The Hunter Beside Me

2: Involved

Owen

After killing the mimic on top of Bash, I hurried to where Lilla dangled from the lanky, paused mimic's hand. His frozen grip was too strong for her to escape.

Shay fled through the front door, but I couldn't leave Lilla like that. Dammit! We'd have to track him down later.

"Could you have found a worse time to pause someone?" I asked as I lifted her with my arm around her waist.

The pressure on her neck lessened, and she wheezed for air. I held her up as I stabbed the mimic in the heart with the other hand. After a few seconds, she ripped his fingers from her throat as he crumbled to the ground.

Gasping, she fell forward onto my shoulder. "I didn't have much of a choice. Pause him and be slowly strangled or let him break my neck. What took you so long?"

I lowered her to her feet and stepped back when she tried to wrap her arms around me. Not letting her die didn't mean I wanted to hug. "I couldn't burst in when Shay was so close to Bash."

Her mouth dropped open. "Oh sure, worry about him! Never mind one of them had me by the neck the entire time."

Ignoring Lilla's bitching, I looked at the room. Nolan had Emily standing, pressed behind him in the corner; their eyes on me. Bash and Shay were both missing. "Where's Bash?" Surely he didn't follow Shay alone.

His stunned friends continued to stare, but didn't respond. Lilla slid to the floor to catch her breath, unbothered. I raced to the entrance; Bash and Shay were long gone, and I didn't even know which way to search.

"Fuck! What was he thinking?" I yelled and kicked the door, making it bounce off the wall with a bang.

Emily recoiled at the noise; whimpering as tears spilled down her face. Shit. I looked around outside one more time before turning to her. "It's okay. I'm sure he'll be back in a minute." At least that was how long he had before I made Lilla track him. Drained or not, maybe she could point me in a direction before she passed out.

Striding toward Emily, I almost laughed when Nolan tried to block her from me. "I won't hurt her, or you. You can relax."

"Yeah, right. You seem normal, nothing to worry about." Nolan stood straighter.

I chuckled. "I'm impressed, man. Kinda surprised you didn't just chuck her at them."

Nolan's eyebrows drew down. "Screw you. I wouldn't let her get hurt."

"What happened to your face?" I pointed at his bloodstained mouth and swollen cheek.

He angled his injuries away and didn't answer. Emily leaned around him to speak. "Nolan stopped the tall guy from grabbing me and the tall guy punched him. Then the one that left told them to leave us alone until everybody got here. He made me call Bash." Her voice cracked, and she cried harder.

I took a step toward her, and she backed away, shaking her head. "What are those people? Why did Bash chase that one?" She peeked at Lilla, and whispered, "Why was he making out with her?"

I snorted. "Making out with Lilla?"

She nodded and kept her eyes down as the tops of her cheeks turned pink. Almost eaten by mimics, and who Bash kisses is the concern. They really were adorable. "Why the hell do you think he'd be fooling around with her?"

Lilla scoffed. "You could sound a little less disgusted, you know. You used to love me."

"Not by choice I didn't." I glanced back at her.

Emily said, "But that guy..."

Lilla sighed. "There's nothing going on between me and Bash. He was threatening me because I didn't want to rush into a house full of mimics." She rolled her eyes and turned to me. "Shay thought you were running Bash's body because he saw him in my face and made assumptions."