The Witch and The Hunters

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Page count: 10

"I'm hungry," Hermione complained, slumped dramatically in the passenger seat.

Dean snorted. "We'll grab something when we hit a diner or a gas station."

"You've been saying that for the last hour," she pouted, arms crossing like a small, furious librarian denied her lunch break.

"And I meant it," he said, amused. "There's gotta be one up ahead. We'll be at Bobby's in about an hour anyway."

She made a tiny aggravated noise in her throat, the kind she made right before she threatened to hex someone. Dean chuckled and kept driving.

"There you go," he pointed. "Gas station."

She sat bolt upright—and the second the Impala slowed, she flung the door open and practically launched herself out of the car.

Dean shook his head with a grin, refuelled, paid, and returned to find her waiting with enough food to feed about six grown men. Or one extremely magic-enhanced witch.

They pulled back onto the road, her tearing into a sandwich with the kind of single-minded focus Dean usually reserved for pie.

"When do you wanna leave for England?" he asked before taking a bite of the sandwich she reluctantly handed him. Hermione Granger didn't share food casually—he knew he was special.

"As soon as possible," she said through a mouthful. "Do Sam and Bobby know we're safe and heading back?"

"Nope."

She groaned, grabbed his phone, and dialled Sam. He answered so fast it was like he'd been holding the phone in midair waiting.

"FUCK'S SAKE, DEAN—where the hell have you been, we've been trying to—"

"It's Hermione," she cut in.

There was a beat.

Then Sam yelled, "HERMIONE?!"

She winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. "Ow."

"Sorry!" Sam rushed out. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? Where did he take you? Do you know why? What—"

"Sam," she said, slow and calm like she was talking a child off a ledge. "Breathe."

A deep inhale. "Right. Okay. Breathing. I'm calm."

"Good. Now you're understandable," she said primly. "I'm fine. Not hurt. Just a bump on the head from where the arsehole knocked me out and, frankly, a very numb arse from being tied to the most uncomfortable chair in North America."

Dean heard Bobby in the background mutter, "Priorities, for cryin' out loud," which made Hermione snort.

"I don't know where he took me," she continued. "Woke up in an abandoned warehouse. He kidnapped me because he's been having you watched, and he wanted to know why I'm travelling with you." She rolled her eyes. "And other than giving him a well-deserved verbal beating and politely threatening him, nothing exciting happened."

Sam was howling with laughter. "Hermione—you have zero fear. Do you even realise who that was?"

"Well, no," she said. "Not until Dean told me later that I'd apparently sassed and threatened the King of Hell. Honestly, I'm proud of myself. If I had known, I wouldn't have held back as much as I did. He had appalling manners."

"Yep," Sam said, still laughing. "You're fine."

"I used magic just as Dean showed up—sent the knob flying through a wall, apparently—and then I passed out and woke up in the Impala. We slept in the car, but we're on our way now. We're about fifteen minutes out."