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A shot rang out, cutting whatever he’d been about to say short. Blood dripped from the side of his head and then his body swayed and hit the ground, glassy eyes staring sightlessly out at nothing.
Hunter turned and shrugged when he spotted Odin with his arm still raised, giving him a frustrated look. “Whoops.”
“Whoops?!” He stormed over and latched onto Hunter’s arm, tugging him behind him so he could shield his body, and glared. “If I hadn’t noticed and shot him—”
“He was going to try and take me alive,” Hunter said. “There would have been plenty of time for me to escape.”
“You’re asking for it, Huntsman.”
Knowing he didn’t mean the kidnapping, Hunter dared to smirk suggestively.
Odin blew out a breath.
Around them, the commotion started to die down, bodies littering the floor. A few remaining Frost soldiers called to one another and retreated, but the Snow Brumal followed after them, disappearing into the night so that only a handful remained within the Storeroom.
“Looks like we’re going to need a new hideout, boss.” Yule stepped up to them, kicking at the leg of a dead guy.
“I sincerely apologize,” Jita appeared next, head bowed low. “It’s my fault. I checked to be sure we weren’t being followed, but clearly not well enough.”
“Call Wren and Vetle,” Odin ordered. “Tell them to meet us at the club within the hour.”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned to Yule. “Take a head count. I want to know how many we lost and how many of his we managed to kill. Isa’s numbers had already dwindled immensely. This may have worked in our favor. Also, let me know if any of the prisoners managed to escape. If they have, send out a hunting party. Kill on sight.”
“What if there are Frost survivors in the building?” Yule glanced around as if he could spot one now. “Could be useful to interrogate them. They may have a better idea where their boss has been hiding.”
“Do that. And ask them about Meg—”
“No,” Hunter shook his head. “Don’t worry about that anymore. Focus on finding Isa.”
Odin’s brow furrowed. “You’re giving up on your sister?”
“I’m not,” he corrected. “I’m prioritizing. According to First, my sister, the one that I grew up with and cared about, has been dead for a long time now. The girl who’s left may have her name and her face, but that’s where the similarities end.”
“We may be able to get her help,” he said. “I have access to top-notch doctors, and we know Isa didn’t bother trying to get her memories back. There may be a chance.”
“This is who she’s been for over a decade,” he reminded sadly. “Would you want to give up your personality for a ghost?”
Hunter missed his sister, and he didn’t want to abandon her, but bigger things were happening in the world at the moment, and…As much as he wished otherwise, the facts were the facts, even if they were cold and hard and horrible.
Meg Thorn as he knew her no longer existed. Was there maybe a slight chance he could get her back? Sure. But right now, with Isa Frost on the run, they were too close to finally putting an end to his tyranny, something that affected the planet as a whole. Not to mention…
“What if we shifted focus and he managed to get to you?” Hunter asked. “It isn’t worth the risk. We find him and we stop him, and after if there’s an opportunity to deal with Meg? We can worry about it then.” He motioned to Yule. “If you find someone, make them tell you about Isa. Don’t even bring my sister up.”
“Will do, Thorn.” Yule bowed his head and then chuckled uncomfortably when he saw the dark look pass over Odin’s face. Without another word he bolted away, moving into the center of the warehouse to call out orders to nearby Snow soldiers to help check and ID the bodies.
“What?” Hunter asked a moment later when Odin had continued to stare at him quietly.
“The old you would have done anything to save his sister.”
“Yeah,” he exhaled and looked away, “well maybe the old Hunter Thorn is dead, too.”
Odin reached for his hand, linking their fingers until he got Hunter’s attention back. “Are you that angry with her?”
“I’m not angry at all.” He’d yet to decide whether that was a good or bad thing, but no matter which way it fell, it was how he felt. At first, he’d been shocked and hurt, of course, but then he’d woken chained to a ceiling and he’d forgotten all about his sister during Isa’s torture. And after that, when he’d finally broken down in front of Odin and allowed himself to process it all, he’d sorted through it then and let it go in the only way he’d known how.
By choosing indifference instead.
