Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter One

"Actually," Louis said, reaching a hand out to help with my stack of papers, only for me to pull away from him, "I came to ask you about the Glass Hunter."

I froze. "What?"

"You're the chair of the demonic assassination department, and you teach a lot of the history courses too from what I read. Surely you know something about him."

I blinked, forcing myself to catch up and nod all while my mind raced. What did he know? Why was he asking? How would he have found out? "Of course I know about him. Every hunter in the world knows about him. Why are you asking me all of a sudden?"

"Do you know anything about his assassination techniques?"

I frowned, cocking my head. It seemed to be nothing more than scholarly interest, but still, it was best to proceed with caution. Carelessness would cost more than being thorough. "No more than what's in the books. Why?"

Louis shook his head and glanced at the floor, looking as if he were debating between shrugging and walking away or giving me all of the dirty details. "There's been a resurgence of the Aquireign Empire," he said at last, making my mouth go dry and my stomach twist.

The Aquireign Empire was the last demonic kingdom to fall. Hunters spent centuries trying to extinguish the larger organizations so thousands, possibly millions, of demons could not simultaneously declare war and attack. They were all broken into smaller, more manageable factions led by infinitely weaker demons. But the Aquireign Empire had been the largest and most lethal group. Exterminating them was the hardest thing I ever had to do... I'd lost everything trying to do it too.

I forced myself to take a deep breath and steady myself. "How do you know? What's been going on?"

"Demons that were exclusive to the Aquireign have been showing up and attacking Hunters that survived the war against them." He ran a hand through his slicked back hair. "Since you're a department chair and you know as much history as you do, I came to ask if you'd like to be on the strategy team for disabling the Aquireign again."

Well, it wouldn't be the first time I strategized the best way to wipe out a demonic empire; it would just be the first time I did it without the guise of a Hunter's mask and wielding enough power on the field for people to listen to me without as much hesitation. Still, the Aquireign Empire's resurrection endangered millions of people across all different species. Demons were never particularly discriminatory in who they picked on, and they certainly weren't concerned with morals or anything of the sort. The Aquireign Empire was evil, plain and simple. If I had a chance to stop them again after I'd done it once—regardless of the prior outcome—I needed to take it. The people I lost sure as hell weren't going to be lost in vain, not after all that time.

I nodded. "I'll do whatever you need."

Louis tilted his head toward the door. "We're going to have our initial meeting during lunch, so if you don't have anything going on right now, it'd be great if you could join us."

I had several better things to do, but the safety of my students, as well as the rest of the world, was more important. The meeting could also provide a lot of the insight I couldn't get from Louis, and it wouldn't make me look as suspicious by asking. As far as he—and the rest of the world—knew, I used to work in the Covenant as a demonic assassin. No one had any idea that I was at the forefront of the operation that first brought the Aquireign to its knees.

No one in the entire world had the slightest clue that I was the Glass Hunter.

"Sure," I said. "I can't stay more than an hour, but I can meet now." I shifted the weight of my books onto my left arm so I could push my glasses up the bridge of my nose. "Let me drop this stuff off by my office."