Page 11 of V for Vilified (Hunter V #4)

Hunting a Monster

Jo

L yra. Fuck. I’d know that sensation anywhere.

I’d been so sure she was destroyed with the rest of the Originals.

Reyna had worshipped her before everything changed, but I’d seen what Lyra’s access to her chaos powers had done to her.

What they’d done to my own mother. They were no better than the Nether Royals who later hunted us.

More so if she was hell bent on revenge—because it was the same person I saw in the mirror every day.

If she’d been a prisoner in the human realm, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why she wanted V.

Time manipulation. She was likely going after the Nether Royals.

Which meant she planned to teach V how to access her chaos power in ways I refused to teach.

Ways that would warp who V was. Ways that would push limits and put V at risk of not only losing herself to the chaos, but in a way that might even kill her.

I’d die before letting that happen.

I kept my eyes trained to the Siren that Marius marked as his personal favorite, having followed her since intercepting her magical signature in town. Guess some things didn’t change.

Marius was a powerful Dark Fae who staked claim over this region.

Demon territory. At least that was what the humans called them.

To me, they were more ogre than demon. The Fae called them Reds.

Their kind came in all shades of red, but never any other color.

All brawn, no brains. A bitch to fight because they ran in packs of ten to twenty and had beast strength and speed, but easy enough to outmaneuver for someone like me.

It wasn’t often I saw his pet Siren doing grunt work, especially considering the number of Reds in town.

It meant whoever she went to meet might be the exact monster I was hunting.

She’d been spooked by something. After doing a little digging, I found the note she carried with a location written on it and caught a remnant of Cassius’s magic.

Haughty bastard wasn’t even trying to sneak around. Knowing who he was, it had to be intentional, though I couldn’t imagine why he’d want those dangerous bastards to know he was back. Unless using this particular magic was meant to send a glaring message across the realm.

The king was back.

When I first discovered what he was, I’d wondered why a Hand of Death like him would ever go somewhere like the human world to hide.

But after everything went down with Harmony and his sudden return of power, my suspicions were confirmed.

No doubt about it. He was the Dark King who could steal both power and soul.

The most feared and powerful Fae next to the Nether Royals and the Originals in the realm.

Of course he was. V had a knack of attracting uniquely powerful bastards. I’d know. I was one of them.

Everyone was convinced he’d been killed by the Nether Royals.

His power had been subdued by a witch once upon a time, though they never said who, and it was theorized they’d finally found and killed him as a result.

He’d disappeared for long enough to suggest it.

But the Monster of the Realm had reclaimed his terrifying power.

Thankfully for us, that guy was clearly in love with V and would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Even Lyra would hesitate to take on the Dark King alone with V by his side.

I hated to admit it, but V couldn’t have a stronger ally than him.

If she was going to have a monster on her side, that was one she’d want.

But hell if I’d leave that self-serving asshat alone with her.

I was formidable in my own way, and I knew things about Lyra he didn’t.

V needed me.

No surprise, the Hand of Death they called the Monster of the Realm went to call on the worst of the worst, but only because he could.

Experience and cleverness suggested that he planned to use Marius to create an inaccessible space.

Untraceable and undetectable, even to Marius himself.

It’d be linked to that bastard and him alone.

Only the ones he gave access to it would be permitted to find and enter it.

It wouldn’t be a permanent fix—unless he planned to keep V for himself, and he better fucking not—but it’d mean less moving around to avoid Lyra finding them. From there he was likely to make his moves carefully.

I’d need to intercept them before they went into hiding. With travel shut down, the portals back to the human world would be impossible to use. Even if I chose to use my chaos powers, I couldn’t leave. It wasn’t only Lyra who posed a threat here. The Nether Royals were just as problematic.

Aram, Dagon, and Rayis.

Cassius and Lyra had a mutual enemy in common.

In truth, we all did. The Nether Royals were bad news for everyone, and the entire reason Reyna and I fled the Fae realm.

They’d hunted our kind nearly to extinction.

They were responsible for destroying the Originals and any Hands of Death they encountered.

Or really anyone strong enough to pose a threat to their reign.

So, in this case, the enemy of our enemy was our friend.

If Lyra was after them, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cash and V decided it might not hurt to temporarily align themselves with her to put an end to the Nether Royals.

It was smart if Lyra was making threats.

She’d hurt anyone it took to make V comply.

From what I saw, nothing had changed. The Nether Royals still ruled everything else out of existence, and no one was brave enough to fight back. The whole realm was still under their thumb, and it wouldn’t be long before they knew about V.

The Monster of the Realm’s sudden reappearance wouldn’t go unnoticed by the Nether Royals, either.

He’d been smart enough to kill anyone who could snitch last time he realm hopped to rescue our girl, but they had eyes everywhere, and Aram was relentless when he caught someone’s scent.

After the stunt with Marius’s Siren, I didn’t doubt they’d know he was back in the realm before the end of the day.

The only thing working in the Hand of Death’s favor was the Season.

Even the Nether Royals couldn’t escape its clutch.

They’d need to satiate the Season the same way as any Fae.

Probably hold “court” as they called it every day it was affecting them so they found their partners quickly.

The Fae across the realm would be occupied for hours of the day.

Lyra was clever to choose now.

As long as I was careful and utilized my shadow power in crowds, I could avoid any unnecessary effects.

But it did make me wonder if, as a genetic hybrid, V would find herself under its influence.

For her sake, I hoped not. The trouble it spelled was immeasurable depending on who she made the connection with. The Season wasn’t kind to anyone.

After ensuring I hadn’t been detected, I made my way to the address on the paper. If I could head Marius off, Cassius wouldn’t have time to create the dead space without me.

The asshole better not. V needed me, and even the Dark King wouldn’t get in the way of me being there for her.