Don’t cut her face. Don’t cut her pointy-ass face, I thought fervently, like a prayer, over and over. No matter how much I chanted it, my fingers itched for my kindjal. Just a quick swipe, right up the sharp curve of her high cheekbones. Jonovan was good enough that he could make it look like it never happened, and he wasn’t even the strongest Healer around me. I forcibly froze my body to keep from doing something stupid.

But, god, I really wanted to do it.

Over fifty Hunters locked their eyes, like lions ready to pounce at any moment. Curiosity, derision, and mockery played on their faces, but that didn’t change the fact that each of them were absolutely focused on what was going on around me. And what clue I had to the Portal.

It was uncomfortable, being stared at like this, but the most unbearable thing was having to show my Orc sword to another person. Okay, mostly to Miranda. Shallow, I know, but I didn’t want to share anything with her. Not Kesstel, not my monster sword. They were mine. My whole life I’d scrabbled for scraps. With few exceptions, I’d never had the chance to get possessive over something. After all, all the best things I ever got were given to Aliya.

I could keep Kesstel to myself because he naturally rejected everyone else. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about the Orc sword. I didn’t want to show it off, but at the same time, I loathed the idea of cowering under Miranda’s provocation.

I held my hands out and the huge, heavy sword appeared. My fingers couldn’t even fully wrap about the handle as I gripped it and lifted the blade, which was much taller than me, so everyone could see it.

Everyone’s expression changed, and whispers broke out.

“That’s an Orc sword?”

“It’s huge.”

“What is that made out of? It’s so crude.”

“Is that the real thing, or a toy she found to play with?”

On the side of the crowd, I caught a glimpse of Blake and his people. Penny’s eyes widened and she turned to whisper to the shocked Mark. Blake’s face darkened and he scowled, glaring at me like he wanted to kill me. President Price glanced from his cousin to me, before his expression set to stone. The fifth person in the group, the guy I didn’t know, looked completely lost.

“This is the Orc sword,” I said, my voice ringing out and quieting the noise. “I found it several miles to the east of here. I know a little about the Portal that it came from. I thought it might be the Portal we’re trying to find, but I wanted to make sure before I told people, in case I was wrong.” Okay, that last part was BS, but I figured I should add something so people didn’t blame me for purposefully withholding information. Which I totally had.

“Are you sure that’s an Orc sword? I just killed one and there was nothing like that in its hand,” Miranda asked loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Then again, from her angle, she wouldn’t have been able to see the sword. It had been ten feet to the right of the Orc and half buried in a pile of dry soil.

But she wasn’t done talking yet. “It’s crude looking, yes, but how do we know it wasn’t just … put together?”

She meant, did I make the sword so I could fool people and become important? I scowled at her.

Kesstel shifted at my side. His aura wisped around his feet before he pulled it back. “I can attest that it’s not from Earth. But if there’s an armourer in the group, step forward and examine the metal.”

The Hunters looked at each other. None of them wanted to get closer, obviously spooked by the aura Kesstel barely kept under control. Most likely on purpose. Even Miranda stiffened, her gentle smile becoming stressed.

Blood Sword glanced at Kesstel a couple times, then walked closer to me. Impressive really, considering he was the only person in the whole group who had personally felt what it was like when Kesstel lost control. Blood Sword glanced in the crowd, “Violet, get over here.”

A short woman with blonde hair hurried through the crowd to the front.

Blood Sword turned back to me and motioned for me to hand the weapon over. He waited patiently for me to put the blade in his hands. As soon as he felt the weight, he paused and glanced at me. “It’s heavy.” There was an obvious question in his gaze. After all, a normal human or E wouldn’t be able to handle it as easily as I just had. But Blood Sword didn’t comment on that, instead he held out the weapon for Violet to examine.

She pushed her shoulder-length hair behind her ears and leaned over the blade. “It doesn't look man-made. So sloppy.” She pointed to the uneven handle. A brass circular loupe appeared in her hand while a flashlight appeared in the other. She clicked the flashlight on and held the lens over her right eye. The bright light flashed off the blade in the darkness. It wasn’t until I noticed the difference that I remembered how late it was.

“I want a second opinion,” Miranda announced. “Elijah!”

A tall man from Redding stepped closer to Violet and leaned over to examine the blade. Violet wrinkled her nose at him and Miranda, but didn’t comment.

Blood Sword’s face stayed impassive. He focused on me again. “You know for sure that this is an Orc sword?”

I nodded. “I’ve seen them use it.” I paused, then casually tossed out the words, “Blake Hans and his crew were there too.” I peeked at them.

Blake looked like he was choking on a bitter lemon. His usually handsome features were pinched together as his face slowly turned purple. Jenny was staring at her toes as she kicked at the dirt and Mark looked away, frowning.

Blood Sword looked at them. “Is that true?” he called out.

President Price stepped forward, his square face in business smile. “A half a year ago, there was a Portal Burst that my cousin and his party were involved in. It was reported to the Hunters’ Association in a timely manner. But before the Association could act, the Portal disappeared.” Everything from his facial expression to his words were perfectly polite, while overbearing enough to discourage contradictions. He was both admitting that it happened and stating Blake was protected under him. Then Price leveled his gaze on me. “However, I don’t remember this young woman being mentioned at the time. My Guild doesn’t employ E Hunters, we deal with too many dangerous situations to put them in harm’s way like that. I can’t see why she would have been involved with the Portal Burst.”

I smirked and lifted my head. “I was there because Mr. Hans tried to turn me into entertainment and we all got caught by the Orcs. Isn’t that how it happened, Mr. Hans?” I stared right into Blake’s eyes.

We were in a large group of highly considered Hunters. If I threw the shit at the fan now, the mess would be considerable. I doubted, outside of Jonovan, there were too many completely clean hands in this group. Even if they didn’t go out of their way to kill someone, most Hunters wouldn’t risk their own necks for a weaker person. After all the saying, ‘What happens in the Gate, stays in the Gate,’ was true for a reason. Anything could happen in there, as long as you didn’t get caught. If you did something illegal and didn’t clean up the evidence, it was your fault and you deserved to be arrested.

Right now, it could be a ‘he said, she said’ situation. But Emma would back me. With Kesstel behind me, the Hunters’ Association wouldn’t just brush it to the side anymore. In other words, Blake could really be in trouble now.

Only, that wasn’t necessarily the trouble I wanted him to feel. I wanted him to feel the powerlessness of not being able to control your own fate.

“Now, now,” Miranda stepped up, putting herself in the middle of everything. “I’m sure there’s a fascinating story behind all this, but I believe the main issue is whether or not this sword belonged to an Orc. And if it has anything to do with the Portal that we’re all trying to find.”

Her people nodded and voiced their agreement.

Kesstel rested his hand on my shoulder. His glacier blue eyes were zeroed in on Blake. He knew someone had been bothering me lately although he didn’t know the extent of the hitmen that I’d shaken off my trail, and I’d never told him what was going on. Kesstel wasn’t a stupid man and it was easy enough connect the dots.

I nudged his side with my elbow until he looked down at me. The corner of my mouth kicked up in an almost smile. “It’s okay,” I mouthed. I’d been holding it in for months now. What was a little longer?

He frowned, obviously not liking my decision. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “If you want revenge, you just need to say the word. Why don’t you take advantage of my status more? What’s the use of having it if you don’t use it?”

I huffed a laugh. “I think I take advantage of you enough. And if I lean on you too much, I’ll get fat and lazy.”

He disagreed with a low hum. “Not possible.”

Blood Sword read my expression before he turned back to Violet. “So, what’s it made out of?”

The whole time this had been going on, she’d been humming under her breath and muttering to herself — much to the other guy’s displeasure. She obviously didn’t care. Violet put away her loupe and flashlight. “I don’t know, sir,” she gushed out, a trace of excitement in her voice. “I don’t even think this metal even exists on Earth. It’s amazing! I can’t wait to research more about it.” She ran a finger down the side of the blade. “It doesn’t have any energy crystals in it, but it’s still hella sharp. There’s monster blood on it, meaning it's obviously damaging monsters without the energy crystals, unlike our own weapons. That’s amazing! I mean, we’ve never seen anything this advanced — produced metal — on a monster before.”

Elijah, the Redding Hunter, tsked under his tongue when Violet’s light disappeared, shrouding the metal in darkness. He looked at Miranda. “Everything she said is correct, Tári. This metal is not from Earth. It’s impossible to say which monster it belongs to, but for sure, the metal came from a Portal.”

Miranda opened her mouth, but Blood Sword beat her to the punch.

“Can it be tracked?” he asked. “The monsters can’t be tracked, we’ve already tried. But is this sword different?” He glanced at me.

I shook my head. “I don’t have that ability. I tried earlier,” I glanced at Alex standing in the back of the group, “but it didn’t work.” Not that I blamed him, obstinate as he was.

Put on the spot, Alex spoke out. “I only have a little skill in tracking. Only enough to claim that I have the skill, nothing more. A stronger person would definitely have a better chance at tracking it back to the Portal.” For the first time, there was a bit of regret in his voice.

Finding the Portal wasn’t a race. But that didn’t mean people didn’t covet the glory of finding it. It was much better to boast about than being a babysitter that keeps losing his ward.

Blood Sword nodded. “Alright. Everyone with a tracking ability or skill, come here.” He looked at Miranda. “We are working together in a joint operation. I believe both of us should have equal chances to track this sword, isn’t that right?”

Miranda beamed at him. “Yes.” She motioned to a couple people on her team.

Blood Sword walked to an empty table next to the snacks and set the sword down on it, then stepped back. Eight people took turns walking up to it and holding their hands over it. Their colorless auras, completely different from the flare of magic, fluctuated and flickered out repeatedly, like a hand reaching out to grasp an invisible rope. In the end, every one of them shook their heads and said they couldn’t track it.

President Price muttered something to Penny then nudged her forward with his elbow.

She strolled up with her hands in her pockets and stared down at the sword. Her lips twitched a little before she hovered her hand an inch above the blade. Her aura flickered around briefly before it stopped. She stepped back and shook her head. “I can’t track it.”

Miranda hummed under her breath. “Well since, we can’t figure it out right now, it should be kept in safe hands.” She walked up to it and reached for the sword.

My chest seized up and an alarm went off in my mind. “Hey —”

Before the syllable could fully exit my mouth, Kesstel disappeared from my side. He appeared on the other side of the table, the Orc sword in his hands. “If that’s the case, I’ll take care of it.”

Miranda blinked where the sword had been just inches under her fingers, then looked up at Kesstel in surprise. When she met his chilly blue eyes, she flinched back before she collected herself and put on a gentle smile. “Are you sure? I’m worried it would be a lot of hassle, Kesstel.” There was an affectionate ring in her tone when she said his name. As if they’d always been intimate. “I’ll gladly take on that responsibility so that you can focus your all on your task.” It was like she was taking one for the team for the greater good.

My eyes narrowed as my hands clenched into fists.

If Miranda was looking for an emotional response, she was looking in the wrong direction. “No,” Kesstel said flatly, a slightly sarcastic tone hiding in his voice. “I’ll take care of this. As a team leader, you need to have all of your attention on directing your team. It would be unfortunate if one of them died because you were distracted and neglected them.”

Her eyes widened from his backhanded threat.

He didn’t even give her enough time to come up with a comeback. The sword disappeared, obviously put in his Items Bag. He gave a brief nod to Blood Sword, then walked back to me. The crowd parted for him. Even though Kesstel’s aura was under control so he wasn’t oppressing anyone, the Hunters were still alarmed. He’d moved at a speed that none of them could contend with. In fact, I got the impression that some of them — like Miranda — weren’t even aware that he moved until he had the sword in his hand.

Kesstel settled back at my side. “Should we go have dinner now? It’s getting late.”

I nodded. “I wanna eat under the stars again.” I couldn’t resist glancing in the direction of the Redding Hunters. It was late enough in the day, it was obvious that they were going to camp with us tonight. Just the thought killed my appetite. “It’s so crowded here.”

I was being willful and petty, but at the moment, I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to be here, and I couldn’t find a reason I should force myself to. With Kesstel’s barrier, we were just as safe, if not safer when we were alone. And both of us could relax and say whatever we wanted.

Kesstel seemed to understand what I meant instantly. “Sounds like a good plan.” He waved his hand, and his camper disappeared into his Items Bag. He turned and looked at Charlie over everyone’s head. “We’ll be back in the morning. Good night.”

The poor team lead didn’t even have time to sputter in protest before Kesstel picked me up and we were gone.

*****