Intrigue flashed in those cool eyes, and Nicole suddenly felt like this was a cat-and-mouse game she was very much losing.
‘And just what would you have to bargain with?’
‘Surely I can’t tell you that now, unless you agree.’ Nerves began to tick with her heartbeat.
The placid ice in the woman’s eyes morphed into delight.
‘I know! How about this? You do one hunt for us and give us this bargaining chip, and we let you go, hm?’
Nicole’s pause wasn’t faked. ‘One hunt?’
She smiled. ‘Yes.’
‘What guarantee would I have? How do I know that once I come back to report it, you wouldn’t keep me here?’
The woman didn’t even look down as she turned that blade onto her opposite hand, slicing it with a quick, unflinching slash that pearled up dark red blood. ‘I swear by my blood that if you complete your kill and give me your supposed information, you will have the option of leaving.’
Nicole watched the slice of crimson. She could do one hunt for them, then choose something innocuous to share about her discoveries. Something that would allow them the ability to keep up the fight. As long as her family were out, she could make this work. She could get out and take Kyan with her.
There was still a chance.
‘What do you want me to kill?’ Nicole asked.
The woman stood, conversation over. ‘Run along. Get your gear and weapons. Alexander will follow you on your hunt to confirm you complete it.’
‘Wait, weapons? I’m hunting a dangerous creature, so I’ll just transform. Right?’
‘Oh no, my dear. You don’t want to be an Empyreal, so you won’t kill like one. You’ll be using a weapon, because your prey won’t have a kill scent.’
Prickles of warning danced along the back of her neck. ‘What are you talking about? No. I want a proper hunt. A creature that’s dangerous—’
‘If you don’t do it,’ the woman cut in, ‘I’ll consider that Kyan’s problem, and he can be punished accordingly. Or, you can just oath yourself here and now.’
Nicole stared.
One beat.
Another.
This wasn’t what she was made for. This wasn’tright.
She’d killed to protect before, but not like this.
But what were her options? Binding herself to the Wake would mean the only unoathed Empyreal left who could defeat them would be Dylan, and he couldn’t do it alone. The longer she was here, her family would come looking. Then they’d be damned. She couldn’t let that happen. So, if it kept her out of the Wake’s clutches and allowed her to keep her family hidden, she would make herself their dark huntress.
She had no other choice.
Nicole raised her chin, a shutter sliding down over a vulnerable part of her heart. ‘Who am I hunting?’
Another part of her clung to the hope that the target was dangerous, a criminal, maybe. Someone the world wouldn’t miss.
That hope was decimated when the woman smiled, and told Nicole her first target’s name.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
Nicole
NICOLE HAD LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR BEFOREHER HUNT,and she couldn’t do it.
