Page 69 of Slayer

I stepped over to the desk.

She opened the top drawer and pulled out a photo album. “All these are copies, so don’t worry if you lose one or tear it. This is every photo I have of your mom. I want you to know her like I knew her. I know you have a lot going on right now, so maybe this sits in this drawer for a few weeks, but I figure you might want to know more about her eventually…” She stroked the photo album, smiling. “If the shoe were on the other foot and Harper showed up after eighteen years, I would want her to know me.”

I nodded. I did want to know more about Molly, but I was overwhelmed right now. “Thank you.”

She put it back in the drawer and closed it. Then she moved to the closet, opening it to reveal a single black nylon jumpsuit and black combat boots. “Academy issued. They have sewn-in pads for when you practice. There is a rack for your weapons.” She gestured to the wall-mounted system that was currently empty but for one steel stake. “Academy provides some. The rest can be bought or earned. It’s really fun to compete in tournaments and earn weapons. I still have a harpoon gun I got my second year for winning the Eclipse trials.”

Eclipse trials? Winning weapons? I definitely wasn’t in Spokane anymore.

Goodbye, ultrasound tech. Hello, vampire killer.

But when I really stopped to think about it, this was better. I never saw myself as a hero by any means, but knowing I could fight the evil that lurked in this world gave me a sense of purpose I had never had but had always wanted.

“Oh, one more thing.” Celia held up her finger. “I’m meeting with the guild to arrange for you, Asher, and a few others to retry the final and be able to get your hunter marks. You think you could be ready in a month? I have you added to my special class for extra training with the others who didn’t pass.”

A month…for a final exam I knew nothing about?

“What do I have to do to pass the final? I just learned about this world.” I shifted on the balls of my feet.

She nodded. “It’s not a written exam, and if you fail, then you can retake it one final time at the beginning of next year. Going a whole year without hunter runes though…” She paused.

“Career suicide?” I asked.

She nodded. “You’ll get a desk job for the rest of your life.”

Ouch. Not that there was anything wrong with a stable desk job, but now that I’d gotten a taste for these bastards, I wanted them all dead.

“So it’s not a written exam? How do I pass?” I knew they raided a club last time, but I didn’t know how they were scored. How many vamps they killed? I chuckled at the thought.

“You have to kill two vampires to pass.”

My eyes bugged.

Technically, Asher already did that on our wild night running for our lives.

“In the presence of an academy professor and a licensed hunter,” she added. “And you can’t use wafers.”

Damn. There went my chances. I realized then that Asher really had sacrificed his test to come after me. He killed the vampire chasing me through the club, but then he left the test to check on me before he could record his second official kill. That had happened in an alley away from the eyes of his professors. And then he’d taken wafers. We both had. So all bets were off.

“Listen, Stella.” Celia placed a hand on each of my shoulders. “I know you’re new, but I’ve seen you in a few hairy situations already, and your instincts are gold. That can’t be taught. I have faith you can do this with a little training.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. One month.”

Sure, why not? Throw me to the bloodsuckers in thirty days.

After that, Celia said goodbye to Harper and left. I walked through the bathroom to the girls’ room next door, knocking on the frame.

“Come in, Stella. You don’t need to knock,” Harper told me.

Luna walked over to me, a slight frown on her lips. “I’m sorry.”

“What, why?” I was confused. Her mom was gone, and it was just us girls.

“I saw you talking to Asher, and then Daphne walked up and… I think they’re back together,” she hedged.

“Oh, right.” That. “It’s fine. She seems nice.”

“She’s cool…yeah,” Harper said, but there was something in her voice.