Page 6 of Huntress and the Splintered Court
“Long enough to see you struggling with your decision.”
I shook my head, still staring at the clothes like they were mocking me. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“But you’re torn.”
Pursing my lips, I nodded. There was no point in lying to him. He’d sense it and it would only breed mistrust between us and I didn’t want that.
Placing his hand on my arm, he turned me until I had no choice but to break my gaze away from the taunting clothes.
“I’m not asking this of you as my mate. You can say no, and I won’t hold it against you. I’m asking a huntress of the Order to help me find my men earlier than normal.”
He gave me an out, but I couldn’t accept it, and I think he knew that. He may not hold it against me, but I would definitely resent myself. He just helped me come to terms faster. “I have to do this. If they’re alive and doing nothing gets them killed, that’s a weight I can’t bare.”
He stared at me seeing the determination in my face and relented.
“Okay, then you need to dress. Trey is ready downstairs.”
Placing my hands on his upper arms, I took a moment just standing before him, almost as if I was siphoning some of his strength. When he saw that I was good, he released me and left me alone to prepare.
Tonight, I was returning to my persona as the huntress.
* * *
As we were headingout the door Adam appeared asking to join. Trey didn’t care for me and I wasn’t sure if the other wolves Gideon had chosen to accompany us had any hidden hostilities towards me, so I welcomed the friendly face. Without my usual squad the mission would be difficult. I’d hand selected each hunter for a purpose and had come to rely on them. Even if time wasn’t of the essence, I couldn’t simply call them to join me even if I didn’t feel the safest with the werewolves. My actions were unsanctioned and the last thing I needed was news reaching my father before I’d found the missing men. The rules were in place for a reason and yet when Gideon made this request of me, I hadn’t been able to refuse.
Perhaps it wasn’t the vampires, I mused. There were other supernaturals in the world other than vampires and wolves. Hell, as Hunters we were diluted Fae. It was why we could handle going up against the otherworldly beings, not that either the Fae or the Hunters owned up to that particular tidbit.
Gideon had laid out the evidence for me that his men had gathered and I too thought it looked suspiciously like vampires, but I wouldn’t dare grace Drake’s doorstep without first crossing all my Ts and dotting all my Is which meant doing my own investigation and gathering my own evidence, even if it lead to the already drawn conclusion.
The wolves’ last known location was a bar called Blink. I expected some little seedy hole in the wall place, but learned it was a decent college bar that gathered a large crowd nightly. As it was still early, and the sun was just beginning its descent below the horizon, I was surprised to see someone was there with the door to the place open, even though their hours clearly claimed they were closed.
“Gideon paid them to let us in,” Trey explained noticing my curiosity.
“What do they think we’re doing?”
“With how much money he’s paying they didn’t ask.”
Stepping out of the car, I could only imagine the sight I made. Here I was dressed in leather that hugged my every curve and clung to me like a second skin. My boots came to rest just below my knee. My leather pants moved with me, and my top appeared every bit like a corset, thanks to the spell cast on the material, courtesy of the local coven, it was all amazingly comfortable and worked to fight in.
The day was warm, so I opted to leave my jacket off. While I’d been granted weapons, they weren’t to the extent I regularly wore which made the jacket unnecessary as I no longer had to worry about keeping them hidden from civilian eyes. My bracers drew the man’s eye before he did a complete sweep over me. They widened at the glint of metal sticking out of my boot. I hadn’t planned on seeing a human, at least not during daylight, so I hadn’t considered how the metal handle would stand out against the black leather.
The man stepped aside as I approached. Trey gave orders to the other wolves to stay outside unless they were needed. The less trampling all over the place the more likely we were to discover something. Adam remained with them as Trey followed me in, lingering near the door. Adam narrowed his eyes at Gideon’s Head Enforcer, which was ignored. Trey was under orders from Gideon to be my shadow. The fact that he was lingering by the door giving me the space I needed and not up my backside was something of a miracle, but it seemed to needle Adam that Trey had issued him an order.
The place smelled of beer, vomit, and bleach. High top metal tables were scattered throughout the room, some with stools, some without. Booths that had seen better days lined the longest wall in the place with a wooden bar directly across from them. The bar itself protruded out of the wall making me believe there was something behind it, perhaps an office or a kitchen. A mirrored wall sat behind the bar. Along its sides were displays of top shelf alcohol. The floors were sticky as I crossed into the room examining the place.
“Surveillance camera shows them sitting…” Trey glanced around getting perspective. “There,” he pointed to a table.
Moving to where he indicated, I searched with my eyes. I doubted any evidence of their presence lingered. After all, it was a bar. People had been in and out since the wolves left.
“How’d they leave?”
“Escorted out the back for rowdy behavior.”
I quirked my brow up silently asking for an explanation. “Vampires?” I wondered. Fighting in the presence of a bunch of humans would be punishable not just by the Order, but Gideon wouldn’t tolerate that behavior either, even more so now that he was preparing to bring the wolves out of the shadows.
He nodded. “They were escorted out too.”
Out the back door into the alley I saw signs of a fight. Footprints, shifts in the dirt, and toppled over trashcans were all a dead giveaway. But what I noticed were the drops of blood. I couldn’t tell whom it belonged to. Trey was inside talking to the man so I couldn’t ask for his help. Instead I flagged down one of the wolves I saw at the mouth of the alley.
