Hunter Academy - Book 1

ENSURING PROTECTION

Dane

I'm giddy as a schoolgirl, and annoying Sam at the same time, something I can't even be sorry for. I've been waiting to see Snow again since I last laid eyes on her. After he went to the storage shed, he came back and picked me up, and now we're riding the elevator to our office floor. Just knowing she's there, that I get to see her sweet face in just a short minute, has me bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Knock it off, D."

"I can't help it! I get to see our Snow!" It took me awhile to finally accept what my brothers told me about Missouri, but once I did I couldn't wait to get the ball rolling on our destiny. Sam sighs and rolls his eyes. He can try to act as indifferent as he wants to, but I know deep down he's just as excited as me. We were both supremely jealous when Leo got home from his interview and told us who it was. How the hell he flubbed telling her about The Academy, I will never know, and I'm not happy about the way he handled it.It's unfortunate that we have to lie about what we do, but he could have handled it a little better. Simply telling her we use aliases to protect ourselves would have sufficed. The bell dings and I'm torn from my thoughts, a giant smile spreading across my face. The doors open and my eyes are immediately drawn to her, my ears picking up the end of what was surely a fit of giggles, her pale green eyes shining with mirth as she looks at Sam and me. She's just as perfect as I remember. The only thing marring the fact that she's here, is the reason she's here.

"It's nice to see you again, even if the circumstances aren't what one would wish they were," Sam says, surprising me. He rarely talks, and never talks first.

"It's nice to see you, too, Choc, erm, Sam." Choc? Now I have to know what she was getting ready to call him. Curiosity always gets the best of me. She must see the quizzical look in my eyes, because she steps toward me with her hand out, interrupting me, "And it's nice to see you, too, Dane." We shake hands, and I swear there was a zing up my arm, at the same time the temperature drops and immediately goes back up. My eyes fly to Leo, and he is looking at me. Well, that will be a conversation for later. We're supposed to be ghost-proof, but that zing was certainly interesting. She moves from me, and holds her hand out to Sam. I keep my eyes on her, and sure enough she flinches when they touch. I look at Sam's face and his eyes are wide looking back and forth from me and Leo. There's something happening here, and I really want to get to the bottom of it. I clear my throat.

"So, Leo, Sam picked up the Ashwagandha root." I direct my attention to Snow, "I'm just going to use the spice grinder to pulverize it into a powder." I say as I walk to the kitchenette. I pull out the spice grinder and plug it in. "Now, you can readily buy this stuff over the counter, but we have a store of some really old stuff. It's a little more mystical in nature than the stuff you can buy. It's an heirloom plant, that dates back into the twelfth century in India." I start the grinder, rendering the root into a powder form. I turn the grinder off, opening the lid and dump the powder into a plastic container with a lid, and make sure the lid is on tight. "You'll mix one teaspoon of the powder into a cup of warm milk and a tablespoon of honey. Drink it right before bed, and you shouldn't have any dreams. You'll continue to do this until we can figure out how to stop this demon."

"About that," she says, "I was reading the stuff Sparta brought to the coffee shop, and it says that the more she, um, feeds, the stronger she gets. I've was thinking on the car ride over that I would love to help you guys figure out a way to stop her. I mean, she's killed two people in front of me, and haunts my dreams. I feel like she has something against me personally. I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me." Wow, Leo wasn't kidding when he said she took this information extremely well. Also, I love that she calls him Sparta. He never lets anyone get away with calling him that. Both my brothers and me are already shaking our heads in the negative.

"No way. That's not going to happen," Leo says. "It's way too dangerous. We've been doing this for years, and have had extensive training." She looks defeated, but it's forced. And fake. She has a gleam in her eyes. I've had that same look on my own face when I tell someone what they want to hear, while secretly plotting to do what I want to anyway. She's determined. I can see it, and she's eventually going to do something that's going to put herself in danger. I make a quick decision.

"Let me see your phone." I hold my hand out. She hesitantly reaches into her purse and pulls her phone out, inputs her pin, and hands it to me. I go into her contacts, see that she's already added Leo under "Sparta." I quickly add Sam's and my contact information. I walk over to my laptop, and plug her phone into it.

"What are you doing?" She asks as she quickly walks over to see what I'm doing.

"I'm downloading three apps to your phone. One for each of us." I nod toward Sam and Leo. I show her on her phone. "The music note is for Leo, the dumbbell is for Sam, and the karate belt is for me." I demonstrate as I talk her through the apps. "When you press the app, two buttons will appear. One green, and one red. The green one will call us. The red one will give us a slight shock to get our attention. They both work whether our phones are on or off. The app overrides anything else that's happening. It will immediately send us your location through GPS. Don't worry, we can't track you unless you use the app. I want you to use these apps if you're ever in trouble." She starts to protest, but I hold up my hand. "I saw that look in your eye. Now, we may not know each other, but I know that look. You are going to do whatever you feel like you need to do to keep people from getting hurt. We will keep you informed about what we are doing and the progress we are making, if you will do the same. That's all I ask." I might be the daydreamer in our family, but I'm also the decision maker. I can keep my head in the game when it's needed. She thinks it over for a minute, and finally nod her head.

"Okay, Pretty Boy," I smirk, "deal. I promise that I will share information with you, if you share with me. And if I ever find myself in a sticky situation, I promise to use your apps." She takes her phone back from me, messing around on it, when I feel a small shock on my butt. I jump slightly and she giggles. "I'm sorry, okay, not really, but I had to see what it would do when I pressed it."

Sam and Leo are laughing their butts off. I'm glad to see it. There hasn't been much to laugh about lately.

"Okay. Now tell me how you take the root."

"One teaspoon in a cup of warm milk with a tablespoon of honey right before bed. Voila, no dreams."

"Exactly." I look at her earnestly. "Please just be careful. Demons aren't something to be taken lightly, and this one is more powerful than most."

"I promise, Dane." Leo and Sam aren't going to be happy I basically gave her the go-ahead to do her own thing, but at least I ensured that she will keep in contact with us about it, and had a way to reach us if something went wrong, and I have a sinking suspicion something will.