Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter Five

By the time the lectures were finished for the day, I had just enough time to get back to my office, change into my hunting gear, and respond to all of my text messages from Louis. He'd sent me a reminder for the Division 01 meeting at 17:00, as well a dinner inquiry. While I didn't really want to accept it, I did, knowing that going ahead with it and doing small, token gestures would be my best bet for keeping him off my back.

Besides, dinner was easy. It was about half an hour, which I could fill with talking about old times, something that didn't put me in a compromising position, as well as put Louis at ease.

Fucking hell, it wasn't even close to nightfall and I was exhausted.

I trekked through the corridor, heading to the same meeting room I'd been in a few hours earlier, entering to find, yet again, I was the last one there. I really needed to do better, either as the Glass Hunter or as myself. Both of my identities really shouldn't be late to every single meeting Louis held.

"Glad you could join us," Louis said, quirking a brow at me, his hazel eyes tracking me as I pulled out the chair at the foot of the table and sat down.

"Thought you'd get mad if I started skipping meetings this early on," I said, smirking. As the Glass Hunter, I could have a bit more fun with him without getting bitched out. While he never showed it much while I was Alexei, I knew damn well he had a wicked sense of humor.

Rolling his eyes with a slight smirk, he looked to the rest of the team, all of which already had their masks removed. "As we still don't have any orders, we're mostly here to review a handful of points that I didn't make yesterday. This shouldn't take too long." He leaned forward in his chair, folding his hands on the edge of the table. "Firstly, since we know who everyone is—well, with the exception of you," he said, nodding at me, "—we don't need to meet on a set schedule. Instead, when orders are trickled down or anyone hears anything significant, we can call a meeting then. It's just a waste of time to meet every few days with nothing happening."

Louis looked back over at me. "As for you, since I have your phone number, I'll relay it."

I nodded.

"There are only two other things that need to be addressed. One of those is the issue of gossiping among Hunters that are not in this room. It has come to my attention that people that aren't in this room are aware that the Glass Hunter is among us. In addition to this, while I don't care that some of the others know my identity, I'm already a target for the Aquireign as I have ties to the counseling group. Informing others that either the Glass Hunter or I am here could be detrimental to us."

"You're going to be a target anyway, so what's the harm in getting it out there and informing everyone else?" Abigail—the cyber department's chair—said, a frown furrowing her brows as she stared between the two of us.

"We don't want to draw any unnecessary attention—"

"Not to mention the fact that we're still going off nothing but your word that he's actually the Glass Hunter. With you two bouncing information back and forth, and wanting us to keep quiet about it, something doesn't seem right," Meredith said, jumping on Abigail's band wagon.

They were legitimate concerns, concerns that I worried would come to light the further we got into the situation. Still, I hadn't thought gossip control would be what sparked the discussion of potential lying and secrecy concerns.

"I have my record," I said, sitting up and passing the folder papers in my pocket to the right, allowing the group to pass it around. "And, the harm, Abigail, is the fact that shouting from the rooftops that the only two people that survived the slaughter of the Aquireign's emperor and guard are here and ready to fight again not only puts us in danger, but it also puts everyone on this campus in danger, including the students." I sat back in my chair, watching as my record worked its way closer to Louis. "Personally, I wouldn't care if the Aquireign showed up right now and wanted to start a war. I wouldn't care if you told the entire world that the Glass Hunter was sitting two chairs down from you. What I give a shit about is the fact that we have the best and brightest upcoming Hunters here. Louis and I are the targets, we'd be the prize, but what would be a better way to celebrate than to decimate the upcoming threats that have the most potential and studied under Louis and I?"