A Guide to Surviving Against Monsters

"Are you sure this thing is in this tree?"

"It has to be."

"But we've been up here for a while..."

"Well, our luck is turning," I spat, stopping on one of the thinner branches. We had nearly reached the top, both of us quieter after Theo's close-call. The hunter pulled himself up beside me, sweat doting his brow. I pretended not to notice how close he was, or the fact that he hovered next to me like a shadow.

"Look," I said, this time softer. He followed my finger to where I was pointing at a trail of blood leading down another branch. "It went that way, and recently, which means..."

We both raised our eyes to scan the tree beside us.

And mutated green eyes met ours.

Instincts kicked in, my hand reaching back for my shuriken only to come up empty. I cursed, tugging my whip off my belt. Theo had his katana in hand, waiting for my signal.

"I'm going to trap it," I whispered, "and try to throw it down to the ground. You get down there and stab it the second you're in range."

"Emmalyn, what if you're the one who falls?"

I shook my head. "You need to trust me. Just go, Theo. Don't ask questions."

He pursed his lips, but he didn't protest. I kept my eyes locked on the monster's as he began to climb back down, the branches rustling as he disappeared below.

Now we can fight without me having to worry about him.

I smirked, a dark look crossing my face. Pushing my hair out of my eyes, I felt my right one twitch, purple symbols coming alive. Leaves were ripped off the tree as I shot from one branch to another, rapidly approaching the monster ahead of me. It was like a monkey, but half of its head had collapsed in on itself. The sight of it made my stomach churn as I flicked my whip, sending the weapon flying toward the mutant.

My teeth gritted together as the thing dodged, moving faster than I thought possible. I gasped, chasing after it, my whip falling to the ground below. Fire burst out of my fingertips, but I managed to keep it reigned in as I tore after the monkey monster.

Oh hell no. I have killed things way worse than you.

So. Get.

Back.

Here!

I roared, fire curling around itself until it created a rope-like form. The flames reacted to my thoughts, latching onto the mutant. It screeched, the fire acting like an elastic and finally snapping. The mutant rocketed toward me, and I mentally apologized to Theo as it collided with me, both of us falling out of the tree. A weightless feeling drifted over me, the monster barely tall enough to hit my face. It thrashed as we fell, my fingers buried in the thing's fur.

Branches slammed into both me and the monster as we plummeted toward the ground. Despite having a monster clawing at my stomach, I was more disappointed in the fact that I lost a weapon.

"Emmalyn!"

Oops. I'm going to be in trouble.

I sneered, throwing the monster off of me. Claws marks went from my chest to my thighs, blood welling up. We both hit the ground, the breath leaving my lungs as if I was underwater.

"Emmalyn?!" Theo yelled, scrambling in the dirt beside me. He lifted my head off the ground, his hand on my cheek. "What the hell went wrong?!"

I lifted one hand, only for him to grab it.

I'm literally fine.

Bruh, kill the damn mutant.

"S...Stab..."

It dawned on him, Theo's expression hardening. I tensed as he grabbed his katana from the ground beside him, gently laying my head back down. While I tried to function once again after taking a swan dive, Theo ruthlessly ran the mutant through with steel. The hunter panted, leaning on the katana that skewered the mutant like it was an appetizer.

Thanks, morbid brain of mine. I didn't need that mental image.

I groaned as purple fire exploded all over my skin, writhing around me. It fixed all surface wounds, leaving me achy but alive. Once I finally reigned them back in, I let my head hit the dirt, staring up at the sky.

The forest surrounding the city was surprisingly beautiful considering it was infested with man-eating monsters. Above me, there was a network of branches, some holding onto their leaves while others were bare from the cold. Through them, I could see the bleak gray sky, but at the moment it was almost comforting.

"Emmalyn?"

"Fine... I'm fine."

Theo wandered over, falling to his butt beside me. We sat in silence for longer than I expected.

He broke our comfortable silence with a dry chuckle.

"Theo?"

I gulped when he glared at me.

"I can't believe I expected anything less. Of course you threw yourself out of a tree, why wouldn't you?"

I rolled my eyes. "I did what needed to be done."

"No, you didn't. You used your weird advantage to finish the job in the most reckless and hasty way possible."

I huffed, pushing myself into sitting. My jacket laid next to Theo, my beautiful shuriken mocking me. I slipped it on, mourning the loss of a perfectly good weapon.

"Are you not going to say anything?"

"It's the way I hunt," I snapped. "So no."

"But it's not the way you hunt," he insisted. "I've seen your earlier work. You were so good at doing every mission by the book."

My earlier work..?

I grimaced at the thought of my first years of freelancing, when I was fresh out of the Academy and fresh out of an experiment. Back then, I still had Roman around.

Then everything turned sideways once he was killed.

After that, I had no care in the world. I had lost everything, which threw me into a dark place.

Even now, I was in a dark place.

"Things change, Theo."

"Your hunting style will get you killed."

My chin dipped, my short hair hiding most of my face from him as I pursed my lips.

"Some people probably wouldn't mind that..."

I expected something other than what he did next. I was ready; ready for him to yell at me for being a pessimist or for not caring enough about myself.

What I wasn't prepared for was the hunter leaning forward, grabbing a fistful of my coat. I let out an involuntary gasp as Theo pulled me into him, my head hitting his chest as he wrapped his arms around me. My entire body was between his ridiculously long legs, making me seem like a dwarf. I was frozen, my eyes wide as one of his hands rested in my hair, gently twirling a choppy strand between his fingers. The other hand rested on my back, curled around me like he was about to cling to me for dear life.

"But so many people would mind that," he croaked into my hair, his voice breaking. "And so many more people should realize how much you do for this damned city, Emmalyn."

Theo...

"I--"

He clamped one hand over my mouth.

"Don't sass me," he muttered, his voice tired and filled with dry humour. "Let's just get back to everyone else. Can you stand?"

Oh, so we're just ignoring the whole thing where you're craddling me like I'm your girlfriend?

Is that the plan?

Really?

I shut off my thoughts as I nodded, forcing myself to my feet. My right eye throbbed, purple symbols flashing.

Then, there was a tug in my chest, and my entire body tensed.

"Emmalyn..?"

"Someone activated a rune."