Page 301 of Flirting with Darkness

All extraneous thoughts ceased, and Nova only cared about the hunt. She cared about becoming the monster that monsters were afraid of.

She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, loosening the tightness in her neck. Flexing her fingers, then turning her hands into fists, she stretched the armored fingerless gloves across her knuckles.

The weight of the gear settled into her, familiar and welcome.

Nova studied her reflection and pulled up the hood. A single thought and the shadows settled over her eyes, hiding any distinguishing features, including her scarred eye. With her height and the gear, Nova knew she didn’t look like a woman.

That was the whole point.

Becoming this monster who hunted monsters allowed her to live a normal life. The two sides were separate, and no one came after her or her family for revenge.

Her mission was sanctioned. There was nothing in this city she couldn’t do.

She left through the window, using the gutter to climb to the roof as quickly as possible. Nova ran and jumped from roof to roof, using the hunter speed and strength she’d been born with.

It wasn’t easy to keep it hidden. Acting like a witch all the time was harder than she’d thought it would be. Nova didn’t have to hide who she was growing up. She’d never had to pretend. She’d only ever hunted as this creature.

No one cared what she looked like under these clothes and it was the most freeing experience.

People didn’t want to protect her. They didn’t think she needed someone else to keep her safe. No one came hunting her. Not like those wolves had.

Nova made her way across the city. It would have been easier to use her bike, but Dex had seen her ride it so that was no longer an option. She’d need to get a backup. Something a dude might ride.

Crouching on the edge of a roof, she wrapped the darkness around her and took a minute to listen. No one was screaming, and there was energy pulsing in time to her heartbeat.

Everything seemed normal for a Saturday night.

There was no doubt shit was happening behind closed doors she couldn’t pick out among everything else, but Nova had no intention of walking by if someone needed help. There were too many disgusting predators walking the streets, and a lot of them were human.

Nova went for the accounting firm first. That would tell her where the money was going.

Her orders hadn’t changed, but she was tired of waiting around to see what would happen. Reports of out-of-control magic were difficult to track unless it was happening all the time, and there was the chance someone was making false reports to be an asshole.

But Nova refused to leave Seattle without making sure it was safe and no one was going to expose them to the humans. The Council didn’t care about the first as much as they cared about the second and, not for the first time, she wondered why she’d insisted on getting a Council contract.

Sliding down the wall, she kept to the natural shadows, darkening them to make sure no one and nothing could see her, not even the best security cameras.

She had to be careful about that too, since Dex knew she could do it. It was easier to stick to places with as little light as possible.

Nova was careful not to use her magic as a hunter unless she had to, but now she had to be doubly careful since she was walking around as a witch.

It took no time at all to disable the alarm and pick the lock. The Council gave them all a set of lock picks, but Nova didn’t want them tracking what she did with it, so she used her personal one. Coming from a large family of hunters, she had access to a lot of toys and weapons most didn’t have.

Something about that made her sad for the other hunters, but it had been difficult connecting to them. Nova had been raised differently and with the death of her sister hanging over her, she’d had something to prove to her family.

And herself.

Gianna’s death had to be worth something, or what was the point? If Nova wasn’t the best hunter out there, her sister died for nothing.

Silently, she closed the door behind her and locked it. Then she kept to the walls, eyeing the security guard in the front of the building. Taking the stairs was the best option, but there was no way to go about this without letting the cameras catch her.

Not if she didn’t want to use her gift.

Creeping up behind him, she kept her ears perked for sounds of the other guards she knew were somewhere.

Nova wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, covering his mouth with her hand. It only took a few seconds to put the wolf shifter out. Then she arranged his body, so it looked like he was napping, not unconscious.

Checking the cameras, she located the other guards and then made a run for the stairs.

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