Chapter 1 Hunter #3
She licked her lips, looking away from him. "You know what I mean. I just—this is my purpose." The low drone of the newscaster on the television was a harrowing backdrop as she spoke. "I will do this with or without you, Kit—but don’t make me choose."
The strong line of his jaw ticked as he reached for the envelope lying near his gloves and hat. He held it over the table, fingers gripping it hard. Her eyes lit up as she reached for it, but he held it back at the last second, a warning in his eyes as he said:
"Don’t make me regret this, Rin. You know I’ll always support you, even if I don’t agree with you. Promise me something?"
"Depends." She raised a brow, waiting for what he would demand.
"If you get into this and your heart starts to act up, if this becomes too much for you, bow out," Kit beseeched. "I won’t think less of you, and if any of those bastards up at the Academy had half the character as you, they would understand, too."
Kit still didn’t extend the envelope, so, like any Hunter in training, she struck first, half-rising from her chair as she leaned over the table between them and snatched it from his hands. Only, it wasn’t so easy.
Fingers enclosed her wrist with a strong grip as Kit tugged her forward. She braced her other hand on the table to stop herself from falling face-first onto the plate of lasagna. Her nose nearly brushed his.
Kit’s brown eyes were filled with things better left unsaid as he held her wrist. "You forget," he said, "I trained at the Hunter’s Guild Academy, too."
"Only a year," she quipped.
Kit had dropped out after taking a mission at the Fleet Academy and seeing the spaceships.
She still remembered receiving a phone call in the middle of the night from him, answering with her heart in her throat as her mind conjured up images of him, dead.
Only, he had talked her ear off for hours about his assignment at the Fleet Academy.
She had fallen asleep with the phone pressed against her ear and his voice lulling her to sleep.
The next day, he dropped out of the Hunter’s Academy and applied to the Fleet.
His lips quirked up at the side. "I still have a year on you."
"Not for long." She mimicked his smile, and his eyes dipped to her mouth before he cleared his throat and released her hand. She sat back against her chair, cursing the tension between them. What she wouldn’t give to have things go back to the way they were five years ago. Growing serious, she said, "Kit, I love you. You’re my best friend, my… brother. Don’t make me promise things we both know I won’t keep. "
"Friends," he mused with a shake of his head. Sighing, Kit handed her the envelope. "If you die, I’ll make you regret it."
Rin all but snatched it from his hands. She rotated it in front of her, watching the kitchen lights reflect off the insignia on the wax seal.
"I wouldn’t expect anything less. That’s what friends are for.
Just know I’ll haunt you if I die." She grinned, so focused on sliding the untouched cutlery knife across the seal that she missed the look of self-loathing that flashed across his face.
Her hands shook as she pulled the folded letter from within. The paper was thick and official. She unfolded it, squinting, unable to look.
"I thought you said you already knew you got in," said Kit.
"I know, but this is so much more real than an email." She ignored Kit’s laugh as she finally, finally, looked at the letter.
The pure joy that filled her could rival the brilliance of the sun.
"Vesperin Blackfall, congratulations and welcome to the Hunter’s Guild Academy," she read, unable to contain the giddiness of her tone. "On behalf of the Hunter’s Guild, it gives us great pleasure to inform you that you have been admitted to the Hunter’s Guild Academy.
" The legs of her chair squeaked across the floor as she stood.
"I can’t believe it." Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the letter.
A presence before her alerted her to Kit as his strong arms enveloped her. The medals on his uniform pressed into her cheek, but she didn’t care, wrapping her arms around his waist as he held her.
She sighed against him, mumbling, "I’m going to be a Hunter."
He ran a hand down the back of her white hair. "You are."
Pulling away from him, Rin’s eyes ran over the rest of the letter. It didn’t tell her anything that wasn’t in the email. Her scores were terrific, in all except her Stella, ranking as a level one. But just the fact of being an Aetherborn was enough.
Aether was the rarest of all the Stella. Coupled with her scholarship letter—everyone loved a sob story—her admission to the Hunter’s Guild Academy had been a foregone conclusion.
Kit pulled away from her, and she tried to hide her frown. He was always doing that… distancing himself.
She clutched the letter to her chest. "You will go to the Admittance Ceremony with me tomorrow, right?"
Kit stared at her for a few moments before he said, "You could never keep me away."
"Welcome, recruits of the Hunter’s Guild Academy."
The President of the Hunter’s Guild stood on the stage, a microphone before him, projecting his voice. He was a powerful man, grey at his temples and muscles straining against his uniform, decorated in so many medals that they overlapped on his chest, vying for space.
Rin stood among the other recruits in the auditorium crowd.
On the stage behind the speaker stood five highly decorated Hunters, each the representative leader of their team.
There were five teams, each specifically designed for individuals with certain skill sets.
There was only one Rin had her sights dead set on—Alpha Team.
It was the top team of the Hunter’s Guild. The best of the best.
And Rin’s only chance of being accepted was the fact that she was an Aetherborn. The Alpha Team had no other Aetherborns, and she prayed that her Stella would work in her favor.
It was dimly lit in the auditorium, but she found her eyes drifting to the seats above, searching for the one face she wanted to see above all the others.
Kit.
Among the faceless crowd of family and friends, he stood out to her like a beacon. His pilot’s cap held against his chest, and his medals gleaming in the low light. He found her eyes, pride shining in them.
"Pay attention," he mouthed, jerking his head toward the stage.
She bit her lip to hide her smile, looking back toward the President of the Hunter’s Guild as he made his speech. It was a story everyone knew…
"Since the dawn of planet Earth, Rogues have plagued our lands—Souls who have been corrupted by Nova and turned on us, desperate to make us one of their own so we will not be allowed to journey back to the Stars and await our rebirth. But we will not stand for it! It is the prerogative of the Hunter’s Guild to protect each citizen of planet Earth, and in the rare event that duty calls and Rogues escape our planet, we will protect those in our solar system.
Each of you has been handpicked based on your Stella rankings, combat skills, and intellect.
But it is not over yet." The President’s boots shone as he walked, heel to toe, along the length of the stage.
"Your journey is just beginning. Each of you will be assigned as a trainee to one of our five teams. Alpha, Beta, Omega, Gamma, Delta.
These teams will welcome you with open arms and act as your guides as you begin your journey of becoming a full-fledged Hunter. "
He stopped and stared out at the crowd, pausing as his eyes fell to Rin before he jerked his gaze away. "Rogues emit Nova, which is deadly with exposure."
Though he was not looking at her, the words felt targeted. Rin’s fingers twitched with the desire to rub a hand over her chest, but she kept her arms firmly by her sides.
Nova.
The same thing that was infused in Rin’s heart and flowed through her veins—ever since she was seventeen and her whole world ended.
Almost like her body knew what the topic at hand was, she felt her heart give a painful clench, heating up inside her chest. She swallowed a few times, trying to shove the feeling away.
Not now.
She focused on her breaths, counting them.
One… two… three…
Repeat.
Measured inhales and equally measured exhales. Anything to stop the episode that threatened to drag her into darkness. Blackness weighed in the corners of her eyes, and she curled her hands into fists at her side, fingernails cutting into her palm. The pain steadied her.
Rin focused on the President’s words, jaw aching from how hard she gritted her teeth.
She could get through this. She was not weak.
"The Nova Zones across Solar City, and beyond, are monitored so no contained Rogues will escape, but there is always one who slips through the cracks, wreaking havoc on innocent civilians," said the President.
"You will accept your missions when they arise and work with your assigned team to neutralize the threat. Failure to complete your missions successfully results in contract termination, and failure to uphold the rules of the Hunter’s Guild Academy results in dishonorable discharge.
Your teams will go over the rules with you.
But future Hunters, if this is not the path for you, resign now.
We do not cater to those who are not fully committed to fighting the Rogues and giving their lives to help others. "
The audience was silent. Rin felt Kit’s stare burn holes into the side of her face. He didn’t want this for her, but nothing would stop her from forging ahead.
"With that said, I congratulate you all. Welcome, future Hunters, and remember, the fate of our Earth is in your hands."
The whole audience erupted in applause, the boom of the clapping hands making Rin’s ears ring. She was so overwhelmed that she barely registered her own hands clapping weakly, her heart giving a soft twinge in her chest.
The President held his hands before him to quell the audience. "Settle down, settle down. Thank you," he said into the microphone. "If you all would direct your attention to the hologram behind me to see your assigned teams."
And with that, he stepped aside, standing at attention beside the team leaders.
On the blue flickering hologram, replacing the Hunter’s Guild insignia, faces appeared, one after the next, names and teams as the recruits received their assignments.
Rin waited with bated breath to see her own name flicker across.
Finally, projected out to the crowd, she saw her own face.
The holographic image of herself was pale and expressionless, with white hair framing grey eyes and skin nearly as colorless.
Vesperin Blackfall, it read. Her eyes fell to the information written under it: her Stella ranking of level one, projected for everyone to see. Her cheeks warmed with shame.
But below that, her assigned team.
All the breath left her in a relieved exhale.
Alpha Team.