She blows him a kiss before running off into the distance.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Day One
Pre-dawn, Alex laces his boots and finishes the last of his coffee before he leaves for work. Dumping the empty cup in the sink, he happens to glance out of the kitchen window. Down below, on the sidewalk, a jogger pauses to pull off her sweater.
Ella.
Listening to Alex’s music while she jogs, she pops her earphones out and loops the cord around her neck before she pulls the Academy sweater off over her head and uses it to wipe her face. Her white tank top is soaked with sweat, and Alex can see her skin glistening under the light of a nearby street lamp.
Unaware of her audience, Ella stretches against the lamp post. First one leg, and then the other. She reaches her arms up into the air and stretches her shoulders and back, then wipes her neck and chest with the sweater.
She’s preparing for her first day of work as a Hunter Division Intern.
*************************
Alex arrives in the DDH loading bay to find Maydevine already there. His chest tenses at the sight of his boss. He feels guilty and deceitful, and hates the thought of keeping a secret from the man he so respects. Maydevine has placed a great deal of trust in him over the years, and has given him many opportunities that others wouldn’t.
Yesterday, kissing Ella felt like a release. Today, the memory of it feels more like a burden. He hates that the aftermath of it has made him feel like a thief. He feels as though he was invited into Maydevine’s life with kindness, and repaid him by taking something that didn’t belong to him. For as much as he tries to pretend otherwise, and even though Ella is now an adult, he knows that she’ll always belong to Maydevine.
Alex forces himself to appear casual as he approaches his truck, where Maydevine’s been waiting patiently for him for almost five minutes. Watching his boss light up a cigarette, he suddenly craves nicotine.
“What’s up, boss?”
“Do you know what today is?”
“Monday?”
“Today, the Academy turns my daughter loose in the Division.”
Alex’s heart pounds at the mention of her. “I’m certain she’ll do fine, sir.”
“That’s not my concern.” He takes a draw from the cigarette. “Would I be making a mistake to place her in your unit?”
Yes, he thinks, but doesn’t say it.
“A mistake, sir?” he asks for clarification.
“I’m no fool, Commander. I’m aware that your personal relationship with my daughter has extended beyond the limit of acceptability.”
Alex smothers his internal panic. Maydevine couldn’t possibly know. Could he?
“Sir, I—”
“I’m letting it go.” Another draw. “You saw to it that she received the medical care she needed, and I’m grateful to you for your concern.”
A ripple of relief.
“It’s not your fault that she presumed too much of your kindness,” Maydevine goes on. “And she seems to have overcome any delusions she may have had about her involvement with you.”
Alex bites back a flash of jealousy.
“You refer to her relationship with Cadet Luka Kinsella, sir?”
“The boy is a good fit. Apart from being clumsy enough to let me catch him in her bed, he’s a decent young kid.”
He’s testing Alex’s reaction, and Alex is very aware of it. He remains stone-faced throughout, though his chest hurts with envy.
And there’s more.
Maydevine isn’t done torturing him yet.
“The boy is respectfully aware of the future awaiting my daughter, and he’s already filed the papers for his transfer into the Police Division.”
“I’m not sure I follow.” Alex frowns.
“Ella has it within her to become a Commander someday, and if he’s to pursue a life with her, then he cannot do it as a Hunter.”
Alex clenches his jaw and hopes that Maydevine doesn’t notice the fire within him.
“There’s no greater demonstration of commitment than that,” Maydevine concludes. “Don’t you agree, Mr. King?”
Alex forces propriety. “Of course, sir. There’s no question that the boy is right for her.”
“So you’ll accept her as an Intern in your unit?”
Alex nods.
“And there’ll be no awkwardness between you? You’ll behave responsibly and loyally, and from this moment on, you will conduct yourself as her superior officer and nothing more. Do we understand each other?”
“Perfectly.”
Maydevine tosses his cigarette to the floor and crushes it. “Good. She’ll report for duty in fifteen minutes, and she’s been told to wait in the Hunters’ lounge until she’s summoned by her Commander. If she’s late, leave without her. If she under-performs, send her back to the city. If she lets her mouth take control of her brain, punish her. If her life is in danger …” He hesitates. “Do whatever you need to.”
He pats Alex on the shoulder and leaves. Precisely fifteen minutes later, wishing that his circumstances were different, Alex enters the Hunters’ lounge. Ella’s on the floor doing the splits. Leaning forward, her chest pushed up against the floor and her legs outstretched on either side of her, she reaches her hands out above her head.
In the doorway, Alex raises an eyebrow at her contorted position. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“This carpet smells like tomato soup.”
“You’re not supposed to get that close to it.”
She sits up and arches her back, popping out synovial gas, then holds out her hand to him. “A little help?”
He hauls her up off the floor. “Are you ready to go?”
Her eyes gleam with realization. “Did I get posted to your unit? Really?”
“I’m stuck in the third line for a while yet, thanks to our little adventure in the Belt. And I think your papa—” He stops to correct himself. “I mean, Maydevine. I think this is his idea of a joke.”
“Why would you say that?”
Alex pushes her to one side, away from the doorway, where they’ll not be so easily seen or heard.
“He knows about the hospital. He knows that we’ve been seeing each other socially and he’s pissed.”
“I know. He told me. Some bullshit about the hospital having to report my admission because I was still a minor at the time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ella looks unconcerned. “It was right after the Founders Day fiasco. As far as he knows, you rejected me and I fell straight into Luka’s open arms—which is the truth, by the way. He doesn’t know anything more than that, I swear.”
“He’s testing me, Ella.”
“So? We just have to be careful, that’s all.”
She reaches out to touch his face, but he tenses and knocks away her hand before she can make contact.
Hurt, she takes a step back from him. “Or you can forget that any of this ever happened and go back to how it was before you kissed me: watching me from a distance, jerking off over my private assessment videos, wondering what I feel like.”
Firmly, but non-threateningly, he places a hand against her chest and backs her up against the wall, pinning her there. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Then what choice do we have?” She hooks her fingers over his belt and pulls him toward her. “You could always come clean to Maydevine. We’re not doing anything illegal.”
“He wouldn’t approve.”
“Who gives a shit?”
“It’s too soon.” Alex releases her chest, moves his hand to her face and caresses her cheek instead. “I need some time to work my way back into his good books first.”
“Kiss me,” Ella urges.
“I can’t.”
“But yesterday—”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Every inch of this place is monitored by CCTV cameras. When I say I can’t, I mean I can’t—not here.” Though he doesn’t kiss her, he keeps his
palm against her, completely lost in her eyes. “I don’t know how I’m gonna get through this. The other Hunters are going to be all over you.”
“Jealous?” She smirks.
“Intensely.”
*************************
Maydevine sits at his desk in his DDH office, his eyes pinned to his computer. He watches, his jaw tight and his fist clenched on the desk in front of him, as Alex leads Ella out of the Hunters’ lounge.
He saw everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Up to the Hilt
Alex is at the wheel of his Hunter Division truck, and his former second in charge, Oz, is in the passenger seat. Since Alex has been relegated back to the third line for three months, the pair have been temporarily reunited.
The other members of their unit—Ella included—bounce around in the back of the truck as it rumbles over potholes and debris. On account of Ella’s presence—which puts their usual quartet at an odd number, and Hunters are always supposed to be paired up—they’ve been given a temporary new member.
Grinstead.
The dyke man.
He’s staring at Ella, and not at her face.
She tries to avoid looking at him; she can’t believe her miserable luck. Fortunately, the ride is short. Her heart begins to pound with anticipation as they reach their target sector in the Second Reclamation Territory and Alex kills the engine.
This is the third stage of reclamation, and depending on the size of the sector, between one and five third line Hunter units will be dispatched to finish clearing out the remaining Chimera. Guard units have already been placed around it so that no more Chimera can get in, and so that the ones already inside it are trapped.
Easy peasy.
The third line is a walk in the park for an experienced Hunter, since the first and second lines have already completed the lion’s share of the work. They take all the risk, they get all the recognition.
The first line units are the frontline of the Hunter Division: the most skilled soldiers, and the first units ever to see inside a fresh Out District sector. Their job is the most dangerous, as they face an unknown number of Chimera in a sector that’s not yet protected by guard units.
The second line is dispatched into the sector after the first line has either decimated or driven out many of the Chimera. It’s their job to protect the Police Division as they install the guard units around the perimeter.
The third line—like Alex’s current unit—sweeps through the sector after this process has been completed, and works on it until every living thing in it is dead. It’s the starting place for all new recruits, and is responsible for obtaining much of the city’s meat.
The fourth line is the lowest rung of the Hunter Division hierarchy, and is reserved primarily for those who completed their Academy training, but either failed the psychological exam, or barely scraped through with a passing grade.
This line is responsible for the collection of the third line’s fresh corpses for meat, the disposal of corpses not suitable for meat processing, and the transport and containment of any live samples that might be brought back into the city.
Such samples are either used in the BioScience Division’s labs, or to replenish stock in the dairy, or for Academy target practice. Inevitably, some are also unscrupulously traded to the Fringe District for entertainment.
Grinstead, Ella learns, was only recently promoted from the gutless fourth line after retaking the psychological exam for the fifth time. He lacks self-restraint and control, and as soon as they exit the truck, he’s the first one to start waging war over which Hunter should get to be partnered with her.
All this fuss amuses Ella, but Alex less so, and he’s quick to put a stop to it.
“The Cadet stays with me,” he silences them. “The Hunter General made it quite clear that she’s to be under my protection at all times.”
He’s paraphrasing, but he feels like that’s an accurate enough representation of Maydevine’s words. In response, his men begrudgingly mumble their compliance and they begin to disperse, as directed by him.
Once they’re out of sight, Alex withdraws something from beneath the driver’s seat of the truck.
“Before we go anywhere, I want you to have this.” He hands the package to Ella. “I wanted to give it to you sooner, but I didn’t have the chance.”
She takes hold of the object, which is long and flat and crudely wrapped in an old newspaper. “What is it?”
“Your birthday present.” He beams. “I’m sorry it’s late, but I didn’t want to give it to you in front of Maydevine.”
“Why? Is it something kinky?”
Alex laughs. “I keep trying to tell you: not everything is about sex.”
Ella pulls the paper off to reveal a brand new hunting knife in a leather sheath. On both sides of the hilt, an Ella Cross is engraved.
“Wow. I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful.” She looks up at him, her appreciation genuine. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He locks the truck while she fixes it to her pants.
Turning back to look at her, he’s struck by her all over again, as if he were seeing her now for the very first time. She’s beautiful and strong, and he’s utterly transfixed by her. In his whole life, he can’t ever remember being this stirred by another Hunter.
“Are you ready for your first day?” he asks, trying to snap himself out of an almost hypnotic state.
“Just about.”
She leans into him and plants a kiss on his lips. Any conflict he may have felt in Maydevine’s presence is quickly forgotten the instant she gives herself to him again. Taking her in his arms, he walks her back to the truck and pushes her up against it, not breaking the kiss even for a moment.
When the kiss finally does end, Ella locks eyes with him.
“I am ready, just so you know.”
He barely has a moment to consider the meaning of that when he catches the reflection of something moving in the window of the truck. Behind him, a Chimera bounds toward them both and launches itself into the air.
He pushes Ella aside and knocks her to the ground, diving down to cover her as the creature hits the side of the truck at full force, setting off the alarm and temporarily stunning itself in the process. Ella heaves Alex off her chest, and before he can draw his gun, she tackles the dazed Chimera into the dirt and pulls out her new hunting knife.
Driving the blade deep into the top of the animal’s skull, she severs the left and right hemispheres of its brain and causes instant death.
It’s all over in a second or two, and the only thing left for Alex to do is to shut off the truck’s alarm while she cleans the blade of her knife against the Chimera’s leathery, gray skin.
“One for me, zero for you.” She gets back on her feet. “Are you ready to get your ass handed to you by a girl?”
He is, and he does.
By the end of the day, the scores look more like Ella thirteen, Alex nine, and he doesn’t care in the least. As he’d watched her kill the Chimera outside the truck, he’d become slightly aroused. She’d had a glint in her eyes that he’d never seen before, and killing seems to come naturally to her. She clearly enjoys it—she seems to thrive on it, in fact—and he likes to watch.
Done beating a Chimera with a piece of Old World debris, and satisfied that the animal is dead, he looks around for her.
She’s gone.
“Shit!”
He hears the squeal of a dying Chimera and follows the noise to the end of the street, quickly discovering that his concern was misplaced.
He rounds the corner to find her dripping with blood, the hunting knife in her hand. The blade and her skin are deep red, and her uniform is soaked through. Behind her, there are three dead Chimera, each one a victim of a violent stabbing.
Alex is stunned. “I’ve never met anyone like you before in my life.”
Catching her breath, Ella holsters her knife. “I’m out of m
eat flags. Do you have any?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you come and get ‘em?”
Alex is covered in his own fair share of blood. The name on his Kevlar vest is illegible, and his hands are filthy. Ella steps close to him and reaches around his waist, fumbling her way around his belt. Eventually, she finds the meat flags: tiny pink flags with beacon lights at the top and GPS locators in the base.
Alex likes having her close to him.
In the cool autumn air, the moisture in the fresh, warm blood begins to evaporate off her body, causing wisps of steam to rise off her chest, shoulders and hair.
She’s literally smoking hot.
“Enjoying the knife?” he asks, almost rhetorically.
“Very much. Can’t you tell?”
“I’m sure you’ve already fed half of Amaranthe for a week.”
“Not bad for my first day, huh?”
She takes the flags over to the corpses and stabs them into their flesh, skewering one of them right in the eye. As the metal spike pierces the eyeball, a spurt of milky white fluid shoots out onto Ella’s face.
“Eww! Gross.”
She’s about to backhand the goop away when Alex stops her.
“Wait. Don’t waste it.”
This white goo—abstergent serum—is a powerful antiseptic that’s routinely harvested by the BioScience Division. Alex wipes it off Ella’s face with his thumb and smears it into a small gash on her neck.
“It’ll help you heal faster,” he explains.
He prolongs their physical contact, gently stroking his fingertips over her neck. Covered from head to toe in blood, he dare not chance a kiss. Celia had always been repulsed by even the slightest speck of war on him, and he’s grown used to being rejected when he’s not absolutely immaculate.
But Ella’s nothing like Celia.
She senses his hesitation and practically flings herself at him. Their Kevlar vests squelch as they come together, and blood oozes and smears from one to the other like the exchange of saliva in their kiss.
Alex loves every filthy second of it.
When they finally break for air, he checks his watch.
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