Hunters in the Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

about that,” Newton said with a wink. “I have a feeling we’re
going to be seeing a lot more of each other.”
    At
the time, I thought Newton was just being flirty. I was cool with that since it
had been a while since anyone had shown any interest in me. But it wasn’t long
until I found out what he really meant.
    * * *
     
    The
next day, Dominique continued the interrogation that Newton had abandoned.
    She
called me into her office. It was a chamber in the core of the United Nations
building, and it was as big as my old apartment — the one I had before
Dominique upgraded me to first class. She wore a simple black dress and a brown
blouse. Her crinkled black hair was pulled back in a simple style. She could
have easily passed for a harmless schoolteacher. Nobody would ever guess that she
was one of the most powerful women in New York City.
    “Take
a seat,” she said when I entered her office. “I’ve gotten approval to
officially assign you to a team. Your codename is Shadow.”
    “Appropriate,”
I said as I sat down in the polyester armchair across from her. “But not very
creative.”
    “I
reserve my creativity for mission planning, not naming things. Now, let’s get
to today’s business.”
    “Okay,”
I said. “What do we need to do?”
    Dominique
leaned back in her chair and said, “Tell me more about your history with the
nightcrafters.”
    “Really?”
I said. “I thought you knew everything you needed to know already.”
    “Not
nearly,” Dominique said. “Thanks to Newton, we know a little more about what
happens when you do what you do. But at this point I’d really like you to give
us some more . . . let’s call it insider knowledge. We still know very little
about the life of an average nightcrafter. And since you didn’t seem to be in
the mood to answer some of Newton’s questions yesterday . . .”
    “What
makes you think I’m in a better mood now?”
    Dominique
gave me her best non-threatening smile. “We have a history, you and I. We’ve
been through tough times.”
    I
took a deep breath, let it out. “So what do you want to know?”
    “Anything,”
Dominique said. “Start from the beginning if you have to. Who brought you into
this little club?”
    “My
mentor,” I said. “The same guy who kicked me out of the club.”
    “What
was his name?” Dominique asked.
    “Kellar.”
    Dominique
wrote it down. “Is that his first name or last name?”
    “No
idea,” I said. “That’s the only name I’ve ever heard him use.”
    “Why
did he expel you from the training?”
    “I
wasn’t what they were looking for.”
    “You
seem pretty adept at nightcrafting to me.”
    “You’re
not qualified to make that call,” I said. “Just trust me on this. At a certain
point in my training it became clear to Kellar that I did not have the
personality traits he wanted, and I never would.”
    “Did
your expulsion bother you?”
    “Not really.
I’d rather be out of the club. Kellar and his friends regularly pull things
like that nachtjäger out of the Rift, and they don’t give a damn about the
consequences. I just can’t be that kind of person. It’s not in me, and I’m okay
with that.”
    “Interesting,”
Dominique said. “Is it customary for expelled students to just be sent back
into the world with all that dangerous knowledge intact?”
    “Of
course not,” I said. “Normally nightcraft students who wash out have their
memories altered.”
    Dominique
raised an eyebrow. “But Kellar didn’t do that to you?”
    “He
didn’t,” I said. “I still know the nightcraft, obviously.”
    “Why?”
    “That
is the question that I’ve been trying to figure out. Your guess is as good as
mine.”
    “But
surely he was monitored by the other nightcrafters, and punished for letting
you go.”
    “Maybe,”
I said. “But I doubt it. Nobody ever questioned him. Kellar was like the
Michael Jordan of nightcrafters.”
    “Is
that so?” Dominique asked.
    I
nodded. “I didn’t