Huntress

I love New York City, it is my favorite place in the world and I try to go every few months with Sam. We’d shop, go to museums, see Broadway shows, eat food, sneak into clubs and all the NYC fun. If I didn’t have to take over the Pride I would have requested a Pride transfer into the NY state Pride so I could have move into the city.I watched the city fly by through the train windows, glancing at the two Fae who looked uncomfortable being trapped inside a metal machine. It was a myth that iron would kill the Fae. It was uncomfortable but not painful. Iron was the better choice in weapons as Fae did heal slower from wounds caused by them so technically the wound could kill them it if hit something vital and didn’t heal in time but really it would need to be a heart hit so it was still hard to kill a Fae with iron.

I took a deep breath as we got off the train breathing in the sharp tang of metal of the tunnel, adjusting my turtle neck sweater to ensure the bite were fully covered. I grinned, almost bouncing on my feet, Sam grinned back; she knew how much I loved the city.

“We aren’t here to shop Ro.”

I waved my hand at her, “I know I know, but we haven’t been back since the summer. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”

“I highly doubt that, I do recall someone who wanted to come for the thanksgiving parade and had a fit when their family wouldn’t allow it.”

“I did not throw a fit!”

“No you’re right, it was more like a tantrum.”

I glared at Sam who laughed freely as we merged with the people on the sidewalk above ground.

“I did not throw a tantrum,” I hissed.

“Not how your aunt described it when she called me to coax you out of your room for dinner after your tantrum,” she said dragging out tantrum.

Sean laughed moving to my side putting his arm around my waist as he pulled me out of the way of a bike rider. I held on to him to balance myself and gave him a soft thank you smile, which he returned with a soft smile of his own.

“We are not here for your two to have a date in the city,” Rhydian snapped behind us.

I turned and stuck my tongue out as him, looping my arm around Sean’s waist my finger hooking on his jean belt loop. Sean looked very pleased as we walked along the sidewalk hip to hip.

I couldn’t help but enjoy the close contact with Sean it had been a long time a boy interested in me and I never had a boyfriend before. It was nice to be wanted and I was going to enjoy every minute of it for as long as it lasted. It helped that I knew I could trust Sean not to push me into anything I didn’t want to do.,

“So where does this summoner guy live?” asked Ceron his hand intertwined with Sam’s.

“Three blocks from the subway train, brick apartments, 5th floor,” I replied back.

“I thought a summoner would be living someone very rural and away from humans in order to summon demons without attention,” Sam said.

I shrugged, “There are millions of people here, easier to hide among them I guess.”

We arrived at the brick apartment building number 48 and entered through the front door heading up several flights of stairs until we stood before 5-13, ironic. I created ice swords for the male Fae and daggers for the rest of us and handed them out as soon as we arrive, it wasn’t like we could have taken real daggers through station security, and then I knocked.


At first nothing happens, silent greets us before I move to knock again and the door opens on its own.

“This is so a B rated horror movie,” Sam mutters behind me, I can’t help but agree with her as I walk into the apartment with the others close behind.

“Welcome Hunter.”

I turn my attention at the man in the simple but homey living room, he is tall and thin and could easily have been my grandfather, his hair almost completely white, his eyes grey and filled with wisdom, knowledge and cunning.

“Oh yes and welcome friends. I must ask that you please leave your weapons on the table they will not be needed.”

“I don’t think so Summoner,” I reply back firmly.

He cocked his head to the side, “you are guests in my home and if you want the answers you seek, then you will leave your weapons on the table it is not like you are defenseless without them.”

I almost growled, he did have a point, I had magick, Sean had his vampire abilities and the Fae…well they were Fae. I willed the weapons to vanish.

“Better?”

“Much, my thanks. Now if you will kindly follow me to the kitchen then we can begin the discussions however before that I give you my word that no harm shall befall any of your while you are guests in my home. This is a neutral meeting. Shall I seal it hunter?”

I nodded and tensed as the Summoner raised his hand and waved it into the air, green magick crackling from his fingertips weaving an old and ancient symbol of peace and meeting, indicating no violence would arise from his side. I raised my hand and did the same, I relaxed, the magick would bind both of us and neither of would be able to harm the other or those present for the next twenty-four hours.


“If you would,” he said indicating us to follow him.

The apartment was small the living room was the first room of the apartment, simple not even a TV, just a coffee table, a single long sofa inset into a the back wall made of bookshelves, a hallway opened to the left of us. The back wall had a doorway, which lead to the kitchen, obviously having been expanded since there was no dining area just a large marble island with bar stools around it. I studied the kitchen and fell immediately in love; marble counter tops, cherry wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, spices and herbs hanging from the ceiling, label jars indicating an array of teas and herbs, a Witch’s kitchen. A Hunter’s kitchen tended to looked like a Witch’s kitchen and was another reason we could be confused for them. Hunters wouldn’t admit it but I am pretty sure that Hunters and Witches have a common ancestry.


The marble island had some snacks and mini sandwiches as well as a pitcher of water and another that looked like lemonade; there was a stack of napkins, mini ceramic plates and tall clear glasses.

“Sit and help yourselves then we shall begin,” the Summoner indicated them to sit before sitting at the end himself, pouring himself a glass of the lemonade.

We all sate opposite of him and none of us touched the food, though I probed it to ensure it wasn’t poison.

“It is not poison children,” he said as if reading my thoughts, or he sensing what I did.

I almost grinned as Ceron and Rhydian bristled at being called children but kept my expression neutral as I poured myself a glass of water.

“Summoner Adbidial, I am Hunter Kitten Rodian, my escorts are Winter Princes Rhydian and Ceron, Winter Fae Samantha Cole and Vampire Sean DeMarc.”

“A pleasure you meet you all. I am Summoner Jake --------------, please call me Jake. . Now, you are here to ask me about the hellhounds hunting you. First of all I lied. I did not summon them, the one who came to me did. I gave him the instructions. He tricked me. He called me and was supposedly doing researching into summoning and what it was in the past for a Hunter’s history test or what not. When he arrived however he arrived ready to give my location away or kill me outright if I did not give him the information he wanted. Since then of course I have moved.”


“Why would you trust him to begin with?” I asked, sipping my water as Sam took a bite of a brownie and an expression of pure bliss crossed her face.

“First of all as long as I do not summon, I am breaking no laws. Giving facts and information but not instructions is also not against the laws. He sounded like an eager young man and the emotions I felt through the link seem genuine enough, I felt truth.”

“If you are not breaking laws why are you in hiding then?” Sam asked.

“That my darling it not for you to know. Either way it had been a long time since I had any communication with the supernatural world and I figured it would be a nice interaction and a good way to get an update on news. Needless to say I was very very wrong. I did what I had to, to protect myself. I gave him the information he wanted then moved. When I felt the call again I debated answering or running but I knew he would find me eventually imagine my surprise when it wasn’t him but you.”

Sam was about to eat a second brownie before handing me one I took a bite. It was the most amazing thing I had ever eaten, I closed my eyes to enjoy the second bite.

When I opened my eyes I saw the summoner’s pleased smiled, “good?”

“Amazing, I so need your recipe,” I said handing the rest of my brownie to Sean who gave me a smile so tender I felt my heart melt.

I cleared my throat and turned to Jake, “so you keep saying him, him who?”

“I wish I knew, he gave me no name, no information to track him down, even his face was covered. I do know the summoning spell he asked me for was to summon hellhounds so when you mentioned it on the call I knew I had to meet with you.”

I studied him, so far everything he said seemed truthfully enough but while he seemed trustful enough, there was caution, wariness and calculation in his eyes. I there was more to him then meets the eye.

“How do I get the hounds off my back? How do I send them back to the demon realm.”

The summoner sighed, “you can’t only the summoner can. You can summon them to talk to them but they cannot go back on a deal once it has been made even if a better deal is struck with someone else. I do not recommend summoning them to talk to them because then they will know your location.”

“Wait,” Ceron said eyeing the sweets obviously wanting one, “you said she could summoner them to speak with them, when she is done can’t she send them back to the demon realm?”

“When she completed the summons and releases them they returned to where they were summoned from which in this case in the human realm.”

“How do the hounds talk with the summoner?” Sam ask.

“A small calling circle is created for each side to have to communicate with, normally in a necklace form, it was part of the information I gave the Hunter.”

I groaned, “that is how they returned to the our realm from the Faerie realm, they called Michael and told him I was here, so he summon them back to our realm to hunt me down.”

“The only way to fix this is to kill the hounds or kill the summoner. If the summoner is dead before the deal is completed the deal is voided and the hellhounds immediately get returned to the demon world.”

I rubbed my temples, “is there another way without killing the hounds or summoner?”

“Get the summoner to withdraw the deal and return the hounds back to their home realm.However if you can convince the Hunter to withdraw the deal, he will be in the hounds’ debt for the work they have done so far. It is not a good thing to be in a demon’s debt.”

“I’ll kill him then,” Sean said.

My head snapped towards him, “no.”

“I will not let the hounds continue to hunt you when a solution is so easy.”

“The Pride would be after your blood for murdering one of their own!”

“We have proof against him!”

“Ya, your father’s word, which they would discredit as protecting his only son and heir to the clan!”

“And you have the summoner’s words or the hellhounds!”

“Which the Pride would never take serious because he is a summoner and to them they are all never to be trusted! And the ONLY way to get the hellhound’s testimony is to summon them which is first of all banned and they would never trust a demon’s word.”

“I will make it look like an accident, they will never know.”

“I will not let you get blood on your hands because of me!”

“Ro,” Sean said softly getting off the chair and drawing closer to me, his hands cupping my face, “I would do anything for you, anything to protect –“

Notes