we need her to be okay. If not because she deserves it, then because Hunter needs her.”
“Hunter shouldn’t need anyone like this,” I said without thinking.
Alastair glanced up at me. “He needs you like he needs her.”
I couldn’t help the surprise that coursed through me. “He doesn’t.”
“He does. And that’s a damned good thing. Everyone deserves to have someone they care about. Someone they’d miss if they were gone. So give Hunter a break. Let him care about her. Let him be a mess that she’s gone.”
“And what if we never find her? What if she’s dead? What then?”
Alastair rubbed the back of his neck, his mouth pulling into a thin line. “Then we’ll be there for him. That’s all we can do.”
I was ready to argue when I heard the door unlocking. Expecting Grim, I started for the door and froze when Hunter came in. He looked like hell, and I was hugging the idiot before I could stop myself. For one second, his body was rigid and cold, and then he relaxed for a second, and I let him go.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
He didn’t even flinch. “I had to find information.”
“And since you couldn’t get it with us, it must have been dangerous.”
He said nothing, which told me I was right.
“Well,” I wanted to lash out, but I gentled my words, “I’m just glad you’re all right.”
“I found out something.”
Alastair stood from the table. “I’ll text Grim to get his ass back here.”
“Sit down,” I said, and shoved Hunter toward our new, if gently-used, couch, which for the moment was free of warlock blood. Hunter must have been more tired than he was letting on, because he sank into the cushions.
I went into the kitchen and reheated some pizza, then grabbed a bottle of water and brought it back to him. He scarfed down the pizza, downed the water, and mumbled a thank you. Alastair sat beside him on the couch, looking casual, but I could sense the tension under his skin.
“So,” Alastair finally said.
Hunter put his elbows on his knees and dropped his face into his hands. “The Headless Horseman has her at some place called WhisperingWinds Asylum, which sounds like something out of a horror movie, and he plans to make her his queen.”
The air rushed out of the room. I pictured Mae fighting beside me in the woods, killing the damn red caps and looking so strong and powerful. I saw her afterwards, barely clinging to life and almost dying to protect me. I felt sick. Yes, things were uncertain between us, but I never wanted this for her.
Never.
“WhisperingWinds,” Alastair said slowly. “I’ve heard of it but never dared to go near it.”
“Well,” Hunter’s voice was soft but firm. “That’s where we need to go. And it’s where the Horseman is building his army.”
“But we have to be smart about it and not just rush in,” I said.
Hunter lifted his head, and his eyes met mine. “We have to save her as fast as we can, no matter what it costs us.”
I wanted to yell and curse, but I kept my voice level. “If a god is building an army in a cursed place, we need to be smart. Otherwise, her blood will be on your hands.”
He paled, and I felt guilty.
“Go lay down for a little while,” Alastair said. “We’ll do some research and tell Grim when he gets here.”
“I can’t just…sleep,” Hunter whispered.
I held his gaze. “You’re no use to anyone like this. Go. Sleep. Tomorrow, you and your damned shadows can destroy the world.”
He hesitated, but slowly nodded and rose.
I didn’t know why I followed him to his room, but I watched him take off his boots with jerky movements and collapse onto his back, still fully dressed. He didn’t even seem to be aware of me when his eyes closed and his breathing became even. For a minute, I just stared at him. He looked so tired and broken, and I knew why. He never learned to keep the darkness inside of him caged, not like me.
Even now, it was hard to reach for those old memories of me as a boy. It was hard to hear my mother and my sister’s screams. My father shouted my name, but the sound was torn away in my mind as if by a strong wind. Yes, I remembered all the blood and the fire. Yes, I remembered those months spent in that tiny cage in the darkness.
But unlike Hunter, I was