here?"

She frowned. "I'm sorry, but I've gone through all my books, and I can't find anything. The binding spell my coven put on me is too strong to break. The only way to keep Owen's spirit here without a coven was to bind him to the same spell."

"I thought I was tied to you." Owen's eyebrows pulled together.

"Not exactly." She tilted her head. "You're bound to the spell they made. I just used myself to get you there."

I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. "You're both connected to Catriona's life, right?"

"When the first mimic is gone, so are we." Lilla's voice was strong, but sadness filled her eyes.

"Wait." I held my hands up. "What if we trap Catriona? Keep her locked up somewhere? If she's alive, then you guys stay alive too, right?"

Lilla's eyebrows raised, but then she sighed. "That won't work. If we don't kill her, the other mimics will still run around feeding and breeding."