Page 12 of Hunter

KANA BEAT BETH into work, but he had only logged in and opened his email when she hustled into their shared cubicle space.

“You will never guess who I saw downstairs!” she gasped as she dramatically collapsed into her chair.

“Who?” Kana asked obediently.

“The hunter! And he’s a looker, let me tell you.” She fanned herself with one hand while grinning at him. “He and his very buxom secretary were in the lobby when I came up.”

“How do you know it was the hunter?” Kana asked.

“He was carrying a glittering spear. I didn’t know who else he might be. If the higher-ups can convince him to go on camera with that spear, our ratings will be through the roof.” Beth giggled. “Anyway, we should go get the interview room ready now.”

Kana nodded. He hit the buttons to put his computer to sleep and followed Beth down the hall to the studio with the couches and desk setup for interviews. Kana headed directly to the computer that was connected to the teleprompter so he could load the questions onto it, while Beth pulled out the novelty station mugs and pads of paper to decorate the desk and small table adjacent to the couch.

They were almost done ten minutes later when Stephen’s voice sounded from the hall. Kana was crouched down behind the computer, reading through the teleprompter one last time to double-check for mistakes while Beth was working in the middle of the room with the tech guys organizing microphones.

“Let’s get you set up in here first,” Stephen said as he walked into the room. The hunter walked in behind him.

The hunter was wearing a dark-gray suit and a darker-gray tie. His shoulders filled the suit jacket very nicely, and the color offset his dark skin perfectly. His hair was tied in braids tight to his scalp, and in his hand was a spear that emitted magic so strongly Kana felt it from the other side of the room. What Beth described as glitter, Kana knew was actually magical residue dripping from the metal point.

Are his shoulders as nice as your wolf’s? Sora asked, his voice cheeky, yet curious at the same time.

Kana took another glance, and while the shoulders were certainly very nice, Ember’s were definitely better.

No, but I can see why Beth was so enamored, Kana replied.

A third person walked into the room next. Kana caught a glimpse of carefully bleached blonde hair and the buxom chest Beth had described, pushing against the front of her lavender suit jacket, but then he saw her face and immediately ducked lower so the computer could hide him better.

Samantha Bix was a name and a face Kana would never forget, and she was definitely no secretary, for all that she was carrying a stack of papers for the hunter.

From childish taunts, to backhanded comments, to outright, in-his-face verbal sneers, Samantha had been his staunchest detractor. She’d hated the idea that a man was even allowed in the same classroom as her, and the fact that man also claimed to have a bit of magic? She was a very strong witch, and Kana knew her time training with the coven’s inner circle had greatly influenced her negative attitude toward him.

Kana had no idea why she was here though. His coven—and hers—was the second largest in the nation and located in Seattle. The largest was located in Eastern Massachusetts, which was only about a three-hour drive from here. Technically, this territory fell under the jurisdiction of the Salem coven, although that three-hour difference did make it possible for witches like Kana to remain under the radar. Perhaps Samantha was taking advantage of that distance too?

She’s got to be a member of the coven circle by now, Kana said to Sora and Mika. Why is she here with a hunter?

Good question, Mika replied.

She had better not notice you, Sora added. That wouldn’t end well, I think.

Sora was right. If Samantha noticed him, the least she would do was hurl some terrible verbal abuse. Kana needed this job, and he needed to stay on good terms with his coworkers, and Samantha could easily ruin that with a few sharp words. Worst case, she would try to put him in his place with magic, and he would have to defend himself, which would then draw the attention of the hunter and likely have even more dire consequences.

Beth finished with the microphones and wandered over. “Man, that hunter is really something, huh?” She grinned at him as if she were barely preventing herself from licking her lips or drooling.

“Do you—” Kana let out a stuttering breath to attempt to force his mouth to form coherent words. He took in a smoother breath and tried again. “Would you like to stay out here and work the teleprompter? I’ll go to the reviewing room in the back.”

“Oh, would I!” Beth said, her smile growing. “I could look at him for the entire interview!”

Kana quickly finished with the teleprompter and stepped back. “All yours,” he told Beth. She eagerly took his place, and Kana hurried off to the back room where all the techs worked, and where a wall separated him from Samantha.

I didn’t see her familiar, Kana said.

Could be spelled like you did to us, Mika replied. Or she left her familiar at home.

Samantha hadn’t been nice to him, but she was a good witch. Kana didn’t think she would abandon her familiar like that, but then again what he really knew about her now was limited. The coven had certainly looked down on people who cooperated with other species and generally would never work together with someone like a hunter, yet Samantha was pretending to be the hunter’s secretary.

Kana pulled out his phone and opened a text message to Ember. The hunter brought a witch, he wrote. She’s from my old coven. I don’t know why she’s here since I don’t think she has permission from the coven in Salem. I’m being careful.

Stay low, Ember texted back almost immediately. I have a car on standby near your office if you need to make a run for it.

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