Page 287 of Flirting with Darkness

A mess.

Missing humans, strange occurrences, dead bodies, territory fights, and strange animal attacks.

So far, the only dead bodies she knew about were the wolves she and Dex had killed. They weren’t part of any pack she knew of since they were in the city. There were a few clubs she’d noticed a lot of paranormals at, and she’d checked out all the shops with the logo in the windows or on their websites.

It was easy to pass as a human, or a witch when she needed to. As a hunter, it was best to remain incognito until she made her necessary arrests or kills.

Hunters made everyone nervous.

At this point, the only thing she could do was to start putting herself in places that would give her access to information, and access to the paranormal community outside the coven.

She stared at her list of paranormal hotspots.

Most of them were bars and clubs and restaurants. The rest were normal daytime shit like construction companies, accounting, and law firms. Nova had no intention of being outside during the day if she didn’t have to, but if it was absolutely necessary, she would.

Growing up in a family with generations of top-notch hunters meant that she’d been trained and trained hard. There were nights Nova lay awake and wondered how the hunters at Morgana were going to survive their first year.

One summer, her father had dropped her into a grey zone where no particular pack or pride lived. It was where most of the loners and feral shifters tended to group up.

He’d armed her with a single knife and a water bottle. Then told her to find her way back home.

That wasn’t even the worst thing she’d had to endure, but it had taught her how to function during the brightest part of the day.

Nova stared at the bar with the arcade and decided she wouldn’t go there tonight. She didn’t want to risk seeing Dex again.

It had been a week since she’d first met him, and there wasn’t a fucking moment that went by she wasn’t thinking about him.

Honestly, it was fucking annoying.

All Nova wanted was the peace and assurance she’d had the day of her graduation.

Cleaning up the table, she encrypted everything, locked the devices, and tucked them inside the mattress. Then she pulled her second suitcase out from under her bed and flipped the top open.

Every gun, knife, bow, and magical weapon she possessed was in there – ready to go when she was. She picked up the mask everyone in her family wore when they went hunting and traced the outline of the jawbone that would lay over hers when she wore it.

Hunters from her family weren’t well known, but the monstrous teeth that would cover her own mouth was a warning they’d given for centuries.

Sometimes it took monsters to hunt monsters.

Nova tossed it on top of her gear. Tonight, she wouldn’t be hunting as a monster.

Instead, she picked up the delicate chain her father had made for her when she was sixteen. It was shiny titanium and enchanted, versatile and gorgeous. Nova liked to wear it as body jewelry, knowing it could behead even a bear shifter.

Wrapped around a witch’s wrists, it would bind their power, and it was long enough she could use it as a whip.

Nova tied it in an intricate pattern around her right forearm, a contrast to the dark runic lines on her left forearm.

Tonight, she would be nothing more than a pretty distraction.

Grabbing the rest of her jewelry, she put the charms in her ears and slipped her mother’s necklace over her head. Nova grabbed two boot knives and sheathed them before sliding the trunk back under the bed.

Her leather pants were tight enough to be sexy, but stretchy enough she could still fight if she had to. Her wedge, knee-high boots made her even taller and were comfortable enough to run in.

She considered her tops and grabbed the slinky black metal. It was a risqué halter top that stopped right above her belly button.

The V-neck was so low she wouldn’t be able to wear a bra. It would be annoying if she had to make a run for it, but the last thing she wanted to do tonight was get into a fight. Nova had to let them all think she was nothing more than a witch for as long as possible.

Thick black eyeliner with wings sharp enough to cut and deep purple lipstick completed her look. Nova grinned at her own reflection, eyeing the runes on her chest. At least she would fit right in.

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