Page 53 of Slayer

“I’m the slayer. The primary executioner of vampires.”

“She’s arguably the most important member. Slayers have the highest kill count and are field commander by default. She’s the boss.” Professor Silex whispered the last part, leaning closer.

Whoa. That sounded so cool.

Celia smiled at him. “I couldn’t do my job efficiently without Silex. He’s the striker. He protects me at all costs and weakens the vamps for me or funnels them to me so I can end them.”

Jeez, they were killing machines.

“What are the other roles. The arcanist?” I asked, hungry for knowledge.

“If you can get one. They’re rare, but yes, striker, slayer, arcanist if you have one, and then the tracker and the sentinel. The tracker finds the vamps for you. The sentinel does damage control, makes sure humans are out of harm’s way during raids, and ensures you get home alive with at least three exit points at all times.” She said this casually like it wasn’t the craziest thing I’d ever heard.

“This is kind of awesome and crazy,” I laughed.

They both grinned. “You don’t know this yet, but your place on your future unit will be the most talked-about thing all year. Everyone wants to be an arcanist or a slayer,” Celia told me.

I’ll bet.

“How are the spots chosen?”

We stepped up to a redbrick building with a neat metal sign that read East Wing Portal.

“When you get your hunter runes, they will show certain abilities you have, which will make it obvious what role you’ll have in your unit, and then after months of practice, you will go before the Veil Stone Conclave, and that decides who will be in your unit group.”

Veil Stone Conclave?

“Then right after that, there is a trial field test where you test out that unit to make sure it’s a good fit before you take your oath.”

Oath. Whoa, sounded serious. I noticed she said when I get my hunter runes, not if.

I had no idea how to even process that because they opened the door to the portal room, and then I was standing face-to-face with Asher. The tall blond stood in the doorway wearing a tight polo and slacks, and I wasn’t prepared for it.

My stomach dropped at the sight of him. The surprise was evident on his face as well.

“She’s going?” he asked, and my heart sliced in half at the disapproval in his tone.

Celia raised her eyebrows at his tone. “She is the reason you’re allowed to go,” she told him. He swallowed hard, and Celia peered at me. “Asher will be coming with us to New York City, where he has some personal business.”

I glanced at Asher to find that he was all but glaring at me.

“Do you mind if I speak to Asher alone for a second?” I asked Celia and Professor Silex.

Celia shared a look with Silex and nodded as they dipped inside, the door shutting behind them with a soft click.

Asher stepped out to speak to me and crossed his arms, making his biceps pop. His face was devoid of any emotion.

What is this dude thinking?

I just nodded, trying to still my heart rate. Why did he hate me? It was starting to piss me off. I didn’t do anything wrong.

“Listen, I’m sorry you didn’t get your hunter marks, but I was attacked by vampires on my birthday and ran off like any reasonable person would. You followed me, which I’m grateful for, because I probably wouldn’t be alive otherwise, but I didn’t force you to.”

He said nothing, just watched me with a cool expression.

“Hello?” I waved my hand in front of his face.

“I was waiting for you to ask me a question or something,” he said, shrugging.