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Hazel’s eyes drifted warily to the gun Ash had palmed in his suspicion. She wasn’t fond of its presence, nor the implication it bore. There was no need to bring a gun unless he was willing to use it, and doing so would break the treaty. These two factions she stood in between were so frustrating in their disputes. Like oil and water they were, and both were wearing her down to the bone as of late. But, as she raised her vision to focus back on Ash, she could not resent him for his instinctual turn to violence. In fact, his obvious concern for her safety—despite the fact that it was extended to the entire human race—moved her. Both of the hunters’ distrust and abhorrence of the fay folk was genuine and true and stemmed from the nobleness of their hearts; that was the only thing that kept her from vilifying them herself. If only she could get them to see that, like humans, the fay were not all evil. In fact, most of them weren’t. But Hale and Ash were hard-headed and too marred by their own experiences to heed her. 

“I’m fine, Ash.” She scrutinized his face, throwing in a smile for good measure. “I’m not afraid of them; I have no reason to be, and neither do you.” Though shaken by her odd exchange with Luca, Hazel’s convictions remained true. The higher-ups may have taken to strong-arming her, but they would never hurt her. Nor would they hurt the hunters, if they would stop breaking the rules. 

Suddenly, the man in front of her seemed to transform—assumed a different sort of edginess. She couldn’t help but crack a grin looking at him. From soldier to socially awkward in a blink of an eye; it was charming. She and he were no better than acquaintances, despite inhabiting the same small town; despite the fact that she had been born and raised here. But she had been homeschooled, and so did not have the advantage of forming bonds through the public school system. After graduating, she had done a stint at the public college, but had not seen him there either. She had become more familiar with Hale through this and that, but did not know even him as she would have liked. 

Her endearment towards Ash’s disposition met an abrupt end when she realized he was trying to make amends on Hale’s behalf. Smile disintegrating, she squinted into the sun, warring with the bitterness that brushed her heart. Of course Hale would not acknowledge his crimes, because to him they were not crimes: not his unapologetic extinguishing of a life; not even his complete and utter betrayal of Hazel’s good faith. She crossed her arms over her chest and breathed deeply through her nose. There was nothing to be done about that. She would instead focus on the fact that one of the hunters [I]had[/i] come. That counted for something, after all. 

“I don’t think there’s much to talk about; not without Hale here.” She said, fixing her gaze back to the hunter in front of her. “But it was very sweet of you to come anyway.” And now she smiled again for him. “The effort means a lot to me.”