Page 83 of Hunted By Fae

They slaughter the survivors.

Once the city is gone, and the smoke has cleared, and their magical otherworldly flames have eaten away at that whole section, the unit moves on. They never stray far from their sections, and they never meet with other units.

Except for the strays.

So that’s my goodbye to Bee, the end of our call.

“Watch out for strays.”

Strays are a constant threat. A wildcard out here.

Strays are the dark warriors separated from their units.

Sometimes a fae is separated from their unit, and as they find their way back, they sometimesstrayoff course.

Those fae are often drawn in by the scent of fresh blood, or humans lurking nearby, and they will indulge in some quick slaughters.

All that time ago, the dark armies marched by us on the road, and one only targeted us after Ramona shot that rifle. If she hadn’t shot, none of those warriors would have broken formation.

Then nothing.

For a while there, I really doubted they were coming back for their Great Return.

Foolery.

Delusion.

Wishful thinking.

Because they did return.

This time, not to snub us or pass us by.

This time, they came with eternal flames burning on torches they carry through the darkness, flames that stick to precise sections as they burn down human settlements.

Bee is insistent, we track them, monitor them—because it’s our only shot at an escape.

Sounds twisted. Backwards.

But Bee has her strategy, her plan: We follow, track, but avoid the dark fae all the way to the edge of this continent. The dark ones will eventually return to where they first arrived from.

And we need to be there for that.

We need to find out how they are getting back to Northern Europe from Canada. How are they crossing oceans?

That is why we follow them.

What I don’t understand is the motivation of the others in our group, why they follow the dark fae with us.

Our plan has only been shared in pieces with the others. Even Emily doesn’t know more than some fragments, that the purpose of us shadowing the dark ones is to find a way to the fae realm.

It’s crazy.

If I was one of the others, like the twins or Carlos or Gary, I wouldn’t be in this group. I wouldn’t follow two crazy ass bitches with a plan to track the fae.

I would be foolish and hide out on some farm, thinking I’m safe out there, maybe take shelter in the basement, then one day a unit would be upon me, and that would be my end.

So, as the door creaks open, and Carlos pokes his head inside, I look at him with consideration, a thought ofhow fucking crazy are you to follow the dark fae through the blackout with no good enough reason beyond ‘it’s safer behind them than in front’?