Page 9 of Hunter

He was definitely being presumptuous, but Kana agreed with his logic.

And you’ll get to play with your new witch’s room! Mika added, happy with any sort of silver lining.

I definitely need to do something to hide you two tomorrow, Kana told Mika and Sora. Guess I’ll have to open that brand-new box of chalk.

“I’ll need clothes for tomorrow,” Kana said to Ember. They walked inside together, and Kana automatically turned toward his new room.

“If you give me your keys, I’ll have a couple of my wolves go over and grab your things.” When Ember held out his hand, Kana dug into his pocket and passed over his apartment key.

“I’ll need an outfit similar to what I’m wearing now for tomorrow,” Kana explained with a wave toward his dress slacks and button-down. “And all three toothbrushes.”

Ember eyed Mika and Sora, then nodded without commenting. A number of wolves in Ember’s pack knew Mika and Sora could transform into six-hundred-pound primordial cats, but only a select number knew Mika and Sora could also take on human form and would therefore want to brush their teeth. Ember knew far more about Kana than anyone else in the pack, although he didn’t know Kana’s real reason for being nervous about a hunter.

True, most supernatural beings were wary of hunters, particularly since some hunters weren’t overly discriminating regarding whether whomever they were hunting had actually committed a crime. Kana was more worried about being exposed than about being hunted, and he was also worried he had brought his own problems down on the wolves.

All of which was presuming his old coven even cared about him, which Kana doubted. They would absolutely want him back if they knew how strong he was, but he hadn’t left behind any evidence of that when he left. They wouldn’t want him to become a member of their coven anyway. No, they would want to enslave him to take advantage of his powers, and to use him to create strong female children who would become the future of the coven. Kana had fled that life and would fight with everything he had to keep that from ever happening.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Ember asked.

Kana shook his head. “There’s a spell on Mika and Sora that keeps people from noticing that they’re out of place. I want to renew that spell and add an obfuscation rune to ensure the hunter doesn’t notice them at all tomorrow. Aside from that, I don’t have to do anything else tonight.”

Ember’s beautiful half smile was firmly in place as he listened to Kana. “Can I watch?” he asked.

Kana blinked, surprised Ember was interested, but nodded anyway. “Sure. Just don’t muss my chalk lines.”

Ember followed Kana to his room. Kana had to pause just inside the door to admire the space again, awed that he had such a perfect place for his magic all to himself. When Ember closed the door, Sora shifted to his human form. Sora walked over to the shelf where a wicker basket held three brand-new boxes of white chalk. He opened one and pulled out a stick, then put the box away and walked over to Kana.

“Maybe you should add a concealment rune, too, to help hide the fact that magic was used around us?” Sora asked.

“Good idea.” Kana took the chalk and knelt in the center of the room. He ran his fingers over the floor and had to swallow down a lump forming in his throat. His fingers couldn’t find a single blemish, not a dip in the floor or a ridge from the paint. He could draw his circle without worrying anything would cause a break in the lines that would ruin his spell, and Ember and his wolves had gone to all that extra effort for him.

Kana gripped the chalk and bent his elbow to the exact angle, then pressed the chalk to the ground. He spun in a perfect circle and made sure the circle closed by overlapping the line slightly. He changed his grip to stiffen his wrist and loosen his elbow, then drew five straight lines in the center of the circle, each angled to make a perfect pentagram.

Sora was waiting with five white candles in his hands, which Kana exchanged for the chalk. White symbolized protection, and when he placed each one at the junction where the points of the star intersected with the circle, they stood unaided. Sora handed back the chalk, and Kana quickly marked in each separate rune to complete the spell. He studied the finished circle for a few long seconds, looking at every single line and curve to ensure it was perfect before carefully stepping out of the circle.

Kana knelt again and drew a second, smaller circle and pentagram exactly six inches from the top of the first circle. In those six inches Kana wrote the runes to direct the power generated from the big circle into the smaller circle, condensing the spell to exclusively cover Mika and Sora, who would be sitting in the center of the smaller circle when Kana cast the spell.

Sora put the now much-reduced piece of chalk away while Kana looked over the circle again, searching for any breaks in his lines. He nodded and let out a relieved breath when he was satisfied both circles were perfect.

“Why chalk?” Ember asked, his voice soft as if he was afraid of interrupting Kana’s concentration. “I know you drew some circles when we were fighting Octavius, but most of your spell work ended up not using chalk.”

“Chalk is more precise, and I was always taught precision increases the efficacy of spells. The circles I cast without chalk…” He paused, trying to figure out how to say it without sounding boastful. “Not everyone can draw circles with magic, and even of those who can, few of those circles actually work. They’re faster, but often not as strong, and it’s a lot easier to make mistakes.”

“Yours are strong though?” Ember asked.

Kana ducked his head. “For about three years I didn’t exactly have…erm.” Kana didn’t know how to say it without sounding bad, but it was easiest to just rip the Band-Aid off. “I was homeless, so just getting chalk, let alone a smooth surface to write on, was impossible. The only way I could do magic was with an improvised circle.”

Ember glanced at Mika and Sora, who were lounging next to their circle, Sora having returned to cat form while they waited for Kana to be ready. Kana guessed what was going through Ember’s mind: two cat familiars and Kana was male. Kana had received magic training from somewhere, meaning he had been part of a coven at one point but clearly wasn’t now.

“You’re in hiding,” Ember stated as if Kana’s explanation had only confirmed that fact for him. “That’s why you’re so worried about the hunter. If he exposes you, whoever you’re hiding from will find you.”

Kana nodded. “I left my old coven before they realized just what I had bonded to during the familiar calling spell. I’m hoping they have no idea that I have some power, and because I’m male, I’m hoping they have no interest in finding out why I left. I’ve been very careful to try to keep it that way, but having a hunter parading me around would make hiding impossible.”

Ember’s chin flexed. “Then we double your protection,” he said, and his firm voice didn’t allow for any arguments, not that Kana had any inclination to argue if it meant spending more time with Ember.

“Thanks,” Kana replied.

Ember opened his mouth to say something, but then snapped it closed as he spun to look at the side door that led to the kitchen Kana had shared access to. Ember strode over to the door, but instead of yanking it open like Kana expected, he froze in place. Kana heard why a second later.

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