Haliel’s sweet smile warmed Amber’s heart. “How does it feel, having your fun ruined?”
Cat said flatly, “You both seem to know much more about relics and banes than I do. I find that… curious.”
Amber blinked, then recalled that Cat had been the vessel of an angel before he’d stolen his own leash, and with it, much of the angel’s esoteric knowledge.
Haliel and Capricorn both gave Cat eerily similar looks of amusement. Then Capricorn said eagerly, “It’s a rather obfuscated branch of study, but it’s very rewarding!”
“I just read something somewhere, that’s all,” said Haliel airily. They both gave the Wild Hunt expectant looks.
Yejun said, “Hey, I have a great idea, how about I don’t untangle the mysterious spell complicating the mysterious tunnel system in this weird fucking haunt? I’m sure somebody can come up with a better plan.”
Cat, who had been staring blankly at the demon and the angel, pivoted to address the rest of the Hunt. “Yes. It’s not hard. Brynn will go back to the other side of town, and the haunt will simplify. Jen will go with her, and we other four will coordinate on exploring the tunnels as fast as possible.”
“Cat—” began Jen, her voice catching. “Brynn doesn’t need me to babysit her and—”
Cat gave her a little smile that was almost smug. “Go with her so that when the rest of us accidentally activate whatever ritual is carved into the labyrinth halls, you can unravel it, or pull us out via the Horn.”
Jen’s eyes narrowed. “Somebody else could take the Horn. Amber, for example.
Horrified, Amber said, “Oh my god, no.”
Cat stepped forward toward Jen meaningfully, and Jen backed up, toward the edge of the pit. Cat said, “It’s your job, I’m afraid.”
“You could do it,” said Jen angrily.
Cat took another step. “I can’t. I have the wrong priorities.”
Jen stepped back again. Brynn got a distant expression on her face, then darted over, grabbed Jen by the hand, and said, “Come on, Jen. Earth Horse is worried.”
Jen’s shoulders instantly slumped, her angry spark guttering out. “Right. All right. I’ll work on Imani and Tucker.”
Brynn said desperately, “We can get the camp set up properly. Branwyn and Rhianna could be back any minute, after all, and they’ll need someplace safe to rest.”
Brightly, Capricorn said, “I’m going that direction myself. I’m looking forward to speaking with you more, my friends.”
As they climbed out of the pit, Haliel called, “And good riddance!” She transferred her glittering gaze to the remaining four members of the Hunt. “All right, team, what’s the plan?”
AT gave her a withering glance under lowered eyebrows, then said to the others, “Grab a dog and spread out. Give me your notebook, Yejun, and I’ll do that fancy-pants pack magic Cat suggested last month and draw a map. If you get disoriented, your dog will get you back onto a true path.”
“Uh, no,” said Yejun. “I mean, yes, take the notebook.” He paused. “Actually, Grim! Take this to Brynn, go go go boy!” He sent Grim off with Yejun’s tiny notebook in his mouth before resuming. “We have to protect that notebook for Imani. But I meant to say, please don’t try drawing a map in that tiny thing.” He held up both his hands as AT tried to reply, then put his sunglasses back on. “But wait, I’ve got this anyhow.”
Looking up at Haliel, he said, “Hey, Goldilocks. Tear out one of those big beautiful blank sheets for us now, and you can have it back once we’re done with this haunt.”
Haliel gave him a disbelieving stare. “Why would I—oh. Oh.” She tickled her chin with her quill. “An actual document from this event inside my book. That’s… that’s an interesting offer, Magic. Absolutely impossible, but…” Her gaze turned distant. “Y-ess. I can see how to sell it.” Then, briskly, she turned to the back of her big book, tore out a page with a sound like rolling thunder, and held it out to Yejun. Though she still seemed to be far more than an arm’s length above them, somehow Yejun had no problems reaching up to accept the gift.
As he pulled his hand down, Amber whispered, “I thought she was a projection?”
“She is, but this isn’t,” said Yejun. “Here, AT. Map away. Amber, you and Cat get started. I’ll be in as soon as Grim gets back.”
With a wistful glance up at Haliel, Amber sighed and went into the tunnels with Nod trailing behind her.
After accepting Yejun’s notebook for safekeeping, Brynn and Jennifer walked across the town, with Capricorn strolling in the same direction a few yards away.
Unable to escape the memory of Jen’s shoulders slumping a few moments ago, Brynn said wretchedly, “I am so very sorry I did that to you, Jen. And the worst part is, it wasn’t even true. I wanted to get you out of there and Earth Horse had just made a remark…”
Jen had been listening to Brynn with an expression of bewilderment shading into confusion, but at that she smiled wryly. “And what did he say instead?”
Brynn bit her lip, and then dropped her voice a register and repeated, “I’m not quite sure how to feel about what’s going on here.”
Jen blinked before bursting into a laugh that continued a little too long. When she calmed herself, she said, “Earth Horse is a good friend, and you did just as you ought.”
After hesitating, Brynn asked carefully, “Do you ever argue with Earth Horse?”
Jen considered the question. “We disagree sometimes, but I don’t think we’ve argued. He’s very wise, so I try to pay attention to what he says.”
In Brynn’s own opinion, Earth Horse had the best sense of humor of the more verbal horses, but he was also even more possessive of his rider than Sunset Horse was of Cat.
That’s what she’s used to, said Earth Horse defensively. All she wanted when we bonded was for somebody to make decisions for her.
Hush, Brynn thought fiercely. Go to sleep.
Aloud, she said, “Why were you arguing with Cat? It seems like a good plan.”
“It is,” said Jen, her gaze dropping to the ground. “I don’t always think very clearly where Cat is concerned, though. He can be so… frustrating.”
Brynn walked in silence beside Jen for a moment before saying, “How?” It felt a little disingenuous to ask since she herself sometimes found Cat so frustrating she’d assigned the term ‘Cattish’ to his behavior. But she desperately wanted to find out how Jen felt about him, and direct inquiries had only ever elicited generic responses.
Jennifer sighed. “He tries to… protect me. He only ever makes decisions, like he just did, if he’s trying to protect me somehow, or if he believes some decision of mine requires reinforcing.”
Brynn nodded. “And you don’t want to be protected. It can get pretty stifling when people think you can’t take care of yourself,” she added pointedly.
“Yes,” said Jennifer. Then she shook her head. “No. No, that’s not it at all. I was never a rebel, Brynn, not even at your age. If Cat wanted to take over leading the Hunt, I’d be happy to follow. I was so happy following Sen,” she added wistfully. “But he doesn’t. He won’t.” She frowns. “He says he shouldn’t, and he’s probably right. But I get so… confused by him.”
The campsite at the rose house came into sight and Jen slowed. “And I shouldn’t be inflicting this on you, Brynn. I’m sorry. The last thing you want is to hear the muddling of a dreary middle-aged woman.”
Brynn stopped dead and then grabbed Jen’s hand again. “Jen, the first thing I want is for you to stop treating me like a kid. You’re not my mother. I don’t need you to be my mother. Maybe Yejun and AT and Amber do, I don’t know. But I have a mother, and a grandmother, and five elder siblings, and you’re my teammate. You don’t have to protect me from your feelings. And I really, really think you need somebody to talk to other than Earth Horse.”
Jennifer blinked at Brynn. Her hand in Brynn’s tightened. “Thank you,” she said after a moment, before pulling away and turning back to the rose
house. Silently, hopefully, Brynn followed her, but by the time they’d pulled another tent upright, Brynn’s hope had dimmed. Jen may have thanked her, but it hadn’t been an acceptance of Brynn’s offer.
“Fine,” said Brynn. “I’ll start, then.” She sat on the cot and crossed her legs, watching Jen fuss with knots. “Cat loves you.”
Jennifer flinched visibly and dropped a rope. “He believes he does. For now,” she muttered, and glanced up into the sky. Haliel was nowhere to be seen although Capricorn walked along an invisible fence at the nearest phantom house.
“You care about him, too,” said Brynn, silently daring Jen to go with the I care about everybody in the Hunt approach.
Instead Jen sat on the ground and put her head in her hands. “I don’t know. Once I thought—But it doesn’t matter now. We’re colleagues. Teammates, as you said.” She rubbed her forehead. “I keep trying to remember that.”
Brynn remembered Cat stretching out an arm to Jen earlier, when he’d been sitting where she was now. “But he keeps reaching for you, which makes it hard?”
Jen glanced up, her blue eyes shadowed. “This morning? That was… that was the first time he’d ever done that. He never wants anything from me. I’ve never known how to deal with that. This morning…” She sighed. “I suppose I’m glad you were there.”
Brynn clenched her teeth, very unhappy she’d been there. She stretched out on the cot and put her arm over her eyes. She demanded of the horses, Why won’t you let them figure this out?
The Hunt would be twisted again, said Gold Horse, one of the quieter ones. Mortal passions so often turn toxic. Look around.
Sunset Horse said, He can’t help it. He was made to love somebody.
I thought explaining that to Jennifer would help, said Earth Horse. But it didn’t.
Brynn put her hands over her ears out of habit. When she’d first adopted the horses, using the magic Tia had given her to pull them out from under their abusive previous riders, she’d been so happy. She had finally found a way to contribute, despite being the most ordinary person in the team. The horses had needed her, and she’d been able to save them, like a hero in a story. In return, they’d been wise guides and teachers to their new riders.
Over the past year, she had never regretted becoming their keeper, no matter the inconveniences of her magical tattoos or the late-night herd gossip sessions. But she was becoming increasingly convinced that their ‘wisdom’ was based on a very narrow view of humanity. And Earth Horse telling Jen that Cat was ‘made to love somebody,’ didn’t seem very wise at all.
She lowered her hands and made a crabwise attempt to pry more answers out of Jennifer. “Does Cat’s origin bother you, Jen?”
Jen, who had been digging through some storage cubes they’d hauled over that morning, paused while pulling out some foil bags of freeze-dried food. “Brynn, why are you so worried about this right now?”
“Because you and Cat are both being strange today, and because I always worry about you. I just… didn’t know what I could do.”
“You can’t do anything,” said Jen gently. Then she glanced up in the sky again. “I’m sure—” Her voice caught again. “I’m sure once we’re done here and we get away from this place, things will go back to normal.”
Brynn stared at her. “Are you afraid of Haliel?”
Jen wrapped her arms around herself. “I… I really wish she wasn’t here. Except the part of me that thinks it would be better for Cat to stop pretending he’s something he’s not, and then I want her to go and take him with her. And that thought hurts a lot more than it should.”
Brynn set her jaw and sat up. She’d heard enough to come to a decision, although she was still feeling out exactly what it was. In the meantime, she said, “Can I at least give you a hug?”
Jen gave her a pained smile and unfolded one arm for Brynn. “Of course.”
Brynn squeezed her for a moment, then kissed her cheek. “Everybody loves you, you know. Not just Cat.”
Capricorn unexpectedly said, “Sometimes love can be very frightening to the beloved.” He was perched on the camp chair, watching with a small smile. “Especially if they’re beloved for reasons that don’t match their self-image.”
Brynn gave Capricorn a scathing look. “Why are you butting in?”
“Oh dear, I’ve been rude, haven’t I? I thought perhaps the clever Jennifer might wish to reflect on something else. So I came over to help.” His smile widened, and Brynn stared at the way his lips curved and his eyes danced until what he’d actually said sank in. At first, she was angry, but then she realized he was being kind where she’d been cruel.
“Oh,” she said, subdued. “Yeah. Do that.” She went back to the cot and stretched out again, laying her head on her hands.
“Is it insulting if I compliment you on how well-read you are, my friend?” Capricorn asked Jen.
Jen, staring at the freeze-dried packets she’d laid out, raised her gaze. “Not at all. Thank you. My master was an old nephil, and I loved finding little pieces of trivia she didn’t know.” She smiled at a memory. “Or, more likely, that she’d forgotten.”
“Did that include trivia about relics?” asked Capricorn.
Jen tilted her head. “I don’t remember, but I doubt it. The basic concept is a common topic, and as you saw, I don’t know much of the more obscure details.”
Apologetically, Capricorn said, “I haven’t looked into mortal writings on the matter in some time. Is the ritual for destroying a relic included in that basic concept?”
Brynn sighed and rolled over as Jen and Capricorn started a scholastic discussion that was even more obscure and technical than the conversations Jen had with Yejun and Cat. Eventually, bored, annoyed, and lulled by the gentle murmur of voices, she drifted off to sleep.
It took Amber and the others what seemed like hours to get through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath Tucker. As soon as Brynn walked away, the extra corridors vanished again, but even at its simplest, the tunnel complex still ran under the entire town and seemed to have boarded-up entrances all over, as well as inexplicable dead ends, confusing loops and unexpected joins.
Amber met Cat at a T-intersection and they both turned toward the unexplored branch and walked together for a while, following Nod and Heart.
“This is really, really boring,” Amber complained. “I tried going faster but Nod had a fit.”
“Poor Amber,” said Cat, and she glared at him.
“I suppose you find this fascinating. I bet all these stupid lines mean something to you.”
“They mean we’re getting closer to being able to resolve this haunt.”
“That’s just a guess. This could be a red herring.”
“Yes, it is much easier to complain about somebody else’s plan than make your own, isn’t it?”
Amber stopped dead, but Cat didn’t. When she caught up with him again, she said, “Why are you so cranky lately?”
At first she didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he said, “I think joining the Wild Hunt was a mistake.”
Instantly Amber clutched at Cat’s arm. “What the hell is wrong with you guys?” she cried. “Jen and I would be dead without the Hunt. I thought you cared about her, at least.”
Cat turned on her swiftly. “What’s wrong with you, Amber? You’re so dependent on the Hunt but all you want to do is complain while other people solve problems.”
This struck Amber as so deeply unfair that she was speechless. She wanted to point out that she’d developed the theory and made the plan that had gained Imani’s account information. But she’d promised Yejun she wouldn’t share details.
Then Cat turned away again. Heart came back from down the corridor and put a paw on his leg, and he crouched down to scratch her shoulders as she leaned on him. “In any case, I didn’t mean rebooting the Hunt was wrong. But I’d be more help to Jen if I hadn’t stepped in.”
“It needed six,” said Amber, sullenly.
Cat sh
rugged. “There were other mortals there. It didn’t have to be me.”
Amber’s brow wrinkled. “Jen held out her hand to you. I remember that. She wanted you with her.”
“She didn’t know then what I would turn out to be, or what taking responsibility for the Hunt would do to her.” Cat stood up again.
Amber wasn’t having it. “You never hid what you were, except maybe by wearing those stupid glasses.”
“That’s what I was, Amber. Not what I am.” He started walking again, Heart remaining close by his side.
Nod glanced back, his ears flat, and Amber understood exactly how he felt. “You know, if I could, I would vote you off the island right this minute,” she snapped, matching Cat’s stride. “What the hell are you, then?”
He didn’t answer. When, shortly after, they came to another intersection, Amber was all too ready to return to the boredom of ambling after Nod. Some time later, when she briefly passed Yejun, she told him, “You and Cat both make me sick!” His hurt, puzzled look made her feel better, until it made her feel worse.
She could only guess at the passage of time, but she thought it took an hour before she and Cat once again walked together. Possibly it was even the same corridor. This time, she resolved not to speak to him at all.
Then he said, “I make her unhappy, and I don’t want to do that. But I can’t understand what she wants from me, and she won’t let herself tell me, because she’s convinced it’s wrong.”
So much for resolutions. Cautiously, Amber said, “I always thought Jen was sort of… naturally unhappy. She seems like a worrier. I thought she enjoyed it.”
Cat glanced at her. “She wasn’t unhappy when I first met her. Those first few weeks, before Sen died, she was… satisfied with her life. She thought I made things more complicated, but she wasn’t afraid of what might come, because she trusted Sen. Sen made all the important decisions, Sen took care of her, and Sen liked me.”
“Oh,” said Amber, digesting this. She found herself re-evaluating Jen, re-examining all of Jen’s behavior since the Hunt had reformed. Suddenly it was no longer the natural behavior of a middle-aged woman. She saw in Jen somebody trying desperately to be something she didn’t know how to be, not because she wanted to do it, but because somebody had to do it.
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