Hunter: Gods & Monsters

Chapter 1

Michael. Right.

"Yeah, Michael, sup?" I smile.

"Oh, not a lot. Still working on tracking down the Banshee that seems to like getting her name in the paper as a ghost haunting the highway." He shrugs. "Otherwise, just another day in paradise."

"Try putting out some gold. I heard those creatures love that stuff." Paul adds helpfully.

"Cheers for the tip. What about you guys?" Michael asks, his smile is a little dopey. His well-groomed beard hides the pink of his cheeks, yet judging between the two guys, pre-dinner drinks must have been more of an afternoon-long happy hour.

"Oh you know, a bit of this and a bit of that." I shrug.

"Same," Paul adds. "Little more interesting with these two in here, starting bar fights."

"I don't start the fights, I either encourage them to happen or finish it."

"Right." Michael frowns briefly, glancing around at the currently, very well behaved crowd. "From what I've heard, Elise can handle herself."

"Oh you have no idea," I wink before passing him over the drink Paul just poured, "Here. It's on the house!"

"Thanks!"

"So, Michael. You have any plans tonight?" I ask, leaning a little closer towards him.

He nearly chokes on his drink. "Um, no? Well, later, we were going to go banshee hunting, but since it's Colt's birthday we had a few drinks and decided to take a night off and-"

"Wanna ditch the love birds and come back to my place?" Paul shakes his head. "What?"

"You going to serve him up to your parents to try and get out of your monthly dinners?" Paul accuses.

"No. I was going to ask Marshall to be my dinner guest. Penny already said no, and since it's Colton's birthday, they deserve some time together, alone. Right?"

"It's Michael, and dinner with your parents?" Michael asks, clearly confused.

"And let me guess, fake boyfriend?" Sometimes Paul reminds me of Zane, like now, when he thinks he so smart and my ideas will never work.

"I was going to go with special friend," I shrug.

"There's a difference?" Michael asks.

"For you yes, with all the fun and none of the commitment. Hypothetically of course, sorry, but the beard, it just doesn't do it for me." I stand up and hold out my hand to him. "What do you say?"

"What's in it for me then?"

"Good food, my company and free drinks whenever you come here?"

"Your parents won't buy it, Elise," Paul warns.

"I'm in. I'll even go with the fake boyfriend thing if you want."

"Too predictable. Penny tried to set us up, but we aren't looking for anything serious. Since we're all in town, I thought it would just be easier to bring you along before we go out, hunting."

"Your Dad isn't like Penny's is he?"

"No," I quickly assure him. He's worse because he cares a hell of a lot more than hers does, but I don't tell him that. "He's, pretty easy going. A real casual kind of guy. Mum is great too, they're ah, really chill. There just might be someone there Mum has decided to enter into a game she calls my dating life. It's like the Bachelor, but I threaten to kill the contestant if they so much as think of touching me instead of handing out roses at the end."