Adamayurka's Hunt

Chapter Five

I stepped outside of the Shifter room, pulled the door closed behind me, and leaned against it with a sigh. Despite not even broaching the topic with Tokar yet, I knew I was going to need help with the new creatures that seemed to be working in conjunction with the city's vampires. I also knew that despite how helpful he'd proven to be so far, I didn't want that help to come from Tokar and the pack unless I had no other alternative. Although I couldn't think of any other way to get cats fighting on my side.

And the nerve of this guy! To have been following me since even before the attack! That smacked of a stalker of the first order, and working with him would only feed into whatever delusions he had about the relationship between us. Never mind that I found him attractive and somewhat charming when he wasn't going out of his way to act like an asshole. Never mind that the more time I spent with him, the more time I wanted to spend with him.

These were exactly the reasons why I should not work with him. This sort of distraction on the job got people killed.

I decided a couple of rounds on the punching bags in the training room might clear my head and help me figure things out and let me test just how well I'd healed by taking the bracelet off, so I pushed off from the door and headed down the hallway.

I chose a full-sized punching bag in the far corner of the room and removed my sword and crossbow, hanging them on pegs spaced along the wall for that purpose. I left the vambraces with their spring-loaded daggers on; I tried never to be completely unarmed unless I was in the relative safety of my own home. Even then I always had a weapon close to hand.

I started off going relatively easy on the punching bag, letting both my mind and my body do what they wanted. The more intensely the workout progressed, the more I began to see images flickering between me and the punching bag: Syeda giggling as we walked home that night, Tokar in his half wolf form, Syeda's death stare. And then came the guilt. I was attracted to the asshole who had done that to her. What the hell kind of monster did that make me?

I came back to the present, having heard someone calling my name. D'orio stood off to one side of the punching bag, his eyes full of concern as he stared at my hands.

I looked down. Both my hands and the punching bag were covered in blood.

D'orio walked me into his office and began moving around, collecting bandages and antiseptic to take care of my hands.

"It's not like you to be so careless with your hands," he said as he sat down opposite me. "Especially after all of the trouble we just went through to heal you. What is troubling you, my girl? Is it something to do with Tokar?"

I nodded my head jerkily, not quite sure whether I wanted to discuss this with D'orio.

He glanced up from bandaging my hands and tried to catch my eyes, but I wouldn't let him. After a moment, he sighed and returned his attention to my hands.

"Is he the one?" D'orio asked as he wound linen bandages around my left hand.

As he tied off the bandage, his hand purposefully brushed against the lump where the silver bracelet rested under the bandages.

"Is he this one?" he asked, and there was so much anger in his voice that I looked up at him, startled.

"I— yes," I said, finally meeting his gaze.

D'orio nodded. "Why, then, did we cooperate with him today? Why is he still alive?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as he began working on my right hand.

"He has information that I need," I said after a moment. "And unless I can find another Hunter in the city willing to work with me on this, I'm going to need his help. There's also the matter of the safe passage agreement."