Page 41 of Only Human in Strangeville

“Merely that you needed to escape a group of supernatural beings that wanted to kill you and do bad things to your puppy.”

“Wait, that’s it?” I glanced over at Bridger.

“There wasn’t a lot of time, Hannah. I didn’t even know Katsuro had my phone number.” He frowned at that.

“You’re not excited that you got confirmation the supernatural existed or anything?”

This time Bridger glanced at me with an eyebrow lifted. “I know the supernatural exists, Hannah. I have since I was a boy. Werewolves killed my mother. I saw the whole thing. Saw them shift, saw them tear her to shreds, saw them feast. The only thing that saved me was a shadow creature whisking me away. They subjected me to therapy for years, trying to convince me it was bears or something. We were camping in a public campground.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Bridger shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I am a hunter. I’ve killed supernatural beings before. The people in Beechworth are just beings trying to live their lives. Mayday Hills, on the other hand.” He winked at me. “Not that I know what everyone is, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“Do any of them know your history?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Another shrug. “Anyway, what’s the story with Nimbus? Why do vampires want him?”

“I don’t actually know that it’s vampires. Drake is a shade.”

“It’s always vampires, Hannah.”

“Oh. Well, okay. You know more than I do. I guess Nimbus is a cloud puppy, or nimbus. Some sort of supernatural dog that, when they’re older, become very powerful. Right now, we have to keep him safe until he can defend himself. If they capture him while he’s a puppy, they can control him and his magic forever.”

“Well, we can’t let that happen.” Bridger sounded so confident, so intense, that while some might have taken his comment as flip, I could tell he was deadly serious.

“And apparently the human trafficking ring I helped put behind bars was also trafficking blood slaves to the vampires, and they figured out that I was involved with all of that, so they’re after me for two reasons now.”

“Fuckkkk,” Bridger drew out the word. “Well, that’s some shit. We’ll keep you safe while Katsuro and Davin figure out what to do. Do you have any idea where you want to go?”

“I don’t.” I grabbed for my phone to search for something and remembered I’d left it behind. “Um, no phone. So, just pick something.”

“Honestly, why don’t we just go to my place? It’s well defended. Safe. Stocked with food. We could stay there for a year and not have to leave.”

“Sure.” I had a vague worry that Bridger was actually secretly working for the enemy, then banished it. If he was, I was screwed, and that was all there was to it. I also doubted he was.

“I’m fairly certain we haven’t been followed, but I’m going to take a roundabout way of getting there. It’ll take a couple of hours, but in the end, we won’t be too far from Beechworth.”

“Okay.”

Bridger gave me a look full of sympathy. I buried my face in Nimbus’s ruff and tried not to cry.

***

By the time we made it to Bridger’s house, I’d worn myself out, and it was dark, so I didn’t pay any attention to our surroundings, other than to note that we were deep in the woods. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I’d enjoyed a pleasant spell with Oliver and woken in his arms.

Bridger drove through a gate, stopped to watch it close behind us, then drove into a garage.

I just sat in his car, clutching Nimbus. He came around the side and opened the door for me. Nimbus rumbled softly and licked my damp cheek.

“What can I do to help, Hannah?”

“I don’t know.”

“How about food and a drink? Alcohol or non, your choice.”

Sniffing, I rubbed at my nose with my sleeve. Nimbus, after one more quick nose kiss, hopped off my lap. He was definitely growing. Not that I wanted him to get big too fast, but the sooner he was no longer in danger, the better. One less thing I would have to worry about.

Nimbus wasn’t on a leash. I hadn’t taken the time to grab one before rushing over to the coffee shop earlier and he truly didn’t need one. I only used it when he insisted. I guessed it had something to do with his nature and the protection I’d offered. He didn’t wander, however. I could tell he sniffed around and paid particular attention to things I couldn’t even notice. I knew I should have been paying strict attention to my surroundings, cataloging exits, making sure I knew places I could hide and things I could use as weapons, but I just couldn’t bring myself back to that headspace. My body rebelled after spending so long existing in fear. Now I just felt exhausted, heart-sick, and numb. I knew once I got over the initial shock, I’d find a way back to the alertness needed to survive while in actual danger, but right now I followed Bridger and felt defeated.

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