A Hunter Within

by Anna Applegate

  “Yes, you’re a romantic, I see. Captivated by the notion to help others. I’m the same way. I constantly think of more ways I can give back.” She clasped her hands together and nodded as if she was moved by my response. “I’m sorry to hear about your parents, but sometimes bad things make us strong enough to move toward greatness,” she said. “I’m going to give you some paperwork to read this evening. Tomorrow, you’ll report here to this conference room. I’ll be educating you and one other intern on some history behind this project. It may take some time, but soon you’ll be right in there with me as part of the research team. I hope you’re as excited as I am.” She held out her hand and I took it. “Congratulations, Ms. Parker.”

  “Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to working with you,” I said.

  “Well, off you go.” She smiled and waved me out.

  I left the room and gathered my things back at my cube before leaving for the day. I did it, I thought, breathing a sigh of relief.

  I texted Seeley, letting him know I had news and that I’d call as soon as I could.

  ***

  I came home to an empty house and realized it had been a while since I’d actually had any time to myself. I smiled, throwing everything onto the kitchen counter haphazardly and taking a deep breath. I had to call Seeley so we could start working on our plans. Part of me was nervous. Once he knew, all that I’d learned so far would be more real.

  I reached for my phone, suddenly deciding I should call my aunt before I got an earful about abandoning her.

  “Hey, sunshine!” I said when she answered on the first ring.

  “Where have you been?” she asked, sounding slightly concerned.

  I laughed. “Working, school, perhaps spending time with a new young man,” I teased.

  She didn’t take my bait at all, which surprised me because for five years she’d been begging me to pay attention to something other than my school work.

  She glazed over my response. “Can you make it home this weekend?” she asked.

  “Uhhh.” I took out my meticulously documented planner and started flipping through. The school work never seemed to end, on top of everything else. “Well, there’s this charity thing at work, and I can head over as soon as it ends,” I suggested. “But it would be late.”

  “Yes, I’d like that. And late is fine,” she said, sounding calmer than in the beginning of our conversation. “Did I hear you say new young man, or was that in my head?” she asked.

  I laughed again. “You heard right.”

  “And!” she shouted into the phone so loud I had to hold it away from my ear.

  “Well, his name is Seeley,” I started and then stopped. What was I supposed to say next? We met because he saved my life, and he’s a vampire? I snorted and realized I hadn’t said anything for a moment. “Sorry,” I said quickly. “His name is Seeley, he’s gorgeous, and it’s very early, but”—my lips twitched—“he’s a great kisser.”

  “Jules Parker!” Amanda laughed on the other end. “How dare you tell me such horrid details.”

  “Where were my manners? My apologies.” I doodled on a note pad in the kitchen, drawing circles over and over lazily. My head ached for a moment, and I shut my eyes intensely, trying to push it away somehow.

  “Is everything else going okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, everything is fine. Just same old, same old,” I lied.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  I’d never been a good liar, and Amanda always seemed to be able to tell when something was off.

  I put on a fake smile as I answered. “Yes, I’m just tired. I’ve been going non-stop the past few days.” At least that was the truth.

  “Okay, well make sure you’re taking care of yourself. I’ll see you this weekend.” She paused for a minute. “Hey, don’t cancel on me. It’s important.”

  A wariness grew inside me at her urgency and tone. “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Of course. It’s just been a while since you were here,” she said, and I could picture her smiling and shifting her weight like she did when she talked on the phone.

  “All right, all right, I’ll be there. Love you!” I said.

  “Love you more,” she quipped, and I hung up the phone.

  I went to set it down, but in the process, knocked over a wine glass that had been balancing precariously near the note pad I was doodling on.

  Normally, my reflexes were terrible. I’d never played sports because my hand-eye coordination is non-existent. In fact, it’s a good thing I was intelligent, because otherwise I had no idea how I would have managed a scholarship anywhere. So when I rapidly reached out and caught the glass that had fallen in midair, I stared in awe at myself.

  “Of course I do something incredible with no witnesses.” I laughed to myself. Setting the glass back up on the counter, this time in a better position than it had originally been in. I looked at the glass again and brushed it off. Lucky catch.

  I knew I couldn’t put off Seeley any longer.

  “Hey, Parker,” he answered. I was starting to love the sound of his voice.

  “Hey, I wanted to fill you in on everything that happened today at Falcone. Are you busy?” I asked, secretly praying for an invite over so I could see him.

  “No, go ahead.” He seemed a little short, but I brushed it off. Maybe he was in the middle of something.

  “Oh, now? Over the phone. Okay,” I said, trying not to let my disappointment show.

  “You could come in person if you have time.” I could hear the smile in his voice and bit my lip, excited to see him again. “Do you remember how to get here?” he asked.

  I was giddy but kept my voice calm as I responded. “Yeah, let me just change, and I’ll be there soon,” I said, hanging up and rushing to throw something more presentable on.

  I was out the door in less than ten minutes.

  When I pulled up, Seeley greeted me at my car door, holding out his hand. I couldn’t help but smile up at him. He kissed my cheek, and we walked inside. My heart sank a little when I saw Rebecca sitting at the table inside their home, waiting for me.

  Seeley pulled out a chair for me. “So, what’s going on?” he asked.

  I spun my scarf off my neck and set it beside me before sitting down.

  “Marissa made a big announcement today that she was going to select the interns for her project this week. And I’m in,” I said excitedly. “There’s a bunch of material she gave me for tonight, but I had some other things, too.”

  I reached down into my purse and pulled out my original Falcone Welcome Packet, which I had thankfully remembered. I looked to Seeley, handing it over to him. “This is what we were given on our first day for orientation. I don’t know what’s helpful, and what’s not, so I just included everything. There are some building maps, though. They might be useful for you.”

  Seeley handed the packet to Kellan who started thumbing through the pages quickly. “This is great. Thanks. Every map I have is different, so maybe this will help sort out what’s real and what’s a front.” Kellen flashed me a grin, and his whiter–than-white teeth sparkled like the ending of a gum commercial.

  “She also announced that there was going to be an annual gala this Friday. It’s going to be held at the HQ building. I need to find out more, but that might be a chance to get in.” I smiled, proud of myself for coming up with that idea on my own during my car ride over.

  Seeley watched me in amusement, clearly seeing the pride I wasn’t hiding well. “Perhaps it will be, Parker.”

  “Also, this year’s charity that they have chosen to support during the Charity Gala is themselves. Marissa said that they are starting up a charity for local families in need. So whatever money will be coming in from people at the gala, is going right back into the company’s pockets, under the guise of a new charitable foundation.”

  The vampires exchanged glances, suddenly seeming concerned.

  “So she must have something if she need
s money. Either for production or distribution.” Rebecca sighed, drumming her fingers frustratedly on the table. “Anything else you’d like to share?” Her eyes bore into me, as if she were waiting for me to say something wrong or slip up.

  I frowned. “I think that was all the news for today.” I grimaced at her. Apparently, none of it was good enough for her.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing else you found out?” she egged on.

  I watched her, scowling again. “I don’t think so,” I said.

  “Well, there you have it, Seeley. We can’t trust her.”

  “Excuse me?” I said. “I’m sorry that in one day I didn’t give you enough of what you wanted to know,” I continued through gritted teeth.

  “Did Henry tell you anything today that would be helpful for us to know?” Seeley said to me, staring at me with a blank expression on his face.

  I looked away, suddenly realizing they weren’t at all talking about what I had learned at work. “I…” I wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Just like I thought. You can’t even be honest with us about your dear little friend and that his father works for Falcone,” Rebecca snapped. “We don’t need her snooping around. We simply need to take Henry and exchange him for Gabe,” she said.

  “Wait a minute, what? You won’t touch him!” I said, angrily as I stood from my chair and went to confront Rebecca. “And how do you even know about Henry’s father?”

  “I bugged your phone. I can hear you whenever it’s near you.” She winked. “I told you I don’t trust you, and I was right not to.”

  She had taken me by surprise, and I wasn’t quite sure how to calm myself before I responded. I was furious with her overstep. “I’m not going to share something Henry told me that I didn’t think was relevant,” I said.

  “It’s relevant because it’s important information. Henry knew we were vampires, Jules. And now we find out his father works for the enemy? And that he’s going somewhere and won’t tell you anything about what he knows until after he’s back?” Seeley started raising valid points of concern, but I was on the defensive from being bugged and from Rebecca’s stupid idea to kidnap Henry.

  “He is not involved in this. He’d never hurt anyone,” I argued.

  “I bet you never thought he’d call you out for being a whore either,” she snapped.

  “Enough, Rebecca,” Seeley barked at her.

  I turned to face him, praying I was misunderstanding something in what was being implied by the group. “You’re going to do this? Kidnap Henry?”

  “I didn’t say that. Rebecca’s ramblings are not my ideas. But I am concerned that Henry needs time all of a sudden and then wants to talk to you. And that his father works for the very people we are trying to fight,” Seeley said calmly, but I could see emotions beginning to brew in him that didn’t look good.

  “But his dad might just be a grunt, like me. I have no idea what he does.”

  “Wrong again,” Rebecca chimed in. “I looked up his address, 316 Pennbrought Drive.”

  “Okay,” I said, raising a hand up to show my confusion.

  “I also looked up other addresses. Did you know that another employee from Falcone lives at 316 Pennbrought Drive?” She quirked her eyebrows in amusement, watching my cluelessness.

  I didn’t give her the satisfaction of any sort of response, but I didn’t need to. Rebecca was on a roll, and even my lack of response wouldn’t stop her from sharing what she’d found.

  “Marissa Malcovey.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “There’s a mistake,” I said, shocked.

  “Nope, trust me I double checked myself.” She smirked evilly at me. “Henry’s father lives with Marissa. Tell me again how it’s not relevant information that Henry’s dad works for Falcone and is sleeping with enemy number one!” She slammed her fist down on the table. “You are covering for them, and I swear when I can prove it—”

  She never finished her sentence because Seeley came up, blocking me from Rebecca entirely. “Get out. Cool down and leave. Jules is not a part of whatever conspiracy you have in your head. The four of us will work together on this, and if you can’t do that, you’ll be sitting this one out. Do you hear me, Rebecca? That’s an order,” he bellowed.

  “If Gabe dies because of her, I will kill her,” she spat before she stormed out.

  Seeley looked back at me, and Kellen stood across the room where he had been since Seeley handed him my folder. I’d practically forgotten he was there.

  “I need you to understand that I’m worried Henry is involved, and this information does not help your friend,” Seeley said, coolly.

  “You can’t be serious that you think kidnapping him and exchanging him for your brother is going to work,” I said.

  “No, I don’t think that will work,” Seeley agreed. “Marissa wouldn’t give up Gabriel for anything. But I need information from Henry, and while I’d like to get it from him without a fight, I’m not sure how tightly he’ll hold onto whatever it is that he knows.”

  “He told me he’d tell me everything. I trust him. I know that you don’t know us that well, but Henry has been against Falcone from the beginning. I tried to get him to come to work with me, and he refused and went on and on about hating big companies. I don’t think he’d have any loyalty to them,” I argued.

  Seeley glanced at Kellan. “Trusting you means I’m trusting you with my brother’s life, and my entire territory. Do you understand that?” he asked, looking me square in the eye. His voice held an air of authority about it, and this was Seeley talking to me as a leader, not Seeley talking to me as a, well I wasn’t sure what we were actually.

  “I do and I appreciate your trust. I swear I will do whatever I can to find your brother. I promised you. And we will ask Henry what he knows.”

  Seeley turned his back to me and held onto the table, looking away from all of us as if he was trying desperately to calm down. “He’s clearly lied to you before. Your trust in him doesn’t do much good at the moment.”

  I didn’t have a comeback to that, because he had. But I knew in my gut Henry couldn’t be involved in this. I just didn’t know how to convey that to them.

  “I will be the one to handle Henry. And you need to trust me, just as I’m trusting you,” he said. His word was final.

  “You won’t hurt him, though, will you?” I asked.

  “If he cooperates, no,” Kellan chimed in.

  I looked at Seeley for reassurance, but he didn’t say anything.

  “Seeley?” I asked.

  “Jules, there are a lot of lives at stake,” he replied. “Not just Gabe’s.”

  “But you won’t hurt Henry,” I said again.

  When he didn’t answer, I grabbed my scarf. “Unbelievable. Is this that reckless side you have that you told me about? You’re willing to hurt someone, who could be another ally for us and another set of inside eyes, for what? To threaten him and get some information that he’ll tell me freely in a short amount of time? He’ll be at the gala with me and said I can ask anything!” The whole situation was spiraling away from me and out of control.

  “We may not have a few days,” Kellan said. “What if Henry is planning to finish up something with Gabriel and then come back to you?” he asked.

  “He’s not the type of person that would hurt someone!” I shouted.

  “My brother is being held captive in a dangerous place, and your friend seems to know more than he’s letting on. The longer Gabriel is held there, the more likely it is that Marissa is getting her hands on his blood, his genetic composition, anything that gives her an edge and potentially endangers my people. This is bigger than your concern for your boyfriend, or whatever it is you’ve let him believe he is to you,” Seeley said. His tone was filled with disdain.

  I stared at him and shook my head. “You want me to believe what you think about yourself? That you’re reckless, too emotional. Congratulations. I certainly do now.”

  I stormed out, refusing to l
ook back at them. Slamming my car door, I threw my hands onto the steering wheel in frustration. Where did they get off, acting like they were able to be trusted, but throwing around threats like they were no big deal?

  As I drove back to my apartment, I became more determined that I didn’t necessarily need the vampires help. I could find out what was going on at Falcone on my own. I could be the one to figure out the truth behind this company and then make a new path for myself, away from the madness surrounding the whole place and the vampires within it.

  I was surprised at how there was such a strong part of me that felt compelled to act if Falcone was doing something illegal and evil. Something had awoken in me that would not back down. I don’t know if it was the injustice or the thought of how many innocent lives were at stake, but I had a new sense of purpose in why I was working so hard. One that I had a feeling would only get stronger.

  My phone buzzed on the seat next to me, and I glanced down to see Seeley was calling. I stared back over at it once the second call came through but ignored both calls. As far as I was concerned, there really wasn’t anything else to say to each other.

  I growled in frustration as I turned into my apartment complex. The desire I had for Seeley was unlike anything I’d ever felt. He wasn’t a monster, even if his actions that day had been hard. He was a king. In charge of the livelihood of who knows how many, and there was someone who showed up as a potential threat. Perhaps he had to hurt others in the past. I didn’t really know much about him, but I didn’t think he would actually harm Henry.

  As much as I defended Henry because my gut told me I knew Henry, and he wouldn’t do something like that, my gut also trusted Seeley. And my heart seemed to be convinced he’d never hurt anyone unless there was no other option. He reminded me of a warrior king. He’d do what needed to be done for his people, but he’d make the right decisions as often as possible.

  I pulled up to a dark apartment. I hadn’t seen the girls in a while, but they were always so busy any way, and with the way my life had been going, I was never available for the fun stuff most people my age were getting in to. I knew I had a ton of work tonight, since Marissa had given an assignment already in my new role. I wasn’t quite sure what the documents would contain that were in my bag.