“Technically, he hasn’t been diagnosed. But he will freely tell you he is himself. He doesn’t care who knows it. He knows his job is secure. There really isn’t anyone to replace him anyway. Hunters are hard to find,” Tony admitted with a shrug.
He heard his words, but…the scene from Ned’s house was filtering through his mind. A shudder of pleasure slithered through his body. Foxx had a thing for pain…for other people’s pain. He didn’t like being in pain, unless it was from being stretched full. Foxx just enjoyed watching a sexy bad boy hurt bad people—or just people who were assholes. Oh, he really hoped he didn’t pop a stiffy anytime he watched Harlow fight… How does one explain that?
“I’m not saying this to scare you, Foxx,” Tony said with a frown, no doubt mistaking his reaction for fear. “Harlow is dangerous. He hasn’t survived as a hunter for as long as he has by being weak. The man is very controlled and calculating in his actions when he wants to be. That display was no doubt just him thinking the situation called for him to be flippant. At most, he was irritated by this development. But Harlow won’t harm you just because of what you are. You will be safe with him. He won’t break the rules that have been set, simply because he wants to keep killing freely and has no interest in going to jail.” His boss cleared his throat awkwardly and then hesitated, as if he wasn’t sure about his next words.
Foxx had no clue as to why. What could be worse than admitting the whole psychopath thing? At least Harlow, who was possibly a psychopath, followed the rules. It no doubt had made him an asset to the Hunters Guild.
Tony cleared his throat again. “Before the laws were passed, even then, Harlow never just killed your kind because you existed.”
That explained the hesitation. Talking to any paranormal about the time before they had rights usually made humans uncomfortable.Who would have figured that talking to individuals as sentient beings after you indiscriminately murdered them for years would make some nervous,he thought sarcastically. Not saying some didn’t have it coming, but a lot of innocent people had been lost as well.
Foxx frowned when Tony grimaced and then admitted, “Not that I’m sure it hasn’t happened, in the case of one of you realizing he is a hunter and attacking. But he likes to kill the ones doing harm. It’s not a moral thing. He’s just a twisted fuck. Harlow doesn’t see a point in harming those who don’t fight back. It’s not as fun, I believe he told me once. As you have probably figured out, we aren’t very formal here, unless it’s paperwork, of course. This is not your typical government agency. Most of us, the hunters at least, including Harlow, were here before it was an above-board agency. Our actions in the past were not fair. There is no denying that. But I hope you can understand we all are trying to make things better for everyone now.”
Foxx snorted. “His reason is as good a reason as any. And you don’t have to defend the Hunters Guild’s actions to me, Tony. I’m fully aware that while some of you killed all they came across in the past, you also took out many who rightly deserved death. Frankly, I wouldn’t be here if I thought this organization was still just out to kill us all. Were many mistakes made in the past? Sure. And a lot of those past actions are…inexcusable, even now. But things have changed. I’m not here to dwell on the morals of the past. I’m here to be part of the change for the future.”
As he spewed out all the feel-good nonsense, his mind was running through the information he had just been given. Foxx would admit that even knowing all this didn’t change how hot he found Harlow. In fact, it may have moved him up on the hotness scale. Yeah, he was really fucked up. Ahh, bad boys…
Oh, well. Attraction aside, it was not like he could act on any of it now. Harlow was his partner. He was sure there was some work policy about not fucking your partner. Yet…the law was still new.
Hmm, maybe he should look into that, and see if he could get away with it before it was too late. Then again, the human hadn’t really seemed interested—pity.
No, no, he would be good. Foxx would keep his flirting to the minimum, andnottry to get into Harlow’s trousers. Even if he really wanted to be in them.
Tony nodded. “True. The past can’t be changed, but the future can be made better. Well then, are you ready to meet your handler?”
Foxx banished his thoughts on Harlow away and smiled. “Introduce away. I’m excited to meet them.”
His boss stood and guided him out of the room. “Charity Bartlett, your handler, is actually at the front desk today. She was the woman who directed you back here when you arrived.”
He frowned. “That was her?”
“I'm guessing she didn't say anything so she would have a chance to get a good look at you before you discovered who she was,” he explained with a sigh as they walked through the room towards the front entrance. “Terry Larsen, our secretary, is out for the day. She likes to fill in for him when he’s gone.”
“It’s nice to help out when you can,” Foxx responded mutely.
It’s not that he didn’t care… Okay, he didn’t really care. He supposed it was nice that his handler was generous to her coworkers, but Foxx was going to assume he wouldn’t have much to do with anyone here besides Tony, Charity, and Harlow. He may get to know Terry, at some point, but until then…he was just a blank face person to Foxx. And not someone he was too concerned with. Who knew? Maybe they would become friends.
Generally, he tried to limit the number of human friends he had. Too many in one century meant there was a lot of heartbreak waiting for him at the end of it. He tried to space them out, so he wouldn’t have to watch them all die at once or in bulk.
They pushed out into the front entrance of the Hunters Guild. The woman sitting at the front desk peered up. She was a full-figured woman in a green power suit, with long platinum curly blonde hair, pale skin, large baby blue eyes, a dimpled chin, high cheekbones, and pink heart-shaped lips. She smirked upon spotting them—no wonder she had seemed so interested in him when Foxx first arrived at the Guild.
“Ah, hello there, doll.” Charity wiggled her well-manicured red nails at him in a little wave. Her accent was southern. “Thanks for the entertainment.” She chuckled. “It’s always fun to see how Harlow will react to situations outside of his control.”
Foxx giggled. “Shouldn’t you generally try to not piss off a psychopath?”
Charity’s grin widened, her baby blue eyes sparkling. “Now, where would the fun be in that? Anyway, I suppose introductions are in order? I’m Charity Bartlett. I’ll be in charge of keeping you in line and giving you your assignments. But don’t worry, I’m sweet as pie. Just not when it comes to getting your paperwork in on time. So make sure you submit it all in a timely manner, won’t you? I promise, most of it is just writing the details of what went down.” She held out her hand.
Foxx beamed and grasped her hand. Loving how warm and welcoming she was, he found her shake sturdy. Pulling free, he introduced himself, “Foxx Honeywell. It’s a pleasure to be working with you. And I promise to submit all my work on time.”
“Ah, that accent. To get to hear that on a regular basis, I call that a win for my ears.” She sent him a flirty wink that had him laughing. “I have your details already. Tonight, keep an eye out for an email with a welcome packet. It will have my contact details, the specifics of the job, your employee information, and every form you could possibly need as a hunter. Be on the lookout for your hunter ID in the mail. It should show up this week. Other than that, I think you are free to go for today. Right, boss?” She flicked a look at Tony.
Tony nodded. “You won’t be called in on any cases until Harlow returns from his vacation. Do note, he will be taking the lead on cases, even if you are equal partners, just due to his experience. That, however, doesn’t give him leave to be overbearing, so don’t take any crap from him. Otherwise, use these few free days to go over everything.” The man hummed, his head tilting before adding, “Oh, sadly, your arms test…has been delayed. They had too many apply to undertake the test after the decision regarding law 7613 resulted in an emergency law change dealing with weapons. They are now booked up until the end of the month. Your test is scheduled for the 29th of September. I’ll send you a list of approved options for weapons until you can take your test.”
“I had been wondering about that. Good to know. I’ll mark it on my calendar.”
It wasn’t a lie… Foxx had been wondering about the arms test. He’d gone through basic training and whatnot after applying for the job, but the licensing for guns and other weapons had been put off due to the laws at the time. It was only recently, as in a few weeks ago, that another law had changed, allowing paranormals to own and purchase various weapons legally.
They may have gotten the right to exist five years ago, but they were still denied many things that humans were granted. And really, the recent change only allowed those working for the hunters, or in various law enforcement agencies, to own weapons now. The rationale had been that paranormals were strong enough, so they didn’t need any added protection. Completely ignoring that weaker species of paranormals existed. Sure, vampires may have had the biggest population out of other paranormals. But even then, strength wise, the average vampire was about ten to fifteen percent stronger than the average human. Their agility was also a bit higher…and the percentage did tend to go up with age… Not to mention their bloodline powers…
