“Aspen, where are you off to so early?”
Was that accusation in her tone? My heartbeat picked up as I raised my scriptures. “Prayer walk.”
Her face softened. “Oh, child, you are one of the most devout hunters we have. Bless you. I’ll join you.”
Frick.
“Great,” I said, trying not to let my voice show my disappointment.
She linked arms with me and started to walk. I had no choice but to go along. I guess feeding Luka would have to wait until later.
There was a sudden movement to my back and I flinched, tearing my arm from Maz and spinning. Fist raised.
Sterling stood there, fully dressed with a katana at his hip as he trailed Maz and I.
“Announce yourself next time. I nearly broke your nose,” I growled at him.
“I would have blocked it,” he said flatly.
Bastard.
Maz grinned, clearly enjoying our little display. “Prayer walk, children. The Lord depends on it.”
Now Sterling was coming! I was sick of seeing my beautiful ex’s face all the time, but I’d told Maz it wouldn’t be a problem, so I needed to suck it up and deal.
“Yes, Maz,” I said as I trailed behind her, keeping one eye on my super sexy ex-boyfriend who needed to book the first flight back to New York City ASAP.
When we reached the lobby I was surprised to see so many hunters already awake and bustling about. They had coffee cups in hand, some from the House of Rose in other countries and states were reading scriptures, and some were dressed in full battle gear. I recognized the House of Ashes logo on one hunter’s jacket. House of Rose were the founding fathers of the society and most loyal to God’s mission. Next was the House of Skulls; they were pretty devout in the hunter faith but didn’t have priests and priestesses like Maz. House of Thorns and House of Ashes were more relaxed groups. They wanted to fight evil and avenge the families who were wronged by the bloodsuckers, but didn’t care much for the scriptures.
Maz got pulled into a conversation and I waited patiently for her. There was an entire day of classes and meetings today before the big gala tonight. I had a few classes ticked off on my schedule that I wanted to attend. I glanced down at the list.
Knife Throwing with Ruby Thorn
Water Combat with Master Rain
“Aspen?” I was pulled from my thoughts by a familiar voice.
Turning on my heel, I faced Ruby. She wore her full black hunter gear complete with Kevlar body armor and House of Thorn logo at her breast.
Holy shifter, she knew my name!
Would it be too weird to ask for an autograph? Yes … it totally would. Instead I was just going to geek out that she knew my name.
“Ruby Thorn.” I said her full name like an idiot. “I mean hi, yes, I’m Aspen.” If you were an orphan adopted by the society as most of us were, you took your house as a last name.
“My senior hunter was injured in practice and I was wondering if you were available to help me demo knife throwing skills later for a workshop I’m leading? Maz speaks so highly of your skills.” She beamed at me, tossing her inky black hair over one shoulder.
My mouth went dry with shock as my gaze flicked to Sterling, who was grinning. He knew how much I looked up to Ruby. My knife throwing was decent, but nothing near her level. I wasn’t going to turn down this opportunity though. I’d rather lose a finger.
“Absolutely. I’d be honored.”
She grinned. “Great, I’ll see you at eight? We can practice the basics before the workshop starts at nine.”
Two hours.
I just nodded, unable to contain myself. With a wave goodbye, she left and I jumped up and down, silently hand flapping before pretending to faint, throwing myself at Sterling. He caught me, amused, and I burst into giggles.
“Ruby Thorn wants me to co-workshop with her! What planet is this?” I asked him.
