Selene is only 16 years old, and she's a monster hunter. Werewolves are her specialty... and her curse. In fact, she shares their keen sense of smell.
Four months ago, a pack of werewolves kidnapped Raoul, her best friend, her only love. Selene will...
For returning readers, here's the new introductory chapter—leaner and featuring a fresh presentation of our heroine. For new readers, please disregard these lines, but thank you for being here, and enjoy the story!
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In seven years of hunting, Selene had learned that monsters don't hide in the woods or the dark. They aren't found in abandoned houses or city slums. Monsters hide in plain sight. They are in the squares among us.
On an August evening in 1995, young monster hunter Marco Bianchi sat at Café Zamboni. He was as unremarkable in appearance as he was in name, marked by the bored demeanor of a spoiled child. Sitting alone, he toyed with his second Negroni using a straw. The orange slice was drowning in the now ice-diluted cocktail, and the condensation on the glass spread across the table, hinting at the young man's impatience. Marco glanced at his watch again.
"Is that brat coming or not?" he muttered to himself.
Just then, a fiery red leather jacket appeared in the middle of the street. Marco saw a young woman staring at him. No one would have guessed she was only sixteen: she had jet-black hair and dark, enigmatic eyes. But what stood out most was a small device on her nose, black and squared, like a protective guard after a nasal injury.
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The girl raised a card to identify herself; it was a playing card, with a diamond cut by a large X on the back, while the front depicted a hunter armed with a spear.
Marco sighed, leaving fifteen thousand lire on the table without asking for change, and joined his young colleague on the street. He looked around discreetly; as soon as he was close enough, he whispered the password.
"'Night falls'?"
"Raise the lances" should have been the huntress's response, but the girl wasn't one for formalities: "Let's move," she simply said, taking the lead.
Marco didn't bother to hide his irritation, but it was clear the young huntress didn't care. The Bolognese hunter watched her back, so slender yet authoritative; apparently, what was said about her was true. She would be a tough nut to crack.
Her name was Selene Silvestri. Despite her youth, she was a ranger, a trans-regional monster hunter. Most monster hunters operated within their region's confines, always answering to the Master Hunter of the alcove. Rangers, however, had the guild's permission to work across the peninsula. Marco had known some rangers, but they were all old fogies, hunters from another era like Lucas "the pirate." Yet, it wasn't her status that struck him the most and filled him with envy. The most surprising thing was Selene's exotic expertise. There were hunters skilled in tracking fairies, reptiles, or magical felines. But this young woman specialized in werewolves.
The two hunters reached Piazza Giuseppe Verdi, where a crowd of young, rebellious souls sang with guitars and drums. They made their way through the crowd to the door at number 2. Above the entrance, a fresco of Christ's deposition added a touch of the sacred to the profane evening. Marco pulled out his tools and, looking over his shoulder with a criminal air, began to pick the lock.
He tried to do it slowly and gently, not to attract attention, but he was taking too long. So, Selene pushed him aside. She grabbed the pick still hanging in the lock and, with two sharp twists, broke it open. She entered, followed by the humiliated boy.
"I could have opened it," Marco muttered as they climbed the stairs.
"Yeah, sure."
"We need to stay unnoticed; you can't just barge in and—"
Selene stopped abruptly, turning sharply: "You were so nervous they would have noticed you from the other side of the square. I know my job, so shut up and let's go."
Without waiting for a reply, she reached the landing above the arcade. There were three doors, but Selene would have bet a hundred thousand old liras that their door was the one on the right. The handle was covered in scratches; typical when a werewolf lives in the house.
Selene grabbed and slightly turned the handle. It was open.
"Are you sure he's out?" she asked Marco, alarmed.
"Hey, I know how to do my job too."
The huntress would have preferred if her colleague explained the source of his information rather than acting resentful, but she decided to bite her tongue. When hunting monsters, the hardest part is getting along with your partner, especially a new one. Selene would have preferred to hunt alone or with Lucas if necessary. But the Bologna hunters insisted Marco was the expert on the university district and would handle it. Reluctantly, Selene accepted, offering the bit of meekness she reserved for times of need. After all, the stakes were high: she was doing it for Raoul...
Selene opened the door, and they entered their target's apartment.
The hunt had officially begun.
***
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