Page 36 of Seizing Control: Part Two

She is caught in the same headspace as I am.

Proud to be Gabriel’s protégé.

Awed at the monumental responsibility he’s just bestowed.

“So, we’re the A-Team,” Hunter announces almost cheerfully.

“Looks that way.”

With a sharp nod, the nineteen-year-old takes a seat across the table from me.

He spins his file around and starts reading.

“This is some world-class research... didn’t even know half of this stuff about myself.”

“Thank you,” Layla replies. I can tell that she’s wary of Hunter, and it bothers me because I know he wouldn’t hurt a fly. It’s understandable with her history, yet I’m offended on Hunter’s behalf. Her eyes flash as she scans my ex-club brother from head to toe. “Care to explain where you got the pendant?”

I follow her focus to chain around his neck.

Dressed in a tailored suit that is obviously new, the gold necklace is a recent addition. While heavily inked up, Hunter has never been one for jewellery. It causes sensory overload, something we learnt the hard way when he wanted to get his ears pierced as a pre-teen. Even the sensation of diamond earrings in his lobes was too much to handle.

“This?” he asks, pulling the chain free. I see the hunting knife charm with the sapphire inlay and my own suspicions ratchet to one hundred. “Venom left it for me... it came with a handwritten note quoting John 11:25 from you.”

I match Hunter’s expectant look with one of my own.

“Sure,” I offer in a voice that doesn’t betray my confusion. “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”

“Figured it meant you had faked your death,” Hunter replies. Eyes flashing, he smiles wide. “And I was right.”

Layla scoffs, “Amazing.”

Hunter doesn’t grasp her sarcasm. Instead, he nods then happily returns to his reading. While our latest recruit, the man I’ve been tasked with turning into the Adjudicator’s secret biological weapon is side-tracked, I exchange another look with Layla. We’re both on edge, uncertain as to how we should proceed. It’s clear that Gabriel has conscripted Hunter to the curia for a reason, and he’s used the younger man’s connection with me to assist him in the ruse.

He wants him with us, to test us, to better us.

I’m not certain of Gabriel’s motives.

But I am sure of one thing.

He’s made my life a hell of a lot harder.

Finding common ground with Slash is key to making Lily happy.

How am I supposed to do that when the man-bunned menace is pissed at me for dragging his lonely surviving brother deeper into the underworld?

Slash was irate when I used Hunter against Brutus, I can only imagine how he’s going to react to this development.

My mind works overtime for the rest of the day.

Through Hunter’s initial induction.

My session with my speech therapist.

A Brazilian jiujitsu class

Another infuriating literacy lesson.

The results of my latest psychological evaluation.

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