Page 14 of Hunter

Ary and Stephen both relaxed, and a flurry of activity started as makeup and tech people descended on the set.

“That was really good, guys,” Oliver, the head of production, said as he reached the desk. “Mr. Smith, do you have a few moments to redo a couple segments so we can get some additional camera shots?”

“Absolutely. Do you mind if I take a five-minute break to walk around and stretch my legs first?” Ary asked.

Oliver nodded. “Take whatever time you need.”

Ary nodded and grinned his thanks. He stood, grabbed his spear, and vanished from view of the tech room a second later. Samantha didn’t follow, which meant Kana didn’t move either. Instead, he watched her, looking for anything that might explain why she was here in the company of a hunter.

She looked around the room, her gaze stopping to take in every person for a moment, particularly the women. To most people, Samantha probably appeared to be bored and studying the room to find some entertainment. But Kana knew she was actually scanning each person for magical potential.

Check this out, Mika said suddenly. He opened the channel between them so Kana looked out of Mika’s eyes. Mika was crouched low underneath Kana’s desk back in the cubicle space, and the wooden shaft of a familiar spear was right in front of him.

Careful! Kana gasped.

Your spell is working perfectly, Mika replied, his voice dismissive. He’s looking for something.

The spear shaft moved away, and Kana now viewed Ary’s gray slacks as he left Kana’s space and moved into Beth’s.

“Aha,” Ary said under his breath as he bent low over something on Beth’s desk. He studied whatever it was for a long moment, before glancing up to find the name tag that hung at the entrance to everyone’s cubicles. He noted Beth’s name and then strode from the space.

What was he looking at? Kana asked.

Give me a second, Mika replied. He’s still in earshot, and I’ll rustle papers when I jump up there.

Kana tried to wait patiently, but it took far too long before Mika walked out from under Kana’s desk and hopped up first into Beth’s chair and from there onto Beth’s desk. He went to the area where Ary had been standing and found the pad of paper covered in Kana’s scrawl where they had first outlined the questions for today’s interview.

Why would he be interested in that? Kana wondered.

The questions were rather pointed, Sora said. I bet he wanted to know who came up with them.

Damn. Is Beth in trouble?

Nah, Sora replied easily, and Kana could feel him shake his head through their bond. He’ll spend three seconds talking to her and realize she’s not the one he’s looking for.

Beth is refreshingly ordinary, Mika added. He jumped down and headed back to the pillow under Kana’s desk. A pillow that was empty.

Where are you? Kana asked Sora. You’re supposed to stay hidden!

Oh, it’s fine. I went to sniff out that witch’s familiar, and I think I found it, Sora said. Come see.

Kana allowed himself to be pulled from Mika’s mind to Sora’s. When the familiar blinked, the main lobby of the building came into view. Sora was tucked behind one of the support pillars, his gaze focused out the glass front doors. A dog sat just to the right of the doors where it would be out of the way.

At first glance, the dog appeared normal. At about fifty pounds, it had short, well-groomed fur and short, pointed ears. A second look said otherwise. It was a dog in the same way Mika and Sora looked like house cats. The fur was more like a seal’s than a dog’s coat, and the shades of gray and brown were far richer than on any dogs Kana had ever seen. However, they were normal colors from creatures born on the other side. Also, despite the sidewalk outside being full of people at the start of the lunch rush, not a single one looked down or otherwise noticed a stray dog.

You think he has multiple forms like you? Kana asked.

Sora shook his head. There’s no way to tell just by looking at him. I’d have to taste his magic, and I don’t really want to get that close. The dog is full grown, though, so her bond with it is complete.

Kana returned to his own body with a sigh. Which means she’s strong.

Yes and no, Mika said. Having a completed bond means she is able to fully tap into the magic her familiar offers, but it’s still a dog. The derision in Mika’s voice was so stereotypically catlike, Kana had to stifle a laugh.

Mika did have a point though. There was a hierarchy of familiars, and even within familiar types there were stronger and lesser powers. A wild cat like a panther was higher than a housecat within the cat hierarchy, but a housecat was always stronger than a dog because cats as a whole were at the pinnacle of the overall scale. That said, smarter animals like dogs were a close second to cats, which meant Samantha was no magical slouch.

Kana looked at the studio again just in time to see Ary leave the person he had stopped to speak with by the door and head directly toward Beth. It took Beth a moment to notice who was talking to her—she was likely engrossed in updating the teleprompter, which Kana was supposed to be helping her with and would have to apologize for missing later—but once she did notice, Beth immediately went starry-eyed.

Kana couldn’t make out what they were saying. Beth blushed and reached up with one hand to tuck her hair behind one ear. Ary grinned at her after she said something, and her eyes went wide and dreamy again.

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