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Emma paused for a moment, wondering if he was giving her the offer to leave him behind. She didn’t care much about him, and she would sleep fine if he was eaten by any of the creatures down there. But he was the objective of her mission, and as much as she did not like him, if Garret left with what he came to get Hunt would probably be the only person who could find him.
“Could you find him, if he leaves?” Emma asked. “Garret. Can you?”
“I can find anyone, no matter the realm. It’s not just the talk,” Hunt replied, assuring her. “That’s one of the reasons I’m so good at what I do.”
Emma fought the urge to smack him across the face. He used his skills as a tracker to hunt down paranormals and kill them. Emma felt her skin crawl with disgust. But if he was tellingthe truth, she needed him. “I can’t let you stay here and die. If Garret leaves, I have to find him and stop him.”
“Good for you,” Hunt replied, moving his weight to his injured leg to test it. Emma smiled as he winced in pain. “Now that’s just petty.”
“You know what it is.” Emma recalled what they had been talking about before the cavern had come crashing around them. “You know about the Key Garret is looking for.”
“I don’t,” Hunt lied.
“I was right next to you; I could hear your heartbeat.”
“I’m a Hunter, I can make it so slow you can’t hear it. I made you hear what you wanted to hear. I don’t know what it is!” Hunt argued.
Emma crossed over to where he sat and grabbed his shirt with a single hand, pulling his face toward her. “I can put you down in a second…”
Emma suddenly felt her hand go numb for a moment. She looked up at him, bringing up her other hand, and Emma realized that she was losing control of her limbs. Hunt shoved her back and she fell to the ground, paralyzed and unable to move. He smiled at her. “Wolfsbane. I knew you’d get pissed off sooner or later, considering you’re still bloodlusted.”
Emma grunted. “How did you…” She felt the poison slowly taking over her entire nervous system, leaving her unable to move, completely stuck in place.
“I can see it in your eyes. I know you have trouble controlling it. So, considering you’ve been away from your pack for so long, and it’s a full moon tonight, I know you’ll be angry as shit,” Hunt continued. “Considering I have a bad leg, I need to get as far from you as possible.”
Emma realized she couldn’t even move her jaw, but he was right. The only reason she had been able to control her outbursts was because she was with the pack. She could fend off the bloodlust. Aaron and Jackson were always there for her, and Emma would be able to control herself. She didn’t want to lose control now, but she was in a highly stressful situation and the Hunter had just made it worse by paralyzing her.
“You know what, I’ll admit it. I do know what key he’s looking for,” Hunt continued as he pulled off his jacket. Using his teeth, he bit into the lower end of it and ripped a strip clean off. He proceeded to wrap it around his ankle to get some of the stress off of it and reduce swelling. “The Key of Barishem.”
Emma grunted.
“Yeah,” he continued as he worked, looking at her with a smirk. “It’s not really much of a key. It’s uh, it’s a ritual. A powerful ritual that needs a little trinket to work. It’s basically a master key for anything. A human safe or an otherworldly prison. It’s anyone’s guess what he wants to use it for. Maybe he wants to lock up an enemy.”
Or release something horrible into this world,Emma thought.
Hunt walked over to her, turning her body over. As he looked down at her, Emma couldn’t help but feel helpless as he bound her hands with his jacket. Something about it felt good, enthralling even. Watching him on top of her, with his sweaty biceps—it felt good, and Emma couldn’t say a word.
Stop it, he’s a Hunter! So why is he looking at me like that?
Hunt had stopped, realizing the position they were in. Emma could swear she saw the longing in his eyes. She could hear his heartbeat pick up and his pulse quicken. Hunt wasgood, quickly moving on to something else and pretending like he hadn’t just fantasized about her.
But Emma had seen it. He wanted her too. He checked the binds on his jacket, and once he was certain they were tight enough, he stood up. “Now, I know what you’re thinking. You punched through solid rock; my jacket isn’t going to hold you in place. That’s where you’re wrong. Each fiber was woven by magic, so it won’t break unless I want it to, and I don’t, so you’ll be here until you’re calm.”
I’m going to rip you apart, just wait.
“I also know you’re going to be pissed when you’re finally free, so”—Hunt smiled—“the effects of the jacket will wear off in a few hours, you’ll be able to get out of it. Keep an eye out for the markings I’ll leave on the wall. They’ll help you get out. I know you want me to help you find Garret, but I’m not stupid. He’s planning something big, bigger than any of us, and I am not risking my life for some fucked up shit that paranormals are trying to do. So best of luck to you.”
Chapter 6 - Hunt
It didn’t feel right leaving her there, but Hunt knew it was what he had to do. He could have killed her, used his sword to stab her in the heart and rip it out, or take off her head in a single blow to make sure she wouldn’t be able to stop him. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Hunt had never hesitated for a kill, never. In his line of work, a moment’s hesitation was the difference between life and death.
But there had been something about her. From the moment he saw her hanging upside down on Caleb’s stage, Hunt knew there was something different about her. He had no idea what it had to do with him, but somehow fate had just brought her his way. He had asked himself over and over again why he had gotten between her and Garret.
He was well aware of the power of the Dragon; he had seen the man obliterate a ghoul with the same amount of effort it took to caution a child. Yet somehow, he had put his life on the line, knowing the consequences. Hunt had risked his life many times in the past. He had done it for a child once, a little boy who had crossed the road in Argentina.
Hunt had broken an arm pulling him out of safety, away from a speeding bus. He’d nearly been killed in the accident, and the driver didn’t stop for a moment. Each time Hunt had killed a paranormal entity, he had told himself that he was risking his life for someone who was worth it. He was sparing another family the death of a loved one.
He knew what he had lost, and he wasn’t willing to let anyone else suffer at the hands of these creatures. It was why he killed. He had killed so many of them even before his parents were eventually killed, and he had kept going, hoping thatavenging their deaths would give him meaning. But there was nothing in it. Nothing in all of the bloodshed, just a widening emptiness.
