Page 64 of (Mostly) Human Resources

“Oh,sowise. I bow before your wisdom,” Alexys retorted.

“As you should.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and snapped, “Well then, enlighten me. How exactly are we supposed to get Elliot back?”

“Assuming the Hollow Walker even has him and has chosen to keep him alive?” Nic tilted his head. Ever the devil’s advocate. “Frankly, it’s more likely he’s been eaten, or whatever else it does with its victims—the limited accounts are somewhat contradictory.”

Nausea and fear drained the color from her face as a horrific montage of deadly fates and old case reports flashed through her mind’s eye. “Really helpful, Dyre. Fantastic moral support. Thank you.”

Nic at least had the decency to wince. “I’m sorry, Keane. I want to find your Warden just as much you do, but I’m simply trying to be realistic.”

“Maybe you should try a little less.”

The silence that settled between them was tense and all too familiar. Neither of them was ever willing to concede to the other, so Alexys didn’t expect anything in the realm of an apology from him. Instead, she wrestled with the feeling that she was drowning under the weight of her own expectations and fears. She felt as if her brain was a broken record, parroting,You’re out of your depth, over and over again.Elliot Harman is dead.That joined in too.

She sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. She had to stay positive, even if Nic couldn’t—it was the only thing she actually had any control over. Alexys turned her body toward the mouth of the cave. Staring out into the nothingness was somehow better than staring at Nic’s stoic face. So typical of him to ruin a nice moment. Not that it could be helped, Nic’s personality was entirely to blame, she was sure of it. His complete lack of empathy was more than enough to curdle her affections like milk left in the sun—there would be no saving it.

Nic, oblivious to the funeral Alexys was holding in her mind for theiralmostfriendship, picked up their backpacks. She felt him studying her profile before saying, “I’m going to move our things further into the shelter so they stay out of the rain.”

She didn’t object, but she didn’t offer to help either.

The rain outside continued to fall, drumming a steady rhythm against the trees and the earth. She could scarcely see through the water and the darkness cast by the heavy rainclouds overhead, but she knew they were running out of time. They were losing daylight they couldn’t afford to lose, and Alexys already knew to be very afraid of what lurked after sundown.

CHAPTER 35

“Despite their harmless outer appearance, Jackalopes are known to be hostile. However, the lack of proper behavioral documentation has made it difficult to gage just how much of a danger they pose to the general public.”

Jaws and Maws: A Study of Carnivorous Cryptidsby Makenna Petera

After a few moments of blessed quiet, she heard a rustle near Nic’s side of the fire. Alexys didn’t bother to look up from where she’d tucked her head against her knees. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her miserable expression.

“You better be here to apologize,” she said into her soggy jeans. “Otherwise, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Of course not,” Nic replied. He sounded like he was a bit further away than his seat by the fire, and his voice had an odd lilt to it.

“Are you allergic to apologies? Because I don’t think I’ve ever gotten one from you.”

“Of course not,” he said again, in the same strange drawl.

Alexys looked up to see what his problem was but he wasn’t there. Instead, sitting near the edge of the shelter, half-shrouded by the forest’s oppressive darkness, was a rabbit.

Alexys stiffened. This wasn’t an ordinary rabbit. Why should it be? That would be too easy. This rabbit had light gray fur and was roughly the size of a dog. But strangest of all was the pair of delicate antlers perched behind its bright red eyes.

Alexys stared at bunny. Only, it wasn’t a bunny at all. It was a Jackalope.

While it was true that she knew very little about the monsters in the world, shedidknow what Jackalopes looked like because of a video Elliot had sent her two months prior. Albeit extremely shaky thanks to some shoddy camerawork, the extremely excited narration Elliot gave her had documented the characteristics of the creature fairly well. Gray fur, three or four times the size of a normal rabbit, and a pair of antlers on its head.

Alexys couldn’t remember anything else about them. Rabbits were usually fairly docile animals and tended to avoid humans in the wild, so it stood to reason that Jackalopes were most likely the same. The delicate antlers were reminiscent of a deer, which were also skittish and known herbivores. Putting the two together, Alexys thought with confidence, a Jackalope would be the same. A double dose of timid. Dyre could use some of that.

Grinning at her own joke, she admired the creature in front of her.

The Jackalope hopped a bit closer and stopped just inside the mouth of the cave. Its gray fur glowed in the dim firelight, raindrops shining as they dripped from delicate whiskers.

“Dyre is missing out,” she whispered. “You’re beautiful.”

“A compliment?” The words came from the Jackalope’s mouth, but they were said in Nic’s voice.

A chill brushed over her skin, and Alexys laughed nervously. “That’s a neat little trick you’ve got there.”