"Not well," Hunter confesses with a chuckle. "A lot of isolation, sulking—I mean, you saw me before. I resented the fact that I couldn't transform. But you taught me that maybe transforming isn't what's important at the end of the day."
"Yeah?" I smirk. "I changed your view, huh?"
"Don't get cocky," Hunter teases, but I can see the affection in his eyes. There's a pause, and he continues, "I do believe we're going to fix your magic, Millie. But until then, maybe…" He shrugs his broad shoulders. "Maybe there's some other way you can help in this fight."
"Like what?" I ask desperately.
"You're good at strategising, for one thing," Hunter reasons. "You're fast on your feet, too, and good at improvising. Landon told me about how you dealt with that other student earlier."
"Oh. Right." I blush. "But I don't think I'll be able to flirt my way out of a fight with an Academy agent, Hunter."
He hums, thinking for a moment. "There are humans who hunt shifters, right?" he says after a pause. "They don't have powers, but they've trained so much that they don't need them to go toe-to-toe with us. Think about those guys who attacked the convention centre."
"Mm." I'm starting to see where he's going with this. "You think I should try learning to fight?"
He shrugs. "It's worth a shot, right? I doubt most of the humans are expecting shifters with combat training. It could give you an edge —especially after you get your powers back."
"'After,'" I echo, chuckling a little. "You're such an idealist, Hunter Ash."
Hunter kisses me gently, running his thumbs over my cheekbones. His movements are so sweet that it makes me feel like I've turned to jelly. When he pulls away, I see him drinking me in with his blue eyes. "I learned it from you," he says quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
This brings unexpected tears to my eyes, and I can't help but wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest. If he feels the dampness on his skin, he doesn't say anything, just rolls onto his back so I can rest my head against him, his fingers stroking idly through my hair.
I still have no answers, and the future is still as nebulous as it was before. But falling asleep tucked against Hunter's chest, I find an escape.
Chapter 7
The train station is really only a train station in the most basic of terms, considering the size of the village, but I'm astonished when I see the sleek train that pulls up to the tracks as we bundle up onto the platform.
"Damn," Landon observes, crossing his arms. "You've got champagne tastes, Ash."
Hunter rolls his eyes. "Let's just say I've had about enough of sleeping on the floor in one-star motels for the time being."
"Lucky your dad is loaded," Silas agrees. "This isn't going to tip the Academy board off to where we are, is it?"
Hunter shakes his head. "Just because they pay well, that doesn't mean they have control of his finances." Seeing the doubtful look in the dragon shifter's eyes, he adds, a little defensively, "He isn't going to rat us out, Silas. He's been one of the dissenters on the board since day one."
"I hope you're right," says Silas, and with that, he leads our ragtag group across the station platform and up the train steps. The rest of us follow suit, Hunter and I supporting a still-woozy Shade while Landon watches me protectively from behind. The inside of the train car is plush, sleek and modern, and from the looks of it, the journey back to the city won't take long.
"Nice hickey," Landon murmurs in my ear as we move to get settled in our compartment. It makes me jump, and my hand flies to my neck and the mark that Hunter must have left last night. A burst of colour creeps into my face, and I open my mouth to respond, but the siren shifter just chuckles. "Hey, no judgement here. Not the jealous type, remember?"
Shooting him a relieved glance, I help Silas get Shade settled onto the seat while he moves to sit across from us. The others sit on the opposite side of the aisle, Landon already making some smart-ass comment about traveling in style while Hunter tries —and fails — to maintain his characteristic moody expression. After several minutes of silence, the engine roars as the conductor passes us by punching our tickets, and with that, we're off. The green fields and picturesque streams become a blur outside the window as the train picks up speed, and before long we're roaring through the countryside.
I'm sitting in the window seat with Shade leaning against me. He had a few lucid moments after a good night of sleep, but between the double-dose of vampire blood and witch magic, he's still more or less down for the count. I'm reminded of the day back when I was seventeen when I got my wisdom teeth pulled, but at least what few things the wolf shifter has said have made sense so far, abating my anxiety somewhat.
"Any progress on your powers?" Silas asks me. "I remember back when they drained me, waiting for them to come back was a gradual process. Do you think sleeping has helped at all?"
"Hmm…" I close my eyes for a moment, feeling for that familiar coolness in my stomach, but I might as well be a normal human again; all I feel is anxious and a little hungry. Shoulders slumping, I shake my head.
Silas hums in disappointment. "Well, it was worth a shot, at least. We're going to get them back and make that bitch Edith pay for what she did to you."
"Mollie, too," I say quietly. "It's her fault that she's dead." In all the chaos of the past days, I'm ashamed that I've almost forgotten the death of the one guardian I actually cared about. Guilt surges through me, as well as a rage I didn't even know I was capable of. Reaching into my boot, I withdraw the broken pendant she gave me when I was a kid, my fist clenching so hard that I can feel the metal digging into my skin. Another innocent life lost because of Hawthorne's treachery.
"What are you thinking?" Silas asks, peering curiously at me.
"That I'm going to get payback," I reply, and the sudden conviction in my voice surprises me. "Powers or no powers, I'm going to stop this."
"Hunter mentioned combat training," Silas says, shifting back in his seat. "I don't think it's a bad idea. Pretty badass, actually." And then he winks. Silas, the stoic dragon shifter, actually winks at me.
I can't help but smile a little. "The only question is where I'm supposed to learn how to fight."
"Well, that's an easy one," Silas replies, and nods in Shade's direction. "Shade can help you. He spent enough time in street brawls before coming into his powers that he could probably take anyone in a bar fight. Landon too, actually."
The information about Shade doesn't surprise me, but I raise my eyebrows. "Landon?"
"You guys gossiping about me over there?" the siren shifter teases from across the aisle. Laughing, he answers, "Don't let Aconyte pump me up too much, Boots. My parents were pretty keen hunters back in the day. I can handle a gun when I need to."
"Sounds like a plan," I say, grinning. The thought of me decked out in weapons and armour is borderline absurd, but the only thing more absurd would be going into this fight expecting diplomacy to work. "We'll just have to wait for Shade to come to, and then…"