Page 52 of Hunted in the Shadows
Gwen snorted, but I swore the faintest hint of fondness lay buried under the ire. “Believe it or not, he was even more of an idiot when we met.”
“Impossible,” I said airily. “Do tell.”
The jab earned a half smile. “We were so young—barely old enough to retire the fake IDs and walk into the bar like we owned the place. He and Nowak got into some stupid fight not long after they hit the road together. Cliff says he couldn’t stand Nowak’s bitching anymore. Personally, I think Cliff was looking for an excuse to call it quits and make his own way in the world. Had his bags packed and everything. But Tammy convinced him to back me up on a hunt.”
Tammy. That name again. The boys always seemed to change the subject shortly after she was brought up. A small sting came; even an estranged hunting partner knew all about the mysterious woman.
They’re hiding something,hissed a voice in the back of my head.You know there’s something they’re not telling you and you’re too much of a coward to ask why.
“How long were the boys apart?” I asked, coaxing my paranoia to quiet.
“Couple months, at most. I thought they both would’ve ate it by now, but they’re not a bad team when they have their heads out of their asses.”
An understatement if I’d ever heard one.
Not for the first time, I wondered what Cliff would do with himself if Jon abandoned hunting. I was afraid of what answer I would receive if I posed the question to Gwen, so I pivoted. “Is Hannah the reason you retired for good?”
Gwen raised the cigarette to her lips, taking a long, deliberate drag. She glanced at her watch, giving an impatient huff as she glanced toward the outpost.
Her dark eyes drifted back at me, narrowed in thought, and I was struck again by the fierce quality of her beauty. Her black hair, woven into a single braid, gleamed faintly in the hazy daylight. She was stunning in the way a polished blade was beautiful—captivating but dangerous when you drew too close. When Gwen exhaled, a bitter-smelling cloud of smoke hung in the air.
“Didn’t thinkretirementwas in my vocabulary,” she admitted, the edge to her gaze softening. “I was hunting a wraith, and the wraith was hunting her. She was oblivious. I swear, if that thing had knocked right on her door, she would have offered it a place to crash for the night.” Her lips pulled into a wider smile, shaking her head.
“I didn’t mean to start talking to her—it just sort of happened. Then when I found out that she…” Gwen trailed off, glancing at me. “Doesn’t matter. Even when I bagged the wraith, I just didn’t feel right leaving her alone with a hunter outpost a few miles away.”
I frowned. “Why would a human have to worry about hunters?”
Gwen stared in the direction of the rickety wooden bridge that stretched across the water like it might lunge toward her. “I’vegot a protective streak, as it turns out. Only takes one asshole to cause trouble, right? But it was impossible to convince her to move away from her family.”
“You stuck around for her,” I murmured.
She gave one resolute nod. “I told her I’d lost my job—which wasn’t a total lie. She invited me to stay until I was back on my feet. Became a running joke between us—because days turned into weeks, and then months. Hannah never said a word to urge me out. Somewhere along the way, I woke up one morning, and it felt like home.”
I couldn’t quell the rush of warmth in my chest as I pictured Jon doing the same for me. Giving up hunting, letting us findhomein each other’s arms.
Gwen scoffed. “What’s with the dopey smile?”
“Nothing. Just curious.” I descended to a lower branch, trying to catch her gaze. “How hard was it to let go of the hunting life?” My heart fluttered uncertainly as I thought about how adamant Jon’s stance had been on never changing. “So few humans know about monsters. Even fewer are cut out for hunting them.Did you feel… I don’t know, guilty about settling down?”
A touch of defensiveness flickered on her face as though I was being accusatory. But perhaps that was what made her answer. “I realized I could do more for Hannah than just save her from a monster. There was a space in her home, and she was ready to fill it.”
I let the idea sink in, thinking about how swiftly and fiercely she had come to rescue Hannah from Cliff. But it was more than that—their hands reaching for each other’s at the breakfast table and Hannah’s worry over Gwen accompanying us here.
“Have you texted her that you’re still alive?” I asked.
Rolling her eyes, she dug her phone out of her pocket and tapped out a one-handed message.
Apingindicated an immediate response—and Gwen’s face softened to a degree I didn’t think possible. Which was what possessed me to say, “You’re lucky to have found each other.”
Gwen stowed her phone and gave me an unreadable look—except I had seen it on Jon and Cliff’s faces many times by this point. It was an analytical stare meant to unearth thoughts that even I wasn’t aware I was thinking.
“You think he’ll settle down for you?” she questioned in a tone that wasn’t entirely cruel but stung all the same.
I averted my eyes. “I didn’t say that.”
“You’re really cock-drunk for him, aren’t you? What’s got him so whipped foryou? You got something on him?” Gwen dropped the spent cigarette to put it out under her boot. “Or is it the other way around? Just oughta clue you in—I know a bullet hole when I see one.”
I snapped my wings shut, fingers digging into the branch that held me. “That’s got nothing to do with it. Jon didn’t—” I stopped short, mulling over how to explain our macabre first days. “He saved my life. He took a werewolf bite to protect me—and the rest of that damn city.”
