Page 77 of Only Human in Strangeville

Nimbus grumbled in annoyance.

“So, what do we do?”

“What can we do?” Bridger shrugged. “We just have to be ready for an attack.”

Oliver held up his phone. “Katsuro has called a town meeting for just after dark. I suspect we’ll have a plan of action then. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go prepare.” The shade left and an awkward silence fell between me and the hunter.

“So…” I said.

“So…” he replied.

More silence.

I buried my hands in my face. “Um, yeah, so we probably need to talk.”

“You should let Davin and Katsuro mark you. And Oliver if shades do that kind of thing. It’ll keep you safer.” Bridger got up and headed for the door.

“Bridger, wait.”

“Why?” He turned.

“What about you?”

“What about me? I’m just the crazy hunter.”

Before I could protest, he was out the door.

“Damn it. Bridger!” I needed to catch him. We had to sort this out before things got worse. We kept getting interrupted before we could have that all important talk as a group, and Bridger might not even know we were considering him a part of the equation. At least until he said no.

Nimbus rooed and popped out of existence. I ran to the door and threw it open. Moments later, Nimbus returned dragging a reluctant hunter behind him.

“You’re not just anything,” I said as Nimbus dragged him back into the room. “And we really do need to talk.”

Bridger gave Nimbus an annoyed look but allowed me to talk him into staying. I made tea, though I felt like my selection was inadequate compared to what Katsuro and Oliver had gotten me used to drinking. I didn’t even try to make coffee. I had instant and that wouldn’t cut it. Even the diner had better coffee than that.

Once we had our drinks, I sat across from Bridger.

“Hey, so, let’s talk about all of this.”

The hunter tilted his head, giving me a quizzical look. “What’s to talk about?”

“Well, for one, thank you for saving me. I’m sorry if your house got damaged in anyway and if I can help fix it, I will.”

That softened Bridger’s expression a little, and his shoulders relaxed some. He took a breath and wrapped his hands around his mug of tea. “It shouldn’t be hard to repair. The werewolves already offered, too. And Clare had some ideas on extra protections. I’m just glad we could keep you safe long enough for the ritual to give you your magic.”

I couldn’t help grinning at that. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. While, uh—” I almost told him about Twister, but then thought I should keep that to myself. If nothing else, it required too much explanation at the moment. “Sorry. Yeah, I think the seed has completely unfolded, but I’m still learning how to use my magic. I think that will take a while.”

“A lifetime, likely,” Bridger agreed. “But now you have more defenses. You just need to practice. I think that’s something we can all help you with.”

“Thanks, Bridger. That means a lot that you’re still willing to help me.”

He averted his gaze, and his cheeks flushed. “Yeah, well, I still want to keep you safe.”

“Anything else you want?”

That got a sigh. “What else is there, Hannah?”

“This is all really new for me. I didn’t come here looking for anything except a safe place to hide from my past. I feel like I’ve brought all this crashing down on everyone here.” I hadn’t meant to go this route. I wanted to talk about our potential relationship.

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