Page 71 of Shadow Hunter

Chris spoke while he typed nonstop on his keyboard, the quiet clicking sound of the keys forming a strange robotic rhythm. He paused and emphatically jabbed the Enter key. “Done.”

Damon’s side monitor flashed as dozens of images loaded. The faces of the finest hunters the Execution Underground offered filled the screen. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s even more than I expected.” With everything else on his plate, narrowing down this list was going to demand hours of work he couldn’t afford to spare.

Chris cleared his throat. “And lucky for you, you have a contact at HQ who, despite your often grouchy demeanor, has taken the liberty of assembling a program for you, so you can refine the search and avoid having to read every single profile. What would normally be two-or three-hours’ work has been narrowed down to less than an hour.” He pointed at himself. “And to be clear, that amazing contact to whom you owe your undying gratitude is me.”

Damon glared at Chris. “Remind me the next time I see you in person your drink is on me.”

“Considering the mood you’re in, I’ll take that as a thank you.” Chris reached forward to press the off button on their video call. “Get to work.”

In seconds the monitor transitioned to black.

Utilizing his touch screen, Damon slid the images onto his main monitor and started his search. It appeared his best option was to organize the candidates by hunting specialty first, before narrowing his search in each category. He glanced over the list of supernatural groups in Rochester and their current status. He needed a lot of manpower.

With the E.U. efforts intensely focused on N.Y.C. for years, Rochester had slipped under the radar. But now, with the N.Y.C. division finally gaining control of all their unruly boroughs, focus was shifting. Damon’s division would not only secure the city, it would do it quickly.

He would make certain of it.

First things first. Unrest in the wolf shifter community due to a possible change in packmaster. He typed “werewolf” into the search box and roughly twenty profiles surfaced. He started mentally listing the attributes he wanted on his team. Young, able-bodied men, either fresh out of the academy but with lots of field training or only several years seasoned.

Though older hunters held the advantage of being wiser and more precise, he wanted to assemble a team that wouldn’t disband any time soon. Men near his age who possessed a drive, a fire, that too often faded over the years.

He typed in an age range and came up with three profiles, complete with photos. The emerald eyes of the hunter in the middle photo stared back at him with intensity.

He pulled up the man’s stats, skimming for the important information.

Name: Jace McCannon

Hometown: Honeoye Falls, New York

Specialty: Wolf shifters

Experience: Three years field training. Current location: Atlantic City, Jersey.

Interesting.Honeyoe Falls sat right outside the city limits. McCannon was practically a Rochester native. Damon’s index finger hovered over the mouse. The hunter’s burning eyes made him wonder if he’d be resistant to following orders. Much like the creatures they hunted, wolf hunters were known hot heads.

After an extended moment of debate, he clicked the button to add the hunter to his roster. If he was unruly, Damon would whip him into shape. After all, he’d dealt with countless unruly trainees while he led raids during his field training. McCannon would listen, or Damon would send him straight back to HQ

Next up: demonic possession. There were two types of demon hunters: those who could kill demons and those who could exorcise the demon from a human’s body, saving the innocent civilian. Looking at the numbers of possession reports on his sheet, he wanted somebody who could do both. He typed “Demon Hunter/Exorcist” into the system and prayed he would get a hit.

Bingo.

Name: David Aronowitz

Hometown: Rochester, New York

Current location: Brooklyn, New York *Requesting transfer near hometown for family issues*

Perfect. Damon clicked the “add to roster” button without a second thought. No way would he pass up having a guy like that on his team. True exorcists were rarity.

Damon glanced down at his notes once more. Next in line: newly discovered occult activity and the possible formation of a witch coven.

Witches were extremely intelligent and cunning, their relationships between covens immensely complex. Handling the occult wasn’t black and white. It required someone with a level head, quick thinking. Figuring out the complex dichotomies of the witching world demanded patience. He tapped his fingers on the desk. He needed someone smart.

He narrowed the search to people with Masters degrees or higher. The highest on the list was Shane Grey, Ph.D, former Vegas resident. Damon nodded. A Ph.D was more than enough to prove the man’s intellect if you asked him, even if he was on the younger side.

Three down, two more to go.

He checked his sheet. An increase in hauntings.

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