Page 10 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“Ask her.” Hector shrugged. “Come on, we’re wasting daylight. Let’s go.”
I needed the distraction desperately, so I followed them both without a second thought. The last thing I needed to deal with was old wounds that I thought I had healed well from. Losing a brother was never easy, but I had processed it. Throughlong nights in the desert and mountains, long drives of listening to Frazer’s shitty music, and endless hours of waiting and watching, I had processed quietly and privately.
The witch justhadto bring it all back for me, didn’t she?
***
Hector, Sweeney, and I watched the Highland Trail from our vantage point. Hector’s screen was silent, but a faint blue glow pulsed on the map he had up, indicating what he had called apre-portal. Somewhere, the demons might or might not show up.
“It’s like binoculars, I guess,” he told us. “Scoping out the land before they actually come through. They’re checking it's safe.”
“Safe,” Sweeney snorted. “As ifthey’renot the threat.”
Our eyes were fixed in that direction. On Hector’s say-so, Sweeney needed to go ahead and mark the area.
“You know, this is where witches would be useful,” Hector noted. “Ifsomeonewasn’t intent on botching up our alliance with them.”
“We don’t have an alliance with witches,” I answered tightly.
“And we never will if you’re hellbent on antagonizing the one whocouldhelp us.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Hec’s kind of right,” Sweeney said. “We mark these areas, hoping they’ll move to another place and keep the trails safe. But they could just come back. The witches could put up defenses toensurethey don’t. They can snag them beforethe portals even open. We have to wait until a demon actually appears to attack.”
“We have defenses,” I argued, raising the spray cans Sweeney and I were equipped with.
“Guess where I got the solution that’s in those spray cans, genius,” Hector told me, smug. “Greta’s Emporium.”
“This is witch magic?” I asked, shaking the can.
“Yep.”
“We don’t need witch magic.”
“Yes, we do,” Sweeney interjected this time. “Zeph, I don’t know what your problem is, but demons aren’t like the humans or hunters we’ve dealt with before. They have magic; we need to fight it with magic. Or, at least, we need to defend it with other magic.”
I gritted my teeth, knowing they were right. But I hated the fact that we needed a witch’s help in the first place. I had come out today to get my mind off witches not to be centered right in their magic. Even knowing I was around, it made my skin itch.
“I just don’t trust them,” I finally answered. “How do we know this stuff we’re using to ward off demons won’t backfire on us?”
“Why would it need to? We’re not the enemy. Adalyn created this solution for this reason. If she was putting us in danger, she’d have said.” Hector paused. “I think.”
“I don’t think we’re giving the hot witch enough credit,” Sweeney shrugged.
“She’s not hot,” I snapped.
He grinned. “Nobody saidyouthought she was.”
I cringed back, rolling my eyes. “Whatever. Hec, are we good to go and spray?”
“Not yet,” he said, eyes back on the screen.
“Hey, remember when we met on that job in the Hills?” Sweeney asked me, glancing sideways as we waited. Around us, the Highland Trail spread out, webbing from the central point where all three of the island’s hiking trails began, through where we waited in the thick of trees, before going further north, towards the small mountain range that the island boasted. While we would eventually get eyes on the mountain, figuring out the parts more islanders populated was the best option.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “You were, like, a hawk. Born from the damn Appalachians themselves.”
Sweeney grinned. “Hey, I was told I was going to be working with the best gunman out there. I had to flex my skills.”
