After another moment, I released his hand. We exited my car and walked together toward the Guard’s house.
Lucas held the door open for me. We settled down to study at the Guard’s large round dining table. It was a vocabulary test, so we spent the first half hour writing words and their definitions on the opposite sides of index cards. As we finished making the cards, I heard the door to the basement open behind us. Sitting where we were, we were hidden from the hallway; they didn’t know we were here.
Rhea’s voice sent a shock through my body. “I want an answer, Gretchen!”
“Oh, you don’t say?” Gretchen’s voice was heavily laced with sarcasm. “Would that be why you’re hounding my every step?”
“They’re all exhausted,” Rhea hissed. “You know it as well as I do. How long do you think we can keep this up?”
“As long as we have to,” Gretchen answered, her voice hard as nails. “It’s what we signed up for. No one promised it’d be easy.”
“And when we burn ourselves out? What use will we be to the cause then?”
“Look, what do you want from me?”
“I want the truth. Is there another spotter in town?”
I glanced at Lucas, tension knotting through my back. He looked as disturbed as I felt.
“Yes,” Gretchen said, “but she’s not interested in joining the Guard.”
“Are you kidding me with this shit?” Rhea laughed bitterly. “I don’t care if she’s not interested. We need her.”
“Well, good luck recruiting her.”
“Where are you going? We’re not finished here!”
We heard a heavy thud, followed by Gretchen’s growl of outrage. “Get your hands off of me!”
Lucas and I heard a pounding as someone charged down the stairs from the second story above. “Whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on here?” Hale’s voice cut through the scuffle.
“Nothing,” Gretchen said, breathing heavily. “Internal spotter disagreement.”
“Rhea?” Hale’s voice was cold.
“I don’t know what’s going on here,
sir,
” she practically spit the title out, “but you need to get your people organized. If there’s another spotter in town, we need her onboard. I don’t care what it takes. We are spread too thin. We’re starting to make mistakes—”
I stood, pushing my chair back with a scraping sound. The group in the hall fell silent. I walked to meet them. Rhea’s expression darkened when she spotted me.
“Karayan and I can take more shifts,” I offered. “We’ve taken shifts to cover sick spotters before.”
“Yes.” Hale actually looked relieved. “That’s a great idea, Braedyn.”
Rhea glared at me, but turned her outrage on Hale. “Seriously? You know of another
human
spotter in town, and you’d rather assign the responsibility to a demon?”
“Rhea, whatever your problem with Braedyn is, get over it.” Hale’s tone as good as said this discussion was over.
Red splotches of anger bloomed on Rhea’s cheeks. “If something goes wrong, it’s on you, Hale.” Rhea raked her eyes over my body before she snorted her disgust and walked away.
Gretchen’s shoulders sagged slightly. She glanced at me, concerned. “Sorry about that. She’ll come around.”
“Do you really believe that?” I asked.
Gretchen glanced at Hale, conspicuously not answering my question.
“Don’t worry about Rhea,” Hale said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll keep her in line. And thanks.” He gave me a gentle smile. “For stepping up. Rhea’s not wrong. The spotters are stretched too thin right now. Any relief we can give them will go a long way to keeping our forces strong and ready to fight.”
“Amen to that,” Gretchen said, stretching her shoulders. “And on that note, I need to grab a few Zs. I’m on shift tonight.”
Gretchen headed up stairs, giving me a friendly wave goodbye. I smiled back at her, but my thoughts circled around Amber. I didn’t want her to have any part of the Guard… but was that really my call?
Chapter
Lucas held the door open for me. We settled down to study at the Guard’s large round dining table. It was a vocabulary test, so we spent the first half hour writing words and their definitions on the opposite sides of index cards. As we finished making the cards, I heard the door to the basement open behind us. Sitting where we were, we were hidden from the hallway; they didn’t know we were here.
Rhea’s voice sent a shock through my body. “I want an answer, Gretchen!”
“Oh, you don’t say?” Gretchen’s voice was heavily laced with sarcasm. “Would that be why you’re hounding my every step?”
“They’re all exhausted,” Rhea hissed. “You know it as well as I do. How long do you think we can keep this up?”
“As long as we have to,” Gretchen answered, her voice hard as nails. “It’s what we signed up for. No one promised it’d be easy.”
“And when we burn ourselves out? What use will we be to the cause then?”
“Look, what do you want from me?”
“I want the truth. Is there another spotter in town?”
I glanced at Lucas, tension knotting through my back. He looked as disturbed as I felt.
“Yes,” Gretchen said, “but she’s not interested in joining the Guard.”
“Are you kidding me with this shit?” Rhea laughed bitterly. “I don’t care if she’s not interested. We need her.”
“Well, good luck recruiting her.”
“Where are you going? We’re not finished here!”
We heard a heavy thud, followed by Gretchen’s growl of outrage. “Get your hands off of me!”
Lucas and I heard a pounding as someone charged down the stairs from the second story above. “Whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on here?” Hale’s voice cut through the scuffle.
“Nothing,” Gretchen said, breathing heavily. “Internal spotter disagreement.”
“Rhea?” Hale’s voice was cold.
“I don’t know what’s going on here,
sir,
” she practically spit the title out, “but you need to get your people organized. If there’s another spotter in town, we need her onboard. I don’t care what it takes. We are spread too thin. We’re starting to make mistakes—”
I stood, pushing my chair back with a scraping sound. The group in the hall fell silent. I walked to meet them. Rhea’s expression darkened when she spotted me.
“Karayan and I can take more shifts,” I offered. “We’ve taken shifts to cover sick spotters before.”
“Yes.” Hale actually looked relieved. “That’s a great idea, Braedyn.”
Rhea glared at me, but turned her outrage on Hale. “Seriously? You know of another
human
spotter in town, and you’d rather assign the responsibility to a demon?”
“Rhea, whatever your problem with Braedyn is, get over it.” Hale’s tone as good as said this discussion was over.
Red splotches of anger bloomed on Rhea’s cheeks. “If something goes wrong, it’s on you, Hale.” Rhea raked her eyes over my body before she snorted her disgust and walked away.
Gretchen’s shoulders sagged slightly. She glanced at me, concerned. “Sorry about that. She’ll come around.”
“Do you really believe that?” I asked.
Gretchen glanced at Hale, conspicuously not answering my question.
“Don’t worry about Rhea,” Hale said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll keep her in line. And thanks.” He gave me a gentle smile. “For stepping up. Rhea’s not wrong. The spotters are stretched too thin right now. Any relief we can give them will go a long way to keeping our forces strong and ready to fight.”
“Amen to that,” Gretchen said, stretching her shoulders. “And on that note, I need to grab a few Zs. I’m on shift tonight.”
Gretchen headed up stairs, giving me a friendly wave goodbye. I smiled back at her, but my thoughts circled around Amber. I didn’t want her to have any part of the Guard… but was that really my call?
Chapter
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