“Look at you all! What a transformation! Let’s give a hand to our team of beauticians and attendants responsible for getting our soldiers battle-ready,” she gushes, taking special notice of Kalden, who’s assumed leadership at the front of our group.
The gathered crowd claps politely while I try not to roll my eyes at the notion of a makeover being deemed necessary for battle preparation.
“Do you all hear that?” Coraline waits for the general muffled noises to settle before squealing, “The sound of freedom! I know my mother used to say this at the start of every Hunt, but I really do believethiswill be the year Caligo claims victory!”
Applause echoes throughout the arched landing chamber.
Coraline beams more widely, her teeth like tiny sponges soaking up the attention. “Now, before we get to our final interview, each of our esteemed Huntresses has loved ones who’d like to bid them farewell.”
Yvonne leans forward and whispers to Demi. “You were right. We can’t even say our goodbyes in private.”
One by one, the family members of my peers are escorted through the leftmost darkened archway. The production crew swivels their wheeled camera equipment around the landing chamber, hunting for the best angles to capture the new arrivals rushing forward to embrace a daughter, sister, cousin, or friend.
Throat swelling, I drop my helmet to the stone floor as Taurance and my parents are among the last to enter. All three wear wan, sunken faces, like they’ve aged years instead of hours since I last saw them. Noting my attention, my mother tries her best to pull her unpainted lips into a reassuring smile. Taurance reaches Gem at the same time that my parents draw me into their arms, enveloping me in floral perfume and bitter tears. I savor it—savor them and this moment that makes me feel like a child whose heaviest burden is passing a timed history exam. My eyes squeeze shut as I linger in the nostalgia, though unlike then, I’m in no hurry to leave the safety of their embrace no matter how compressed my lungs are.
My mother is the first to pull back, dabbing at the glossy streaks staining her cheeks with the back of her hand before fussing over a few face-framing curls that broke loose from my bun. “Coraline’s right, you know. This will be the year that you claim victory. I can feel it.”
“You can?” Brows arching, I lift my eyes to my father, who’s too busy glaring at Chancellor Bren to give more than a half-hearted nod. “I wish I could agree with you.”
Manicured fingernails clamp onto my shoulders.
“Now you listen to me. You are still a Way,” my mother says with no small amount of pride. “Do you remember what that means?”
I dip my chin, repeating the trite yet sentimental family motto drilled into me through the various challenges of years past.
“Ways always find a way.”
She mouths the words with me, then leans in. “Promise me that you won’t give up on yourself. That you’ll do whatever it takes to survive, just like you always have.”
“Promise.” I glance at Kalden, who stands alone, wishing I could assure her that I’ve been working on a contingency plan.
She follows the direction of my attention. “Be careful with him.”
“With Kalden? He’s actually been helping us with our training. He’s taught me more in our past two sessions than I’ve learned in ten years of the mandatory combat lessons.” Nevermind the fact that he’s also a blunt asshole with zero tact in that perfectly honed body—a body that is currently shifting uncomfortably as those around him exchange emotional goodbyes.
My mother sighs. “That’s wonderful, sweetie. Truly. Thank the shadows he decided to volunteer. He seems like a great asset.”
“But?” I prompt.
“But I worry that he’s a bit reckless. Just don’t let yourself get caught up in anything dangerous, okay?”
I chuckle, though there’s little mirth in it. “You mean beyond hunting our greatest enemy across foreign territory? I’ll try not to, but I promise he should be the least of your worries.”
She squeezes my shoulders once more before releasing her grip.
My teeth bear into my bottom lip as I watch Kalden angle away from the older man standing defensively beside the blonde Huntress whose name is Blair, if I remember correctly. It seems my mother isn’t alone in her distrust of Caligo’s first ever volunteer. The man’s eyes narrow into slits on the one person who’s willingly participating in the Hunt. For darkness’s sake, Kalden is about to risk his life for this city, and this is how we repay him: with glares and seclusion?
I shake my head before calling out, “Kalden!”
His golden gaze finds me instantly, and I wave him over.
My mother pinches her lips together, but I ignore her to nudge my arm into my father’s. “What about you? Any words of wisdom or warnings?”
My father reluctantly turns his reddened face away from the chancellor back towards mine. “If anything happens to you, I’ll kill him myself.”
Face blanching, my mother whips her head around to make sure no one heard. “You can’t say things like that, especially not in public!”
“It’s not like anyone can hear me over all that blubbering,” he says, gesturing towards a middle-aged woman sobbing over Aruna. “And even if they could, who cares? It’s nothing I wouldn’t say to his face.”
