Path of the Hunters [PART 5] (NSFW)

"Still wanna hear it."

*

Geoff chuckled. "My dear, I may be a bastard, but I do have honor. Your lives would be ensured just as much as your current plan of action, maybe even more."

"Okay." She shrugged. It had happened a long damn time ago; it wasn't a big deal to her anymore... It was an effort to keep from trembling. "When I was sixteen, I almost died."

*

"Explain yourself," Aurélie demanded. "Enough of you speaking in riddles!"

[-_- sign into aim plz. MSN is evil]

He raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

*

"As I said before, I grow tired of this pointless fighting. My men, my clan, my family has suffered enough. I want what you want: an end to the feud... or at least some sort of non-aggression."

"In high school some guys... They decided to explore some new areas. See how much they could get away with, I guess. I dunno. They were just sick fuckers. And I wasn't that great with my power, so all I could do most of the time was punch people... Hard to do that when your hands're tied and you ain't got the skill yet to break down the ropes..."

*

"And what is your plan?" Roland demanded.

"Shit... I got a bad feelin' of where this is goin'."

*

Geoff shrugged. "Why must everything be so complicated?"

Now she trembled, mind traveling back. "You asked," she murmured.

*

"We cannot announce a truce with no bearing!"

"And I'm not backin' out." He held her gently, comfortingly... something he'd not done in a while. "What happened?"

*

The old collie sighed. "...All right. If you insist. I'm sure both of our clans will benefit from a collaboration. Just think of the new training methods for both sides. We have a lot to learn from each other, I'm sure."

"He... he raped me... Hell, it wasn't just called that, but... His tail, it was just naturally poisonous. Like I'd seen a drop of stuff fall - like sweat - and burn a hole in the gym floor. And he... He rammed it in me. And then just... He just tossed me out the damn window and my wrists were still tied up... So I just hung there for like an hour before anybody saw me and it was just..."

She trailed off, shaking her head. She'd never told anyone before. She'd hung from a school window, blood and poison trailing down her legs. And it felt like she'd been burned from the inside out...

"And while I was still in the hospital, Star got raped and my other friend died. Comet's sister's spine was severed, so she's in a wheelchair. And tons of other girls went missing..."

*

He leaned back in his seat, steepled his fingers. "It's possible," he said after a moment. "Since some are already working together..."

"Shit... Compared to you, I got the good life..." His heart felt like it stopped in time. Fuck, he had a feeling it was serious, but... His eyes widened. "Fuck! I know that guy! Um, Filch!"

*

He nodded. "Exactly. On that front, the transition would be almost seamless. Most of the others would surely follow."

She tensed. "A blind rat...?"

*

"Most," Constance murmured. "But not all."

Aurélie shook her head. "There will always be dissenters."

"Yeah! That crazy fucker gave my gang trouble in the early days!... Aw, shit. One of the other guys wouldn't happen to be a wolf named Sever, would it?"

*

"A minor problem. Whether we take care of them or Orion does, it will not matter."

"That's the one who... He's why Star can't..." Holy fuck, she couldn't wrap her mind around this. He knew them...

*

Roland and Constance exchanged glances, nodded.

He sighed heavily. "He was one of the early members. We didn't see eye to eye, and we threw down. Nearly killed me." He brought a hand to his neck, moved the patchy fur aside, revealing a ragged scar across his jugular vein.

*

Geoff smiled. "Emile, if it isn't painfully obvious now..."

The wolf sneered, drew the blade away. "My name is Nova..."

"Geez..." She stroked her fingers over his fur, frowning. "How did this not kill you?"

*

"The lost Baudoin?" Roland skimmed his haze over him, then looked to Aurélie. "You married a Baudoin."

"No, I married a bounty hunter."

He frowned. "Fine. We will tell our people to come home and you - go back to yours."

"Cauterized it shut. Lucky me, my claws were blazin' hot at the time."

*

"Make sure it's done. Otherwise, I'll come back... and personally execute you all." He wrenched both Teufel and Akira blade from the table, stowed them away in his vest.

"So, serious, Nova," Geoff mused. "That is nothing like what you showed Amile, for such a long time."

"From what?"

*

"It is what happens when you have a family," Roland muttered. Constance closed her eyes, looked down. "And could whoever took my phone return it? I need to make a few calls."

"Blowtorch. Lit that thing up, and went to town."

*

Aurore complied, tossing the phone to the elder.

"Shit. That had to hurt like a bitch."

*

"Thank you. Now go. You have my word as a Laroche that all of our people will be out within the week."

"I was damn near dead, so I ain't feel shit. Thank God Mani knows how to patch a guy up."

*

"Good," Nova said in English. "And if you step outta line, you know what we can do." He patted his vest where the blades were stowed away.

"Of course," Geoff said, also in English, slightly broken, but still very good. "However, if we meet on a hunt, all is fair."

"Straight up..."

*

Constance looked up. "Indeed. Farewell."

Aurélie looked at Crescent, frowned slightly. "And safe passage to Europe?"

"Give it a few years." Roland shrugged. "This is not a change that will occur overnight."

He frowned slightly. "Looks like we all got a score to settle with Sever and the rest of those bastards."

*

"Like it matters," Kane said. "I doubt we'll need anything here, anytime soon." With that, he strode from the building, Aurore on his heels.

Sunny frowned. "I ain't got a score. S'long as I never see those bastards again, I pretend they don't exist."

*

Aurélie nodded once, waited while everyone else left. "One last thing," she said when the Laroche elders gazed at her curiously. "My grandparents."

"Buried with honor," Constance said quietly. "Their memories are kept pure."

"Thank you." She walked out, fighting tears.

"Tell that to Cross. He's pretty hell-bent over what happened to Star."

*

With only the Elders left in the building, Geoff smirked, relaxed in his seat. "Well, this has been an interesting day."

Outside, once Aurélie walked out, Nova pulled her into a tight embrace. "It's finally over..."

"Yeah... But she doesn't like to think about it, either."

*

Constance and Roland only stared at him blandly before Roland called his next in command, ordering all Laroches back from America.

She nodded, clinging to him. "Oui. But I'd like to lock the Tuefel blade away before we return."