The Hunters Saga #2: The Wolfsbane Rubies

Chapter 17: Risk-Taker

A/N: Hey, everyone! Decided to post earlier than I thought I would :P Who's ready for an interesting/exciting/great chapter?! That's what chapter 17 is all about, just take it from me ;P (my opinion ^_<) Thanks for reading, and enjoy! <3

Chapter 17: Risk-Taker

   For once, I wanted a dangerous mission. I needed a dangerous mission. I needed something to distract myself from my chaotic love life, if that's really what I wanted to call it. I'd never had a boyfriend – an official one, anyway – and I didn't exactly count Russ as that guy. Sure, we were bonded, we'd kissed... a few times so far. Plus, he was a vampire, and I was a hunter.

   I could already smell the forbidden romance cooking up a colossal storm.

   I headed to the Agency for a mission. Or so I hoped. Coming onto an empty first floor, I sighed. The others must've been on missions... so why wasn't I? Ethan usually contacted me when I had been assigned to one...

   Then I grimly remembered that our secretary, the one who'd handled the assignments, was dead.

   Hannah...

   Then there was Stephen, who usually distributed the missions among the hunters of the sector.

   Man everything here was so screwed up!

   "Antoinette?" I glanced up at the voice, and met warm brown eyes and a kind, aging smile.

   Hyacinth Church.

   I graciously returned her smile, my mind trying to piece together why exactly she was here, in the hunter office quarters. When no one else was around. The Order member put a warming hand gently on my shoulder. "What brings you here?" She didn't wait for me to answer, for her eyes narrowed, and she stepped back, her body suddenly stiff. "You heard?"

   "What?" Now I was genuinely confused. "What happened?"

   Hyacinth sighed. "There have been more deaths, all linked to Henri Sinclair."

   "W-what?" I sputtered, eyes quickly and effortlessly going wide. This was something I did not want to hear, especially after Henri stormed off the other...

   Oh God, was this all my fault?

   I found it difficult to breathe suddenly. "W-when did this happen?"

   "Last night," the fair-haired woman answered in a soft voice, turning her face down in silent grief. "It's all over the news: bodies mutilated, throats torn open, snapped necks, hearts missing." She shook her head. "Henri Sinclair is back in the city."

   Technically, Henri had never left New York, but I didn't dare correct her.

   "At first, Ryan believed that-that it was Stephen," Hyacinth told me with a frown. "The wreckage was worthy of a newborn without guidance." She took a deep breath, and wiped her eyes slightly. "I'm sorry, it's just... this brings back some unwanted memories."

   Naturally, I wanted to comfort her, but how? I sighed lightly and went to sit at my cluttered desk. Hyacinth followed. "Of course, the DNA matched Henri Sinclair exactly, and it tied him directly to the murders."

   I bit my lip. "So, you want me to arrest him again?"  

   Hyacinth met my eyes, and her brown ones seemed alight with fire suddenly. The little spark quickly overthrew her feelings. "Not arrest. Hunt. Hunt him down, Ms. Drake."

   "Excuse me?" I gaped.

   We hunters never condemned a vamp to die – permanently – unless under extreme circumstances. Arresting him wasn't enough anymore, according to Hyacinth; according to the Order. They wanted me to track him down, bring him back... for execution?!