Chapter 127
“Are you sure you want to go in there?” Jason asked the girl as they stood by the colossal gate of the Hunter’s Agency.
“Well, I’m a hunter... Junior hunter with Katie Chase as her mentor. Of course, I have to go in there and test this alcohol for any... drugs. I don’t even know what she’s suspecting. Cole looked fine to me,” Sandra started, about to go off in a string of complaints.
“Cole is immune to drugs. The strong ones only dull his senses, but that’s it. You can’t use him to find out whether something was drugged or not,” Jason informed, forgetting how abnormal it was for Cole to have such an ability.
“Is that a normal occurrence in werewolves? And when you say drugs, do you also mean wolfsbane doesn’t work on him?” Sandra asked, suddenly interested in the new topic of distraction.
Using the distraction, Jason rang the alarm at the gate and continued with his explanation, “No, it’s not normal, but considering he was one of the two children that were born with the mission of ending the war with the Rogue King, we all figured he’d come with some added abilities. I haven’t seen him depending on them so much these days though...”
“Is it possible that he drank all that knowing that it was poisoned?” Sandra asked.
“No, it’s not...”
“Huh, that was blunt. Is that carelessness or something else?”
.....
“Not really... Alcohol itself can’t get him drunk so... He doesn’t really mind what he drinks anyway. Unless his nose can pick up on the drug, it’s safe for him. If it still smells and tastes like alcohol, he will drink it. It won’t get him drunk and he honestly gets bored by the drink in the end and you won’t find him drinking any form of it if there is no occasion to do so,” Jason rambled, trying to finish the explanation and dispel the nerves he was getting from standing at the entrance of a facility full of highly trained werewolf hunters.
The gate began to unlock in a series of clicking sounds coming from the locks inside. With one loud click, the gate began to slide open. On the other side of the gate, an oddity of a man stood before them. He was dressed in tight pink clothes from top to bottom that had Jason wondering if they were custom made... ‘Who wastes their time turning leather pink?’ the man tried comprehending...
What was more threatening about the man, however, were the quivers he carried. He carries four quivers in total, two at his hips strapped to his thighs and two on his back, making the arrows appear from both sides of his shoulders. His bow was firmly in his hands, folded at odd angles to make it more portable.
“And who might you lovelies be? It’s rare for a werewolf, much less one that’s an alpha to show their faces at the doorstep of an esteemed hunter’s agency,” the man’s voice came out with a girlish ring to it and he carried himself with a bounce in his step until he was in front of the visitors.
“My name is Sandra Alastair. This is my friend, Jason...”
“What’s with the rushed introductions? Slow down, dear. It’s not like I’m going to bite you,” the man giggled at Sandra’s lack of composure. The girl couldn’t quite place her finger on it, but this man scared her a lot and she couldn’t figure out why. That was before she took another look at the arrows in the man’s quiver. The tails had been made to take on the shape of a heart. His entire pink theme going on was starting to make sense.
“Would you happen to be Cupid Shooter?” the girl asked him, hoping he would say he was the one.
“Oh my... I had no idea I was this much of a celebrity. How in the world did you know, girl?” the man replied, fanning himself with his free hand.
“It feels like the most obvious thing in the world now that she’s said it,” Jason groaned, forgetting the person he was talking to. Sandra felt like digging a hole and escaping... The worst part was... Jason wasn’t done, “Isn’t Cupid Shooter supposed to be some old dude though?”
This earned the boy a smack on the head that rang through the entire Agency regardless of their position at the entrance. The hunters that moved about inside the agency stopped to see what had happened, but only chuckled at the sight, continuing with their activities.
“You were sort of asking for it,” Sandra told Jason, walking up to him. Whether it was by instinct or because she wanted to was unknown to the girl. For she didn’t think twice about it before pulling Jason into her embrace.
“Are you two a couple?” Cupid Shooter asked.
Heat rushed to the girl’s cheeks, “I would like to think so,” Jason replied, hugging her back, the pain of the slap to the head completely forgotten.
“Oh, I love a good story. Why don’t you tell me what brought you here and I might just help you out? But on one condition... You two are going to have to tell me all about how you met,” a mischievous grin took form on the man’s face as he couldn’t wait to hear everything the two had to tell him.
“Why do things always have to get complicated? And what are the odds that I would be meeting more than one of the four Mighty Hunters in less than a month? There are people who see one in a lifetime... I must be lucky,” Jason cooed, his mind half focused on the caring girl in his arms.
“What do you mean ‘two’? Oh, I was right about you two. Come on in, now. Don’t be shy,” the two broke out of their hug to follow the ‘Embodiment of the colour Pink.’
“My mentor sent me to get this alcohol tested for any kind of drug. It smells just fine to me and I honestly think she’s being paranoid, but I still have to get it tested. She can tell if I were to lie to her, not that I would lie to her if she couldn’t tell,” Sandra began.
“What makes her think it’s been drugged? Has someone been found to have odd symptoms of a poison? It might help the lab know what they are looking for,” Cupid Shooter tried.
“She’s a peculiar character. Her hunches are usually right anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was right about this. And no, there was no one that showed symptoms of being drugged,” Sandra was wondering how much she was allowed to reveal to the man. It was like every question would lead to something else. If she really wanted to hide something, then she was going to have to mind the way she spoke, “Is this where you always work, Mr Cupid Shooter?”
“You know I have a name, right. The name’s Frank Silver... Though I honestly wish it was Frank Pink instead. Parents lacked the kind of style I’d like to go for. I don’t work here. I was told to come here and keep an eye out. Anything beyond that is still a mystery to me. Apparently, something interesting is going to be happening in this capital,” the man explained, taking them on a detour from the main building to what appeared more like a hospital ward... the smell of medicine and drugs just wouldn’t spare Jason’s nose.
“Who sent you here then?” Jason asked him.
“That’s a complicated question. There is a council that handles those details. I have never bothered to know who those are,” he mentioned.
“I didn’t know we had visitors... Frank, what have I said about letting in unauthorised personnel,” a feminine voice came from behind them, forcing the two to turn around and Frank to groan in frustration.
“Oh, Beatrice darling, why would anyone I bring in here think of crossing me? It’s like committing suicide. And you know I wouldn’t have brought them in without a reason,” Frank began his explanation, walking up to Beatrice and holding her hand, bearing the fakest serious expression known to mankind.
Beatrice was dressed in the normal casual black that hunters normally wore and had hair that fell to the same height as Katie’s. However, she had brown hair and looked well out of her teens. There was no dismissing the air of power that surrounded these two figures aside from the fact that the Mighty Hunter was significantly stronger than Beatrice.
“I know you would bring a rogue in here just for the gossip,” she lashed out at him.
Frank backed up dramatically with his hand on his chest, “I’m offended, Beatrice. I had no idea you think so little of me and them... Messengers of the Royal family itself,” he faked tears and pointed to the two visitors, “To have them reduced to lowly rogues is nothing short of heartbreaking...”
“Okay, enough of your antics... They are so embarrassing. How do you even pull them off? Don’t answer that... I just want to know who they are and what they are doing here,” she finished the summary of what she wanted for him and gestured for him to speak.
“You’re no fun, Beatrice...”
“How did you know we’d come from the Royal family?” Jason asked.
“Well, first, you’re an alpha that I don’t know of. Second, your girl there spoke of drugged alcohol which I’m assuming is from the barbecue party they are hosting right now. It’s not that hard to connect the dots. I do have a few inquiries though. You spoke of your mentor and I’m quite sure hunters weren’t invited to that party. Now that you’ve confirmed my first suspicions, what were you doing there?” the man asked.
Suddenly this was against them and Frank had already switched from friendly to hostile in the blink of an eye. His fingers casually caressed the tail of one of the arrows in the quiver by his hip. The bow in his hands unfurling to its full length and stretching the string taught... ‘The fastest arrow in the world was now aimed at them...’