Page 71 of Soft Flannel Hank

Hank grunted.

Her phone rang again upstairs.

“I should go get that. It’s Shannon,” she said.

Hank nodded, but when she tried to slide off the counter, he pressed into her, smelling the top of her head. She kissed the center of his chest and when she slid forward again, he let her. She disappeared around the corner and Hank listened to the boards creak as she climbed the stairs.

When he heard Anna’s bedroom door close, Hank turned to Nat. “Tell me.”

“They know she’s here. Callum called me about a half hour ago and asked if I would help with their recon.”

“What did you say?”

“Well, like any good mole, I told him to keep me posted. And then I came straight here.”

“Fuck,” Hank cursed.

“Yeah. That about sums it up, good buddy,” Nat said, going to sit at the kitchen table.

“So they just know she’s in World’s End?”

“They knew she’s in World’s End.” Nat took a deep breath. “And they know she’s with you.”

“Goddammit,” Hank growled. “Then she’s not safe anywhere near here.”

“Nope.”

Hank bit the tip of his thumb, something he did when he puzzled. They couldn’t stay in World’s End, but the thought of Esther out on the road alone made him sick to his stomach. He needed to take her somewhere that he could keep an eye on her, away from anyone who could identify them or follow their trail.

“What about your hunting cabin?” Hank asked, his head lifting quickly.

“You mean the cabin up near Cascades that is definitelynota hunting cabin?” Nat emphasized with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah. That one.”

Nat’s eyebrows pinched together in thought. “It’s remote. Nobody knows I have it. Well, except you. They wouldn’t know to look for you there.”

“Right.”

“You’d need to go somewhere tonight, though. Somewhere not here.”

“And then head there in the morning,” Hank finished, and Nat nodded.

He heard the murmur of Esther talking upstairs through his closed bedroom door but couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“I don’t know where to take her tonight,” Hank said, feeling panic nipping at his brain.

“Go to Magda’s,” Nat said with a shrug.

“You’re out of your damn mind if you think I want to drag Magda into this. I don’t want to put her in danger.”

“Magda’s got her whole property warded as hell. Nobody can step foot near her that she doesn’t want to be there.”

“Warded?” Hank sputtered.

“Yeah. Didn’t you know? Magda’s a big-deal witch.”

Hank felt stunned. Should he have known? He knew about vampires. He knew about wolves. He also knew about witches, for that matter. But he’d always thought that Magda just had heightened mother’s intuition.