The Huntress

Part 10:Charles

"Who is Charles?"

Asher was looking at their faces and understood that something terrible was going to happen. The name sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure in which part of Laurel's past it belonged.

"An old enemy. I thought we were done with him for good."

He hadn't seen Laurel so intense before. Her eyes were sparkling, looking at her friends.

The six of them were sitting around a table, the bodies of the girls left in the basement. They didn't have time for chit chat. Laurel introduced Asher to her friends and vice versa, and that was enough for the time being.

"So did we, but I guess this time we need to make sure he dies," Thomas said.

"You killed that guy?"

"No, Ash. I did damage him and destroyed him. I thought it was enough to ruin his plans, his army, and himself. I thought he wouldn't recover."

Suddenly, Asher realized who Charles was: one of her two greatest enemies. That person was responsible for many deaths, attacks, and destruction.

"How do you know about the attack?" she asked, turning to her friends.

"There have been some attacks that caught my attention in China," Chloe said. "After a while, I realized that they were linked with some other attacks across the globe, and all of them had his signature. You know his pattern. Werewolves mysteriously went missing, small vampire clans dead, some witches here and there tortured. It's him. I'm a hundred percent sure."

"Then I stepped into the game, and I found out that he's raising an army. You know that a lot of people aren't happy about what we do: stopping their illegal businesses, taking them down. They are pissed, but until now, they didn't have the nerves to stand against us. With Charles' return, things changed: they have someone to be at the front so they can work in the shadows. I don't know who funds him yet, but we trapped two men who proved to be useful. In ten days, there is the gathering of all high-class werewolves of each pack of the continent. He wants to attack them. He has enhanced vampires and rogues with him."

"Why would he attack them there? It's too risky. He could attack them separately in their pack houses, within their pack borders, during a journey." She stood up and started pacing up and down the room. Charles always had a plan and didn't depend on luck. "No, that's too risky. He will lose too many men; all these wolves will fight back no matter the cost."

"We don't know why he's doing it."

''Are you sure the info is legit?'' She turned to Zach.

"Positive."

Zach and Laurel exchanged familiar, knowing glances. She didn't need a second word to trust him.

"Could it be a distraction? Maybe he wants someone specific from these people, and amidst the fight, no one will find out until it is too late," Lena offered.

"Maybe," Thomas muttered but his slower breathing and the small sigh that escaped his lips showed otherwise.

"What if it is a trap?" Asher asked, making everyone turn their attention to him. "I mean," he continued, "I don't know him, but maybe he knows you could figure it out. I haven't seen you all working together, but you don't seem stupid or naive. Maybe he wants you there, out in the open."

"He has a point," Lena agreed. ''Hey, Laurel, why so silent? What do you think?''

Laurel had stopped talking, her mind racing, connecting dots she hadn't noticed before. Everyone was waiting for her answer when she got up from her chair and said, "Fuck! It all makes sense now."