“The girls name was Gertrude, her Guardian Henry, died shortly after she was killed. Both of their deaths were recorded as means unknown. After Gertrude there were no more Hunter’s like Cassie. For over three hundred years, every Hunter has had some ability. Cassie is the first Hunter not to have one in a very long time.”
Devon blinked in surprise. The Guardian’s knew how every one of their kind had died, along with their Hunter’s. They kept meticulous notes about it, notes that Devon had tediously helped to sift through. Every one of the Hunters and Guardian’s had been painstakingly accounted for from the moment of their creation, to the moment of their demise. That this particular Hunter, and Guardian, had somehow slipped through the cracks was a giant red flag that something was wrong.
“I see. Does The Commission know you were looking for this information?”
Luther closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t know. I tried to keep the search as quite as possible, but with everyone as scattered as they are, I did have to reach out to more people than I had wanted to. It was one of these people that helped me locate the book about Gertrude. It had been in his vast collection, buried in his basement, forgotten. I don’t think he even knew he had it when he allowed me access to his collected works.”
“But if he did?”
Luther shook his head, his grey eyes were lost; his hair was in even more wild disarray as he continued to tug anxiously at it. “I don’t consider him close enough to say that I trust him.”
If he still breathed, Devon knew that he would not be able to do so anymore. “Does The Commission still exist?” Devon growled, worry for Cassie’s safety gnawing at him.
Luther sighed heavily. “They are not as powerful as before, but yes, they still exist.” Luther paused for a moment, hesitant as to whether or not to continue. Then, he just plunged on. “Devon, I don’t think Gertrude is an isolated incident. I think The Commission may have killed off all of the others like Cassie, or at least they did after Gertrude.”
Devon froze as shock slammed through him. “What?” he asked softly, his voice choked.
“Before Gertrude there was at least one Hunter every few decades with no abilities. After, there were none. I think The Commission began to kill them off in order to limit the liability that these Hunter’s represented to them.”
Devon’s legs almost buckled, he had to lean against the door jam in order to keep himself upright. “Are you serious?” he croaked out.
Luther sighed softly as he pulled his glasses swiftly off. “I believe in what I do, Devon. I believe that I help in the world, that I am part of a good cause. But I know that The Commission was full of a bunch of very old fashioned, uppity individuals that would not allow any imperfection, and to them these Hunter’s were a liability. They would fear whatever happened to Gertrude, what could happen to Cassie…”
Luther broke off, his unspoken words hung heavily in the air. Devon knew what he had been unwilling to say though. If The Commission somehow did know what Luther had been digging for, and why he had been digging for it, then they might come for Cassie. They would not take any risks with the Hunter bloodline. They would want to cover up any proof that there might be faults within the line, and Cassie was that proof. He needed to get Cassie out of this damn town; there was far too much danger here for her. Unfortunately, it was something that she absolutely refused to do. Cursing violently, Devon spun and began to storm back the other way.
They might try to take her away from him if she stayed in this town, and if they knew where she was. They would not want a living reminder of the genetic abnormality in the Hunter line, and that was all they would see Cassie as. They would see her as dangerous, volatile, and unstable. And although the Hunter and Guardian line had been decimated, she would be considered a liability to them, and The Commission would not want that.
“Cassie is not an imperfection,” Devon growled.
Luther nodded as he slid his glasses on. “I know that,” he said softly. “But to them she would be, and it could not be allowed. If they thought that the other Hunters like her were a danger, or a threat to The Commission in any way, then they would have destroyed them.”
Devon stood in stunned silence for a moment longer, barely able to form a coherent thought. Fury boiled through his veins at the thought of those men sitting back, idly deciding who would live, and who would die. “So, The Slaughter may very well have saved her life,” Devon said softly.
Luther was silent for a moment, his thoughts focused on the massacre that had robbed many Hunter’s and Guardian’s of their lives. “As ironic as that is, yes. The Slaughter may very well be the reason that she is still alive.”
Anger surged through Devon. “They’ll come for her, if they know what you were looking for, they’ll come for her.”
“There aren’t enough of them left to bother her Devon,” Luther didn’t sound completely convinced himself. “And we don’t even know if anything will come of what I uncovered.”
Devon wasn’t completely convinced. “Do we tell her?”
Devon’s phone went off, the default ringer loud in the oppressive room. He fished it out of his pocket, his chest tightened at the sight of Cassie’s name. He didn’t know what to say to her right now, he didn’t know if he could keep the stress out of his voice. He almost slipped the phone back in his pocket, but she would only worry if he didn’t answer, and the last thing he wanted was to cause her anymore stress.
He held up a finger to Luther as he walked a few feet away. “Hello.”
“Devon! Devon! You need to get back here as soon as possible! Now!” A voice rushed over the line.
He froze, blinking as he tried to place the strange voice on the other end of his phone. It certainly wasn’t Cassie’s. “Dani?” he asked in surprise.
“Yes, yes,” she replied impatiently. “You need to get back here now! Isla’s outside, and they’re outside with her, I have to go help them!”
Devon stood for a stunned moment after the line went dead. Then panic and terror tore through him. Dropping the phone, he raced past a startled Luther, throwing the door open. “Devon!” Luther shouted in surprise.
“Cassie’s!” he yelled back at him.
Leaping into the storm, Devon drew on every ounce of power that Cassie’s blood had given him as he raced into the night.