Chapter 171

171 Chapter One Hundred Seventy One

The top floor was like a different part of the school. Junior hunters swarmed the place, doing different manner of leisure activities. While some were always reading to make sure they could fall back on studies when a Prometheus gift failed to present itself, the others that were more confident took on different things like table tennis and pool. Katie nearly asked what a table tennis table was doing in the hunter’s lounge, but she decided to ignore it.

Trevor dismissed his henchmen and led the girl to a part of the floor that had been designed like a café, “Well, what do you think?” he asked.

“Well, I haven’t seen the whole floor, but so far so good,” Katie replied. The first room had been a reception where a female junior hunter worked at the table, letting them in. The second had been straight-up leisure. From quiet to chaos, then a little quiet as there wasn’t much chaos in the café part of the floor. She was now getting curious about the other rooms further in. After the café area, the floor was split into two halves by a corridor that was bordered by numerous rooms. She guessed they were all offices, although to whom she didn’t know.

“It’s not much, but it’s a place where all hunters can relax when things get... too complicated,” he replied.

“In other words, the junior hunters are allowed to dodge lessons,” Katie fished out the hidden message.

“We’d like to use the phrase, ‘taking a casual break.'” he replied.

Katie chuckled at the cover-up, “Well, I say it’s not okay, considering all of these hunters don’t know if they will ever be hunters in the long run,” she replied. Prometheus seeks certain qualities in a hunter and this that’s taking place right here is burying those qualities,” she replied.

“You say this is making them lazy and removing their ability to become hunters, but I say the reverse is true. They are being given the chance to prove that all these distractions cannot keep them from keeping their minds on the target at hand,” he countered, “Speaking to someone who wouldn’t stay awake in the last lesson, you need a rest as well.” A girl walked up to them with a tray holding steaming cups. Within the cups was a liquid that brought numerous memories to the girl.

Telling the cup with the most imperfections through her increased sense of smell, she picked the cup with the better coffee in it. One more sniff just to be sure it was the right thing. “Someone likes their coffee...” Trevor’s voice brought her back to reality.

.....

'

“Oh, about resting in the class. I already knew what the teacher was teaching, so you don’t have to worry about that aspect of this hunter’s life. Besides, I have already received my Prometheus gifts and my license, I don’t exactly get to pick a career after graduation,” she responded. Her eyes then moved to the different picture frames on the walls. They depicted hunters that had come through the school. Different photos of all shapes and sizes lined the walls, evenly spaced and lightly decorated. Some of them were group photos with labels at the bottom while others were single pictures of head hunters of the past. Some were in black and white which showed how old they were.

Trevor noticed the girl’s sudden interest in the pictures, “You know yours could also be up there someday.”

“I have enough places I would already like to get my picture taken,” she kindly turned him down, “Might we get to the point. I came here to know your intentions. Consider this my way of giving you the chance to explain yourself. It’s clear that you won’t stop trying to catch my attention. Dazzle me or this is the last time you will be seeing me in this place,” she repeated.

“Is the palace that good of a place? I should visit it sometime. To think you’re not impressed by all this, you must live in a place lined with gold,” the boy joked, however, the girl did not laugh at his humour. Sighing, he placed down his cup of coffee, “Fine, I’ll get straight to the point. You know how the junior hunters don’t usually get information from the pro hunters. It’s only protocol since we haven’t proved our worth to the god of mankind just yet. However, there is a bit of information that comes through here and some of it has me worried.”

“Are you trying to get a reply from me? I am under no obligation to confirm anything you say. Besides, I haven’t been in communication with the other hunters for a while now. I might not be able to confirm what you are asking of me,” she replied.

“Fair enough. However, this is serious. I want to make sure we don’t fail to do our job in this school. That’s keeping the students safe from any form of violence and keeping the peace. That goes for whether the student is a werewolf or a human,” he began, his voice losing all humour. He was starting to sound more like a head hunter and Katie found herself marvelling at the transformation.

“For a moment, I could have sworn you didn’t know what your job was,” the girl chuckled, “what is it that you wish to ask me then?”

“I’ve heard whispers of the situation with the movement of the rogues. Every bit of information that comes my way is that they are mobilising and gathering within Lycaon. A gathering much larger than anything we’ve ever seen... and yet, I can’t help, but feel like they are drawing our attention away from the small group of rogues that lies in wait inside of Sirius,” he continued.

“What makes you think there are rogues in Sirius?” Katie asked him, taking on a serious tone as well. She’d been sensing the eyes of Jeremiah on her for a while. She knew he was always watching her and that he was only waiting for the right time to strike, but couldn’t find one without compromising himself. As a result, she was still safe from him, and yet he kept his location hidden enough for her to be unable to find him if she wanted to. It was a hard feeling to live with.

“I don’t know if there are rogues in Sirius. I just know they couldn’t have left Sirius entirely and that the ones that are left in Sirius might have a special mission to accomplish that’s different but related to the mission of the others that are gathering in Lycaon. It feels like a hunch, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s a possibility and if it is, I don’t want the students of this school to have to suffer from this,” he explained. His face, for once, showed genuine concern for the students.

“Your suspicions are not far from mine. I know there is a group of rogues in Sirius, but I don’t know where. I don’t know what their motives are or when it is they will choose to attack and who they will attack. I just know that with rogues being this careful about their actions, you might be onto something. They might just have hidden motives,” Katie confirmed what she could without giving up information from what Samantha had told her a while ago.

The boy nodded in response to her answer, his eyes glazed over while he thought long and hard. With the little access to information that a junior hunter had, he only had to use his intellect to protect the school. Normally, standard procedures would work just fine, but something had the boy worried that he’d decided to do his own form of investigation into the matter. He had nothing to go on, but all of his hunches hit the mark. Katie was impressed although she didn’t show it.

“Can I make a request, Katie?” the boy asked. He hadn’t touched his coffee since he’d gotten serious. ‘What a waste of good coffee!’ the thought ran through Katie’s head before she replied.

“Depending on how much it requires of me, I will grant it or not,” she replied.

“I know I have been pushing your buttons out there. Forgive me if I find it hard to believe who you say you are. Prometheus has never blessed a wolf with gifts before and you being the first just gets on my nerves somehow. However, I did ask the pro hunters at the Hunter’s Agency and they confirmed you really are one of them even though you haven’t visited the Agency yet. I want to ask for your help during the trip. There is so much I don’t know about protecting a moving group of humans. Please...” this evening was full of shocking times for the royal.

After having been through such trying times with the head hunter, she was shocked to see another side of him. “What makes you act like such an- forgive my language- ass out there?” she tried being calm about it, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d really been pushing his luck.

“To be honest, I had already built a reputation by the time I ran for the head hunter. I was not the best human being at the time and I got the lesson beaten into me by the previous head hunter. Before the boy left, he showed me what it meant to be a hunter. No matter how strong one is, they cannot let that strength get to their heads and they must always act as though they were weak in any situation. The lives of innocents came first before all others along with many other lessons that shape a hunter. When I get back into society, I can’t help but wear the mask of my former self.

It keeps my enemies unaware of my true potential and allows me the chance to keep a low profile while in plain sight,” the boy explained.

“So, you’re just playing the role of a dim-witted leader,” Katie rubbed her temples.

“Don’t say it like that. You make me sound like a clown,” Trevor chuckled before his face went serious once more. “Will you help me?”

“Yes, I will, but you will not be giving me instructions. As for my mentee... She’s busy, most of the time, but if you do happen to get her free, you can fill her in on your plans for the trip. As long as I’m helping out on that, she will as well,” Katie replied. That seemed to wrap up the serious part of their conversation.

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, are you seriously mated to Prince Lycaon?” the girl nearly choked at the question. ‘How long have you been holding in such a silly question?’ her thoughts rushed while she struggled to regain her composure.