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After a trip into Dalmellington town to grab some supplies to re-stock the cupboards, Ashley and Katana arrived back at the hunting lodge.
Jacques was curled up in front of the log burner, fast asleep. Katana wanted to ask him about his story with her father but at the same time, she didn’t want to stir any more ill feeling the poor guy must have towards her family.
“Have you had any more thoughts about what you’re going to do?” Ashley asked her as he helped her put the shopping away.
“I don’t think I have a choice, really. I have to take this to the top. Shut it down completely.”
Ashley lifted an eyebrow and let out a low whistle. “That’s a big move. Are you sure about that?”
“Either way, I’ve lost my family. If I leave it at confronting my dad and let him sort something out, how am I ever going to trust that he has actually done something? I’ll never know if he’s just taken it further underground and out of range of anyone but him and Gregory.”
“Is that what you think he would do?”
“He’s a survivor. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep the business going—this alone has shown that. I just thought...” she sighed “...maybe there might still be a piece of emotion left in him somewhere.”
“I hate to say it, but business is business. I wasn’t lying when we first met—about being a hunter. That’s what Lenore was training me for, and your uncle Arald.”
Katana frowned. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I’d already been hunting covertly for nearly a decade before Gregory got his hands on me.”
“How did Gregory get hold of you?”
Ashley opened his mouth to speak but Jacques ambled through from the living room. “Please tell me you got me something nice to eat?”
Katana grinned and reached inside a plain white bag. “Prime cut of steak.” She unwrapped it and threw it to her friend. “Cost a fortune so you better enjoy it.”
Jacques caught his lump of meat mid-air, the snap of his jaws cutting through the silence. He turned and trotted off, looking rather pleased with himself.
“What were we talking about?” she said, turning back to Ashley.
“Business being business,” he replied. “The point I was making was that some of the creatures I hunted were human when I killed them. Money is money. After a while you stop seeing people and just see pound signs. It’s just a name or a case number worth X amount. There’s no emotion involved. Like I said, it’s business. I do understand where Malaceia is coming from with it.”
“That doesn’t make it right though. I feel like this has been revealed to me for a reason and that reason is to do something about it.”
“Ok, so if you go to the Council, what do you think they’ll do?”
Katana shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know but once they’re involved, things will be done by the books. Hell, by the time they’re involved, Gregory may have even let the other hybrids loose by then.”
“That’s more than feasible. With the range of creatures there are, they may out-source to some unofficial hunters or even ask the other elite families first if they’re interested in helping.”
“But there’s still people inside those creatures, Ashley. What if we can help them instead of kill them? Isn’t the Council supposed to look out for the innocent civilians as well?”
Ashley scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, I know you’re all confused and overwhelmed but you’re forgetting that the people that are in those bodies are gone—they don’t have any control or any say over what happens to them. The part of them in there is so small, they’d feel nothing but relief at being killed, trust me.”
“So if you were part of the hybrids that you’re saying is going to be hunted and slaughtered, that’s how you’d feel is it?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Pretty much. There’s two options—death or living a life through a keyhole being an audience to something using your body.”
Katana sighed and pondered over her options. Whether it was her, Ashley, and Jacques that did it or the Council, these hybrids were going to die either way. However, what really mattered was the method of which it was executed.
Enticing them all to one point seemed like a good plan but to then engage in a mass slaughter? That didn’t sit right with her.
Maybe she could talk to the Council before they decided on a mass execution method?
“Ok. The way I see it is the hybrids are going to die either way.”
Ashley stared at her, silent.
“Be straight with me, Ashley. That’s what’s going to happen, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
“Right. The key thing is to prevent this stupid virus from being spread even more which means I need to get my arse in gear and get someone involved now.”
“I agree.”
As if divine intervention was proving a point, Katana’s phone pinged with the distinctive note that meant it was her family’s app letting her know there were more cases.
“I need to call the Council. However, if I do that, I won’t get a chance to speak to my father beforehand.”
“And that’s what you want to do?”
She nodded. “I want to let him know, face to face, that I know what he’s been doing. I need to see for myself what his reaction is. I also want to give him the option to stop it. Just for my own peace of mind.”
“Ok, I understand that. This is affecting your life too, so you need to be comfortable with the way things go down. I get that.”
“Which means not going directly to one of the Councillors.”
Ashley frowned. “How else are you going to involve the Council?”
“NO!”
Jacques loud bark made both Ashley and Katana jump.
“Jacques, I don’t have another choice.”
“Yes, you do. Call Erica and get Bryn involved.”
“Bryn isn’t interested in Council business, Jacques. He’ll just pass it straight onto his mother without thinking about it. I need someone who understands the legalities and is willing to flex them a little so I can deal with this my way first.”
Ashley frowned. “Am I missing something here?”
“Ask her who she wants to contact,” Jacques said. He stepped forward and growled. “It’s ridiculous at best.”
“Jacques, it’s logical.”
“You think his price will be logical?”
“Hold on,” Ashley said, holding his arms out to his sides, keeping Katana and Jacques at bay, even though there was no risk of them getting any closer. “What’s going on? Who do you want to call, Katana?”
“A contact of mine. He’s a Councillor’s son.”
Ashley nodded his head. “That doesn’t seem like a bad idea. What’s the problem, Jacques?”
“The person she’s going to contact has been trying to marry her since she started her periods at the age of twelve. Her father supports the arranged marriage.”
Katana glared at her friend with such disdain, the hatred rolled off her in waves. “You’re a dickhead. I really don’t like you sometimes.”
Ashley’s jaw dropped wide open. “Just how many guys have I got to contend with?”
“Is that all you can think about?” she snapped at Ashley. “The answer is none because I’m not a damn fairground prize. The sooner you get that in your head, the better. And as for Jacques, it’s not like I’m into bestiality. Get your head out of your arse.”
“You can’t call this guy,” Ashley said, shaking his head. “Jacques is right.”
“Why? Do you think I’m ignorant to what his price will be? What other option do I have?”
“Don’t call him. Go home, confront your dad, and if he does nothing, then call the Council. Cut out the middle guy.”
“Clearly you don’t know my father. If I go home now and confront him, lay out his options or whatever, I’ll never see daylight again.”
Ashley laughed. “Are you saying he’ll keep you prisoner?”
“I know he’ll keep me prisoner. If it’s just me on my own there’s nothing stopping him from doing it. It took him five years longer than normal to put me in the field in the first place. If anyone asks questions, he’ll simply tell them I had a bad first case and I’m back in training or something. It’s not hard for him to keep secrets, as we all know.”
“Then I’ll come with you,” Ashley replied. “And Jacques will be there too.”
Katana tipped her head back and laughed. “Right. The released lab experiment who was sent on a mission to claim his soul-mate and the other lab experiment who has a microchip in his neck to zap him whenever he’s naughty?”
“You’re being a defeatist.”
“I’m being realistic.”
“You really think this is your only option?”
“I know it’s my only option.”
“Would the Council not give you protection?”
“After I tell them all this, why the hell would they allow me back home to ‘offer’ my dad a hypothetical chance to settle my own mind? The Council will look at things like a business, Ashley. I would have thought you of all people would have understood that.”
“And you really need to offer him that chance for your own peace of mind that badly?”
“Yes, I do.” Katana folded her arms over her chest and fixed Ashley with a death stare. “This is my life and my way of having to deal with it. If you don’t like it, you know where the door is.”
Ashley shook his head and looked at the floor. “Fine. Whatever. Do whatever you need to do.”
Katana took her phone from her pocket and headed outside. She sneered at Ashley. “It’s not like I needed your permission anyway.”