Page 38 of (Mostly) Human Resources

“You sent the wrong boy for the job.”

Alexys froze. Opal’s heavy gaze was unwavering and unnerving.

“I … I …” Alexys swallowed. “I didn’t send him—not here. Like I said, we were meant to meet in Charleston.” Alexys was starting to panic.

Opal shook her head. “Poor thing looked greener than spring’s first daisy.” She scoffed, regarding Alexys as if Elliot’s lack of knowledge was somehow her fault. “Where did you say he was from?”

She hadn’t, but Alexys told her, “He’s originally from California.”

Opal waved a hand to dismiss whatever else she was going to say before it could even come out of her mouth.

“The fool didn’t stand a chance.”

CHAPTER 22

“A Warden’s number one enemy is their ego. We aren’t heroes, and we aren’t invincible. Wardens have to respect the creatures we’re facing and know when a job is beyond our abilities.”

Journals of Warden Michael Keane

Dread settled heavily in Alexys’s stomach.

The past tense of Opal’s words was freaking her out, and the memory of her nightmare from earlier in the week reared its head once more.

“What do you mean?”

“That boy had no idea what he was dealin’ with. These mountains are crawling with monsters, and here comes this young man with no experience or knowledge of heritage. You might as well o’ killed him yourself.” Opal spat into a tin beside her chair and rose to shuffle into her kitchen.

“Sorry, what do you mean by that, Opal?”

She came back with a pitcher of dark liquid. Opal poured herself a cup of whatever it was and offered Alexys some, but she turned it down. Alexys was too sick to her stomach to drink anything.

Sinking back into the armchair, Opal gave a heavy sigh and said, “He heard whistling off in the field last night and decided to investigate. I tried telling him not to go, but he was having none of it. Ran right off into the woods like a hound after a hare.”

Alexys balked.

Elliot not only ran off on an unsanctioned investigation, but he went against the most fundamental rule of Warden training. Even Alexys, a proud HR desk jockey, knew the handbook told Wardens not to chase after strange noises in the woods practically on page one. It should’ve been common sense.

“Is the whistling common around here? Did … did Elliot get to the bottom of it?” She swallowed. Suddenly her mouth was incredibly dry. “A bird, possibly?”

The look Opal gave her told her exactly how stupid the question was, and Alexys bit her tongue to keep from saying something sharp. “Of course not. Nothing whistles in these parts at night ’cept the Holler Walker. Even the frogs are quiet.”

Alexys was going to be sick.

Why, why, why did she ditch Dyre at the hotel?!

His encyclopedic monster knowledge would have proven endlessly helpful in that moment as she tried to understand how frogs were at all relevant to the situation or Elliot’s disappearance. Not to mention the insight he had on the Hollow Walker Elliot was chasing.

“And, you’ve seen this … um … Hollow Walker?”

Opal waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t you be worrying your head about things like that.”

Alexys could feel a panic attack coming on. “I’m not asking for me. I need to know what Elliot went after.”

“Just write down in your fancy little book that he disappeared and go on home.”

“That’s not …” Alexys took a deep breath. “I don’t think you understand the situation.”

Opal raised a skeptical brow.