Secrets in the Hunt (Book 2)

I'm a Hunter

I inhale sharply and sit straight up in bed as someone shakes me. I realize it's Dean and groan before flopping back into my bed.
     "Tori get your ass out of bed. There's a problem." Dean says roughly. I sit back up and yawn, glaring at Dean.
    "What kind of problem?" I ask, blinking as my eyes adjust to the light.
    "One of Gerard's hunters was killed. His body is at some emissary's clinic. Gerard wants to make some big show by all of us showing up. Get dressed." Dean finishes saying, his tone flat before leaving the room. I roll my eyes but throw on clothes that I hunt in and toss my hair into a ponytail. I put a small gun in my holster and stick a knife into my boot before leaving my room, running straight into Allison.
    "Tori? What are you.." She trails off when she glances down at the holster on my hip.
    "Just some business that needs taken care of. I'll be back soon Ally." I say, smiling at her before rushing down the stairs.
    "Oh Victoria, how nice of you to join us. We were just heading out, are you coming with?" Gerard asks, his hand on Dean's shoulder. I glance at Dean, his face locked in a tight line before I nod.
    "Of course." I say, and Gerard grins before leading us out of the house.
****
I purse my lips as Gerard pulls me to the front of the group with Dean, Sam and Chris.
    "I'm starting to think I need a more prominent closed sign." Scott's boss says as we walk around the corner.
    "Hello, Alan. It's been awhile. The last I heard, you had retired." Gerard says, and a look of panic flashes across Scott's boss' face for just a second.
    "Last I heard you followed a code of conduct." He says, his eyes flickering to me before falling back on Gerard.
    "If you hadn't noticed, this body is one of ours." Chris says and Alan looks at him, his face expressionless.
    "I did. I also noticed the gunpowder residue on his finger tips. So don't assume I will be swayed by your philosophy just because I'll answer a few questions." He says evenly.
    "He was only 24." Chris counters, and once again Alan's eyes shift to me.
    "Killers come in all ages." He says, and my blood runs cold as I stare at the man Scott speaks so highly of.
    "I like to think of myself as a hunter, not a killer. That's just the unfortunate end result when you've been attacked by something three times stronger than you. Something that would stop at nothing until your entire family was dead on the ground. I'm not a killer. I'm a fighter, someone who wants to Saving people, hunting things. It's a family thing." I say, glaring at the man I thought I could respect.
    "How about you tell us what you found?" Chris speaks up and Alan's eyes stay on me for another minute before he turns and goes to the body. He turns the head to the side sharply and I wince.
    "See this cut? Precise. Almost surgical. This isn't the wound that killed him. This had a more interesting purpose." He says and Gerard nods.
    "Relating to the spine." Gerard muses and Alan looks at him, a hint of shock on his face.
    "That's right. Whatever made this cut, it's laced with a paralytic toxin, potent enough to disable all motor functions. These are the cause of death. Notice the patterns on each side." Alan hovers his hands over the wounds, imitating slashing the man's sides.
    "Five for each finger." Chris says and I shake my head.
    "Claw." I say, and Alan nods.
    "As you can see, it dug in, slashed upward, eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone of the rib cage with ease." He adds.
    "Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Chris asks Alan. He shakes his head and Chris turns to my brothers.
    "The slashing, sure. Not the paralytic." Sam speaks up.
    "Any idea what killed him?" I ask Alan, crossing my arms.
    "No. But I can tell you it's fast, remarkably strong, and has the capacity to render its victims essentially helpless within seconds." He says and I feel an arm rest on my shoulder. I glance over and see Dean, staring at the man.
    "If you're saying we should be careful, we get it. It's not the first time something bad has gone bump in the night." He says gruffly. Alan shakes his head and crosses his arms.
    "I'm saying you should be afraid. Be very afraid. Because in the natural world, predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey. This prey wasn't eaten. That means whatever killed him only wanted to kill him. In fact, killing may be its only purpose." 
----

I'm back! I know this is just a super short filler chapter, but I'm working on more chapters as I type this. Something I've noticed as I look at this series and the stats of it, is that most people read it without voting or commenting. If possible, I'd love for more people to comment and vote so that I know how you feel about the content that I'm putting out. The next chapter will be up soon!
LydiaRoseMartin