Chapter 1 #3
“Stay calm, don’t react,” she whispered to the demon.
“Captain Chantraine, everyone!” Albright said loudly.
His graying hair was shaggier than regulation allowed, his clothes unkempt.
His body was long, lean, and covered in scars from demons who’d tried their damnedest to kill him but failed.
Elsie had heard all his stories and knew he had a hidden strength that had earned him the highest kill streak in hunter history.
Two legends had walked into the ring. Everything was quiet for several breaths, but then the stands exploded with applause.
Recruits and experienced hunters alike came to their feet, stomping and shouting their praise.
Some were born among the hunters, destined to fill their ranks, while others were talented recruits, spirited away from among the human colonies.
Elsie shook her head in amused annoyance. What a bunch of overgrown, boisterous brats. Some of them were Elsie’s age and hadn’t managed to get themselves assigned to a squad.
She lowered her blade and glared at Albright. What the hell was he up to now? He held up his hands, signaling for quiet and waiting for compliance.
“You’ll have to forgive us for scheduling this demonstration so early in the morning. It was the only way to catch Captain Chantraine and her entire squad before they’re sent off on their next mission,” Mordane said as the pair of them walked up to stand at Elsie’s side.
Mordane was one of those guys who looked like his magic.
Big in every way, Mordane stood several inches over six feet tall and had a strong, squared jawline.
He was somewhere over two hundred years old, though he looked about sixty in human years.
He used earth magic, and he was built like the boulders he liked to throw around.
“Captain Albright and I have an announcement to make that will change the status of every field squad present,” Mordane’s voice boomed loud enough to reach the back of the crowd. “As of today, Albright is stepping down and will eventually settle into a well-deserved retirement.”
Blood rushed to Elsie’s head, and she swayed where she stood. Albright gave her a devilish grin and a wink. No! That would mean–
“Congratulations, Chantraine! You are now officially captain of the first squad!” Mordane’s booming voice carried across the whole arena to the people in the stands.
Stunned silence. Elsie searched the crowd for her squad members, finding them in various states of shock and anger before turning back to the two men next to her.
Albright grinned like a cat with a fat mouse while she attempted to convey the weight of her murderous intent with the intensity of her glare. “Just wait, it gets better,” he muttered.
“As a reward for all your hard work, a gift has been arranged for you!” Mordane clapped his hands twice, then gestured toward a man who’d entered behind them.
Clairemont, the beastmaster, walked up to the hound, a dangerous-looking prod in his hand.
The slimy bastard who’d collared the hound wore a smug grin.
“This wolfhound was obtained by none other than Angus Cornick. His team traveled over a thousand miles to bring him here for you. Every reaper needs her companion, and now he knows who he serves.” Mordane smiled, but she saw a hardness in his eyes.
Suddenly Elsie was glad she hadn’t gotten that cup of coffee, as the last bits of food she’d had yesterday afternoon threatened to eject themselves all over Mordane’s perfectly polished boots. She could not have heard him right.
Angus Cornick sat at the top of the weapons-development pyramid. Mostly human and made of one hundred percent spite, the man combined cruelty and creativity to invent some of the most horrific new weapons.
He was famous for manufacturing biological weapons so diabolical that they sent chills down even Mordane’s spine. Cornick was one of the most powerful figures in the entirety of the hunter clan.
And he’d seen fit to give her a gift. Elsie hadn’t realized he’d even known who she was.
She glanced at the demon who was shrinking away from the man threatening to zap him with the prod.
He hadn’t yet gotten to his feet, but he stared straight at her, hatred and loathing in his eyes.
She’d hesitated to take his life, and now he was in Clairemont’s hands once more.
Any future misery he suffered was her fault.
A phantom wind whispered over her skin, and Elsie crossed her arms over her chest. That demon would kill her the first time she let her guard down.
“Don’t you dare tell me you accepted on my behalf. That’s not how the relationship between a reaper and her companion works,” she hissed, but neither Mordane nor Albright wanted to hear it. “I don’t want a fucking demon!”
“Too late.” Albright shrugged.
Furious, Elsie turned on her heel and stomped across the sand. Yanking open the door to the locker room, she slammed it behind her, the sound echoing across the arena. The moment she was alone, she raised her face to the ceiling and screamed.