Page 7 of Hunter

“Fine,” Mika and Sora said in tandem.

Kana left them to get ambulatory and headed off to get his day moving. Although, given how well the day had started so far, he couldn’t complain too much.

*

BETH WAS PRACTICALLY vibrating in her seat when Kana walked up to their shared cubicle space. She and Kana had been coworkers from the moment Kana was hired at the Herald, a local TV and newspaper station that was also part of a larger conglomerate. They had quickly become best friends. Beth’s eyes were wide with excitement as Kana joined her at their desks.

“You are not going to believe this!” she said as soon as Kana got within earshot.

“Believe what?” Kana asked. He unzipped the top of his bag to let Mika and Sora out and then stashed it in a drawer in his desk.

Kana was reaching for the button to boot up his computer when she said, “A hunter is coming here!” His finger missed the button, and he flailed as he overbalanced and almost smacked his face into the edge of his desk.

“A what?” he gasped, computer forgotten as he turned to look at Beth.

She nodded. “A hunter. He said he wants to do an interview!”

Kana turned back to his desk to hide his expression from Beth. The last thing he wanted her to notice was him cringing in fear.

“What kind of hunter?” he asked.

“I have no idea, but isn’t it the coolest thing? First, we interview vampires and werewolves, and now we’re interviewing a hunter?”

Kana didn’t know how Beth could blithely ignore that she, and most of the staff at the station, had almost died interviewing said vampires, but he wasn’t about to remind her. Presumably hunters were marginally more civilized than the vampires, and therefore wouldn’t attack humans like Beth, but Kana couldn’t say for sure.

What he did know was a hunter coming here was definitely not good news.

Hunters were the closest equivalent to a police force the supernatural world had. They usually specialized in one particular creature, so a vampire hunter hunted vampires, a werewolf hunter hunted werewolves, and a witch hunter hunted witches. Without knowing what kind of hunter was coming, Kana couldn’t say who was actually in danger.

There was also the fact that he didn’t know why a hunter was coming now. Maybe it was a belated visit by a vampire hunter to double-check the vampires were actually gone, but it could just as easily be one of the dozens of other types of hunters. It could be a witch hunter coming to eradicate the witch helping the werewolves, or someone planning to eliminate the werewolves. Or it could be a simple visit by a hunter to remind magical creatures they should behave because hunters were around.

“Hurry up and open your email,” Beth continued. “The researchers sent over what they found about hunting, and now production wants us to start coming up with potential interview questions.”

Beth was looking at Kana expectantly, so he hurried to turn on his computer. While it was booting, Kana pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

Will one of you call Ember to warn him? he asked Mika and Sora.

Mika uncurled from the pillow he was sharing with Sora and padded over to Kana. I’ve got it. He carefully gripped the phone in his mouth and hurried off to find a spot where he could safely shift into his human form and call.

“When is the interview?” Kana asked. His computer finally finished loading, and he hit the button to open his email.

“First thing tomorrow, I think,” Beth replied.

“So we have today to come up with the questions for the interview,” Kana replied, trying to grouse with Beth, although his voice came out a touch too flat. If the interview was tomorrow, then the hunter was very likely already in the area, and there was no telling what he might be doing.

Beth didn’t notice his reticence. She still sounded chipper, but faintly exasperated when she replied, “That’s more time than we got for that jewelry theft ring story last month. At least this time the researchers have something for us ahead of time.”

Kana forced out a laugh. “True. Let me read through the research really quick, and we can put our heads together and start coming up with questions.” He settled in his desk chair and pulled up the email to start reading.

The researchers didn’t have anything more to add to what Kana already knew. There wasn’t any identification regarding the kind of hunter, nor about why he was here. Kana was just finishing reading the summary when Mika returned.

Ember says thank you for the warning, Mika said as he dropped the phone in Kana’s hand. He’s calling all his wolves right now and insisting if they’re outside a pack house they have to travel in pairs. One of the pair is supposed to call him or a beta for help if they encounter a hunter, and they’re prohibited from engaging in any way. He said it would be good if you did the same.

Makes sense, Kana replied. Last thing we want is a hunter poking around.

I also told him you’re helping write the interview questions, Mika continued. Ember said, if you can, you should try and get all the details about why the hunter is here.

I was going to try that anyway, but it’s good to know Ember had the same idea. Kana scrubbed one hand through his hair and leaned back in his seat. “I don’t understand why the hunter decided to come here,” he said to Beth.

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