Page 23 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
His roommate shot him a pointed look and muttered, “Exactly.”
Rafe couldn’t hold back his bark of laughter. He was about to quip that it took one to know one, but Mel suddenly barreled into Logan, gripping the man’s arm and squealing, “Have you heard? Isn’t this exciting?” while jumping up and down in a demonstration of just how exciting she apparently found the news.
He immediately looked over the blonde’s head in search of Nina who was approaching more slowly, smiling fondly at her friend’s antics. He wanted to go over there and take her hand, proudly demonstrate to any who cared to notice that they were a couple, but he restrained himself. While Rafe was positive Vincent DeMarco didn’t have spies in this territory much less within the facility, Nina preferred to err on the side of caution. Not that he could blame her. Rafe’s father had threatened her family and friends, and neither of them was willing to risk those lives.
Soon, though. Soon, Rafe would confront his father and eliminate the threat that hung over Nina’s head. Then they could be together freely, openly, as he’d always dreamed.
A sharp whistle pierced the air, followed by Travis St. John’s bellow of, “All right! Let’s quiet down. Take a seat.”
Only once everyone was seated and had quieted did Morgan Rhys begin to speak. “As most of you have probably already heard, you’re going to be split into teams going forward.”
A low murmur went through the dining hall and she waited for them to quiet once more before she continued. “Each team will have at least one witch and one shifter with the vampires making up the rest.
“You’ll be given scenarios – typical contracts you’ll encounter throughout your life as a Hunter. They’re meant to test your problem-solving skills using the abilities you’ve learned thus far and assess any weaknesses that need to be addressed.”
Morgan suddenly pointed to the back of the room, and Rafe glanced over his shoulder to see that someone had raised their hand.
“Will these scenarios be played out on school grounds?” came from a female voice, though Rafe couldn’t see who had posed the question.
“No. Each mock hunt will be limited to New Orleans, but your target could be anywhere within that area. It’s your job to use any and all clues gained from the information you’ll be given, to track them down and apprehend them.”
The murmurs that erupted from that statement were excited and it took several moments before the room settled once more. Other hands had shot up in the interim, and Morgan pointed to one of the shifters up toward the front. “Yes?”
“Will all the targets be vampires?”
“While that would be ideal, no. We will be your targets for the first week,” she said, indicating the staff that stood with her, staff that included an angel, a dragon shifter, a wolf shifter, and assuming Morgan Rhys would be among those numbers, a vampire.
“Kane Fletcher is working on gathering a group of his local vampires willing to act as runners for future hunts, but for right now, we just want you to get your feet wet, see how you do.”
More hands shot up, and Morgan waved them down. “Let’s get you into your teams first, then we’ll do our best to answer all your questions.”
Over the next several minutes, names were called out, trainees moving off to a designated area of the room, and Rafe held his breath. While he’d met everyone, he was far from popular, especially among the vampires and at least one of the shifters who’d made it plain they didn’t care for hiskind. It was probably too much to ask that Nina be on his team, but he hoped he might get lucky and have Logan with him, hell, he’d even be okay with Mel since she, at least, wasn’t likely to try and pick a fight with him every time he turned around.
Logan’s name was called and Rafe grimaced. His roommate was the final member of that team before they moved on to the next. So much for having Logan at his back.
“Rafe DeMarco.”
Rafe stood, and he felt Nina’s fingers surreptitiously graze his hand as he passed by. An act meant to be encouraging, and it gave him strength.
“Nina Errani.”
His steps almost faltered as a mixture of disbelief and excitement shot through him. He had no idea who had created these teams, but right now, Rafe wanted to kiss them.
∞∞∞
There were six people on her team. Four vampires including Rafe, all guys, a female shifter named Sierra that Nina had heard was feline – a mountain lion, or cougar, or whatever they were called – and Nina. While she was thrilled Rafe was on her team, she was also petrified.Any time she was near him, the urge to touch him, lean into him was nearly overwhelming, and now that they were part of a team, a team that would be monitored continuously, their opportunities for sneaking off together were shrinking. Not to mention, any one of these new teammates might be someone Vincent DeMarco had paid for information. The slightest slip on her part could consign her family to a gruesome death.Worse, they were going to be unleashed on New Orleans, so even if Rafe’s father didn’t have anyone in the facility in his pocket, that didn’t mean he hadn’t managed to get a spy in the area. Nina would have to be on guard twenty-four seven to make sure she didn’t slip.
Their team leader, the hand-to-hand combat instructor who insisted on being referred to as Cam rather than Mister Strong, led them into an empty classroom.
“Okay, here’s how this is going to work,” the man said, motioning for everyone to take a seat. “You’ll be given a file to study, one that contains all the information you would typically get from a Born who hires you for a hunt. The only difference is, you’re going into this knowing that your target is somewhere in New Orleans. You just need to figure out where.”
Picking up a stack of tablets, Cam began handing them out. “Study your target, learn who he is, figure out where he’d most likely go, and begin to narrow down your search.”
“Wolfy McWolferson?” one of the vampires asked. “Who came up with that?”
Cam let out a little chuckle. “Good one, huh?”
Nina looked at the information on the tablet and the image provided. Their target was Jeremiah Durand, the instructor in charge of the shifters, though he’d been given the ridiculous alias of Wolfy McWolferson.
