The Huntress

Chapter Fifteen

I woke up with a pounding headache and a very dry mouth. My back hurt more than I thought possible and when I opened my eyes, I realized why. During the night, I must have twisted and turned because I found myself half on the bed and half off with my head roughly where my feet should have been, and my feet roughly where my head should have been. How I had managed such an incredible feat was beyond me.

With a groan, I struggled to pull myself up only to fail. I sighed and shut my eyes once more before allowing myself to drop from the bed and onto the floor.

And that was how He found me. My rear was above my head and my limbs were tangled up in the bed sheets that I must've kicked off during the night.

"Having fun there, Miss Hunter?" My enemy asked, smirking as He looked down at me with an amused expression.

I huffed and quickly righted myself. I had no doubt that my hair was a mess and that I probably looked awful. Despite this, however, I could not bring myself to care too much.

"More fun than you can imagine," I replied, raking my fingers through my hair as He chuckled, walking over to me.

My body tensed, but He only picked up the sheets and tossed them back onto the bed.

"What in my name were you doing last night?" He asked as He stared at the sheets that I had somehow managed to tie into a knotted ball. He wore an expression of disbelief on His face.

"Obviously," I replied, "I was fighting ninjas. They must've attacked me in the middle of the night. You really should work on increasing the security around here."

That caused Him to laugh a genuine laugh. It was beyond strange to hear my mortal enemy laugh.

"You're funny," He said once he caught his breath. His face was slightly red and His eyes were shiny with tears from laughing so hard. I hadn't thought I had been quite that funny.

"I know," I replied, watching Him. I wanted to know why He was in my room.

He wiped His eyes and chuckled softly, shaking His head. "I'm here to tell you that you'll be eating breakfast with me. After breakfast, I will have Jasmine and Phyre begin your training."

My heart did a strange constriction thing when He said Phyre's name and I decided that since He seemed to be in such a good mood, I would chance asking the questions that had plauged me for so long.

"How is he alive?" I asked, watching Him closely. I half expected Him to blow up in my face and to launch into an angry attack. He didn't. Instead, He grinned.

"Death is optional, my dear Hunter. Your precious government didn't tell you that they'd found a way to make people practically immortal. I simply brought Phyre back to life. I also have ingested so much of the special serum that I'm practically indestructable so that when you so rudely set me on fire, I survived," He replied. And as He spoke the last part, His eyes flashed dangerously.

"I'm not sorry about that," I said simply.

"I didn't think that you were. Any more questions?" He asked, watching me closely.

"You said the government as though you aren't part of it. What did you mean by that?" I asked after a moment's pause.

"Ah. Yes. The government didn't always used to be controlled by me, sweetheart. They were still just as secretive, mind you. They had more technology than they had ever let on and as elections came and went, I had my own men infiltrate. Eventually, I made my way in and made my way to the top. It was a long process and during the panic that ensued during that glorious year, I made my strike.