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“And that’s why you wanted me here? Because I’ve met your bogeyman, and you think he’s behind it?” So maybe I’m halfway to shouting, but she’s pushing all my buttons when I’m already tense. The mere idea of hunting Cor makes it hard to breathe, not to mention my utter disgust at the thought of leading her to him. A sudden wave of possessiveness washes through me, and I snap my mouth shut before I can say more. Before I give myself away.

Another weary sigh. “You’re here because Colton said you’re the best tracker he has, even if you’re inexperienced. You may not be Mr. Firepower or Joe Close Combat, but from what I’ve heard, you’re sharp, you have a good eye, and you have the instinct for this kind of detective work. If you do well here, who knows, maybe Colton finally pulls his head out of his ass and makes you an actual investigator instead of wasting your talents on our library. Or maybe even an active Hunter, out in the world.”

We take the exit towards the Border District and I breathe in deeply. Out there, Cor is waiting for me, hopefully. Damn it, I actually want to see him. But something about Asha’s story still doesn’t sit right with me, besides her obvious interest in Cor.

“And what do you plan to do if we find your so-called bogeyman?”

Asha throws me another one of her trademark sideways glances and grins. “We watch him and wait for him to go after another vamp, of course. And then we take him out for good. No more breaches of Contract if he’s off the street, right? Prove once and for all that there are no more rotting serial killer vampires, just a single monster that incidentally appeared concurrently. You’ll be able to go home and close the book on this city.”

For a few moments, I stare at her blankly as my stomach quivers. What she is suggesting isn’t just a major violation of our clan’s code of conduct. No, it would be a breach of Contract by a Hunter. We only intervene when the deeds of a supernatural threaten to expose all of us. We only kill when we have a confirmed breach or when our life is threatened. We don’t run around and wait for supes to do something shady. We’re not the supe-police. The only reason the supes don’t wipe us off the face of the earth is because of our codex, because we have rules, strict rules we adhere to, come hell or high water. They let us live and bow to our judgment; we make sure they stay hidden.

It’s a sacred compact between the sides. It must not be broken. Stalking—killing—Cor for no good reason other than the faint chance that he might have killed someone in a situation that has nothing to do with us would mean war between us and the supernatural community. And not just in Babylon City. Everywhere.

“You’re crazy,” I croak.

Asha’s smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m not, but you don’t have to trust me. Given enough time, you’ll see things my way soon enough.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WE ARRIVE BACK at the hotel after three more hours of thankfully quiet patrolling. Lucky for me, we have gone nowhere near the Darkmoon Market veil, or any other veils for that matter. Zero chance of running into Cor by accident. And even better, zero chance of running into anyone who saw Cor and me together. But even knowing that, I am exhausted by the time I lock the door of my hotel room behind me. Although we didn’t speak another word to each other except for some basic directional inquiries, I have a tension headache and a rock of panic in the pit of my stomach.

I don’t know what to do. I can’t sneak out to visit Cor now, not after finding out Asha is actively trying to capture him. Or kill him. Her reasoning is not sound and makes no sense whatsoever, which is so very much unlike her. She has always been the reasonable, coldly calculating member of our clan, and I can’t think of any reason that should have changed in such a short time. Especially since she is actively trying to break the Contract, as a Hunter.

I don’t understand how she could even make the conscious decision without screaming in pain, what with the mark being a self-activating curse. It reacts to your thoughts, to your knowledge of something breaking the Contract, it doesn’t have a mind of its own. Meaning, the moment she decided she’d try to do this illegal thing, the Hunters’ mark should have basically exploded on her. And that can only mean one thing: She lied to me about what we were doing, driving around the city. Maybe we were looking for Cor, but it feels wrong. Why not visit the points of interest on our list? Or at least a veil? We didn’t even ask anyone questions on the way, didn’t get out of the car except to use a gas station restroom; how were we supposed to find anything?

I drop my gun on the nightstand and slap my forehead in frustration. I am so stupid. We weren’t looking for Cor. The cultists know where Cor was last, thanks to the amulet, and they would have told her. They even know I was there, too. Asha wasn’t patrolling with me. She was stringing me along to keep me busy. Busy and away from Cor.

I shove the gun back into my shoulder holster and all but run towards the door, only to freeze with my hand on the handle, heart pounding madly. Wait a minute. What if it’s a trap to get me out of the way? What if that was her plan all along? My hand trembles on the doorknob as I contemplate my next move. If Asha is actively trying to capture or kill Cor, then I can't just lead her right to him. Even if she doesn’t plan on actually killing him and only said it to make me panic and do something stupid, she still has a reason to want to get close to Cor. She is working for cultists, no matter how much I struggle against the idea.

And the cultists want Cor. It would make horrible sense to get me to lead her to him. It would be a stupid rookie move, and that’s just the stuff I do when pressed. It would be the smartest solution to just not leave. But if I stay here, she might lose her patience, come after me and find out that I know where Cor is hiding by use of just a little force. Or a lot of force. My heart stumbles fearfully as I try to come up with a plan.

Suddenly, an awful idea strikes me. I quickly grab my phone and dial Colton's number. Not the number for HQ, his personal, direct number, for emergencies only. It rings twice before he picks up.

"Hello?" His voice is calm and steady, but I can hear the tension in it.

"Colton, it's Gideon," I say urgently. "I need you to listen carefully. I am in a lot of trouble, and it’s time to come clean."

"What's going on?”

"Asha lied to us," I blurt out, not wanting to waste any time beating around the bush. "There is no new breach of Contract. She made it up as an excuse to get a job assigned in the city again. She's working for the local cultists and is helping them go after a specific supe for some reason."

There is a moment of silence on the other end of the line before Colton responds, his voice a disbelieving growl. "How do you know this?"

Well, ain’t that a loaded question. ‟I-,” I start and then close my eyes forcibly. ‟I don’t actually have any written proof, or video or anything. But I saw her make deals with the cultists multiple times. And I know it’s not about the case we were working. Did you know she was in Babylon City already when the new breach of Contract got issued? My—, a contact saw her and told me. I even followed her after we met up, and she went right into that cultist compound and out again as if they were buddies, and—‟

Colton sucks in air through his gnashed teeth sharply. The hiss makes me shut up. ‟But do you have proof?” he interrupts my rambling.

‟Proof, I…” I sigh and rub my forehead as I walk back to the bed, staring at my meager belongings. ‟Only my word. I saw everything. I could take an oath if you feel like I’m not trustworthy anymore.”

‟That might be a good start, but I need more, Gideon,” Colton says, his voice still tense but controlled. ‟Because Asha mentioned she was worried about you getting compromised before she left. She said something about a vampire with mind control powers. Does that sound familiar to you?”

My butt hits the mattress as my knees lose all strength. I would accuse myself of feeling faint if my blood pressure weren’t spiking so hard. What in the world is going on? ‟That is not what is happening, I promise you,” I force out hoarsely. ‟But if you call both of us back to headquarters, you can check for yourself.”

Colton stays silent for a few seconds, then takes a deep breath in. ‟I already tried. Asha isn’t picking up her phone anymore. Not since last night. I thought she’d just been too busy to call back, but if you met her since then,…” He doesn’t finish the sentence.

‟I literally saw her five minutes ago. She’s next door.” Biting my lower lip, I move closer to the door. ‟What should I do?”

‟Nothing stupid, boy. She’d rip you a new one if you try anything, especially if she’s gone rogue.” He taps his fingernails against his teeth, thinking. ‟You can’t beat her in a fight, but you’re a good detective. Do you think you can shadow her, find out what she’s up to? It has to be something time sensitive, she knows HQ will come after her if she stays gone for too long. Whatever stupid thing she is doing, it has to be happening very soon.”