**CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE.**
I stared at Draken, my heart hammering so loud in my chest I was so sure he could hear every rhythm and thump. “A hunter? Like... the ones that kill supernaturals? The ones that…”
He nodded grimly. “Exactly. The ones that kidnapped me when I was younger,” he completed my statement. “And if Tyler's one of them, Karina could be their target. Maybe not her directly, but if she’s with him, she’s in the crossfire.”
My mind raced. Karina? In danger? It didn’t make sense—Tyler seemed so... normal. But then again, so do most monsters until one saw them for what they really were. The thought of Karina being caught in something like this made my stomach churn badly. “Are you sure?” I whispered, gripping his arm as if my hold on him would anchor me in my storm of confusion.
Draken’s jaw clenched again, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. “I can’t be completely sure until I see him myself, but the signs aren’t good. That bead, the tattoo—it’s not just some random decoration. Hunters wear symbols of power, of the supernatural forces they’ve conquered. The animal tattoo changes to every shifter kind they kill. When they took me and killed me, Eline, their tattoos kept changing to that of a wolf every single time they tried killing me.”
Conquered. That word sent a cold chill down my spine.
I tried to remember the kind of animal that was on Tyler's tattoo. I hadn't really paid it any attention, but as I thought about it I could discern the sort of animal he had on his neck. It was that of a wolf. And if his tattoo was moving, it could only mean it was changing…changing into his next victim.
I gasped. Karina was in danger. “So, what do we do?” I asked, my voice trembling. “How do we help her?”
Draken hesitated, his gaze locking onto mine, fierce and protective. “First, we need to find her. If Tyler is a hunter, she might already be in more danger than we realize. Probably—”
“No. Karina can't be dead,” I cut him off immediately before he could complete his words. “She can't.”
“Do you know where they went for breakfast?”
I shook my head. “No. I didn't ask because I didn't think it was important. But Karina can't be dead.”
“Hopefully. But we need to hear from her first to know if she's safe.”
I nodded quickly, fumbling for my phone again. I tried to think through the fog of fear clouding my mind, but it was harder than I thought. “I can text her...maybe she’ll see it and…respond?”
“Do that,” Draken urged. “And keep trying to call her. But if we don’t hear back soon, we’ll have to track them ourselves.”
Track them? I stared at him, feeling the weight of those words sink in. This was serious—way more serious than I’d anticipated when I first told Draken about Tyler’s strange bead. Now, I wasn’t just worried about Karina ditching us for some breakfast date or her being a shifter. I was terrified she might be in real danger. Or dead. Even worse, I was scared about the re-emergence of hunters.
I quickly typed out a text:
*Hey, Karina, where are you? Can you call me back ASAP? It's urgent.*
I hit send, my fingers trembling as I set the phone down on my lap. “I sent her a message already. Fingers crossed, she’ll respond.”
Draken gave a tight nod, his mind clearly working through options, possibilities, strategies. I could see the gears turning behind his eyes. “We need to be careful, Eline,” he finally said. “Hunters like Tyler—they’re not just out to kill people like us. They want to torment, use our kind as lab rats and extinguish our type from the face of the world under the guise of protecting humans.”
I swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. But how could I? The thought of Karina in danger, potentially in the clutches of a supernatural hunter, was too much, and the thought of my kind and other shifters being eradicated was eating me. We didn't even commit any sort of crime, yet we were being targeted for just being…different. It felt odd. It made me wonder if there was another timeline in which humans and shifters could live together in peace and harmony.
“Wait, is there a place where Karina and you get breakfast?” Draken asked after a moment of silence.
I nodded. “There's this cafe we go to outside the school campus. It's called Honey works cafe.”
“Let's go check them there —”
A knock fell on the car window of the driver's seat side, interjecting Draken's words. We both looked out and saw Mr Donavon, a porter, staring right back at us with his eyes squinted as though he was trying to get a view of what was going on inside the car. Draken wound down the car and passed the porter a practiced smile as they exchanged greetings.
“I noticed the car engine was on, so I wanted to check if someone was inside. It's been a minute,” Mr Donavon said, passing me a glance.
I immediately looked away from him and focused my gaze on Draken.
“Is everything okay?” Mr Donavon asked.
Draken nodded. “Yes. We were just about to leave.”
“Oh, no class today? Or did something come up?”
“Not really. We just need some time to ourselves.”
“I see,” he drawled, but I could feel his gaze on me. It made me somewhat uneasy. I had never had an encounter with Mr Donavon, aside from the one time I'd seen him sniffing glue in the supply closet. As far as I knew, he was a decent man who cared way too much about the students on campus. He was always wearing his uniform which was a blue overall and a black turtleneck. His eyes looked pretty nice also. “I should leave you now then, Draken.”
Draken smiled. Genuinely. “Thank you for checking up on me, Mr Donavon.”
Once the man was gone, Draken wound up his window and proceeded to drive out of the parking lot. “Put in the address of
Honey works cafe on the GPS.”
I did as he requested and he began to drive. I sat, praying quietly that Karina was safe and that the hunters hadn't made re-emergence.