Back then Evie had argued with him that it was love. But now she knew better.
‘Just ask her, Ash.’
Evie’s eyes flashed to Vero. She was wearing her normal ensemble – Doc Marten boots with green laces, and a pretty floral dress with a lace collar. Her wrists were bound with leather cuffs and her hair was cut short and spiked upwards. In the moonlight, Evie could see the piercings on her face glittering like shadow blades.
‘Ask me what?’ Evie asked, her stomach already contracting tight in trepidation.
‘Have you been watching the news?’ Ash asked.
Evie drew a long breath. She’d known as soon as she’d laid eyes on the two of them that that’s why they were here. She’d just been praying that she was wrong.
‘I take it by your silence that you have. So you know what’s happening, then?’
Evie paused a moment before nodding.
‘You know that it’s not a serial killer, right? You know it’s unhumans?’
Evie nodded again.
‘It’s the ones that got here before we closed the way through,’ added Vero.
‘It’s not just Thirsters. We can handle those,’ Ash carried on. ‘And the Mixen and Scorpio that came through seem to have gone to ground.’ He held Evie’s gaze. ‘We think it must be Originals.’
A shiver of goosebumps ran up Evie’s arms.
‘There must have been others, besides the one you killed in the Bradbury. It’s more than we can handle alone,’ said Ash, fixing her with a pointed stare.
‘You don’t say,’ Evie replied tersely. It had taken five fully trained, heavily armed Hunters to stop just one Original. There was no way on earth the two of them could stop one, let alone more than that.
‘That’s not the only problem,’ Vero added. ‘We think they’re making more.’
Evie stared at her, the blood running cold in her veins.
‘It would account for the number of people going missing,’ Ash continued. ‘The police are keeping it all quiet. But the homicide rate is up three hundred percent.’
‘The police couldn’t handle a stray dog,’ Vero spat, ‘let alone this. It’s a good job there are still some Hunters around to handle it for them.’
‘You’re still hunting, then?’ Evie asked.
Vero frowned at her as if she was stupid. ‘What else are we going to do?’ she snapped.
Evie shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I just figured that … I mean …’ She hesitated. ‘You wanted out, didn’t you?’
‘After it was over,’ Vero said. ‘And does it look like it’s over to you?’
She strode towards Evie, her teeth flashing in the darkness. She looked a little like a rabid Thirster, Evie thought, taking a minute step backwards and gripping the gun tighter. She had learnt to be wary of both Vero and her sister, Risper. Though Risper had turned out to be an ally in the end, for a time Evie had been her target practice. And Vero and she had never exactly bonded either.
‘There are still unhumans out there,’ Vero said ‘and we’re Hunters, unless you forgot. We can’t just stand by and let it happen. This is our realm.’
‘We came here to see if you’d help,’ Ash interrupted, stepping in front of Vero. ‘We figured you might join us.’
Evie saw the doubt flickering across his face as he waited for her response.
‘There are no other Hunters?’ she asked, her voice uneven. ‘No one else who can help?’
‘No,’ Ash said. ‘There are no other Hunters who can help. Don’t you think we’ve already thought of that? We’ve exhausted all other options. That’s why we’re here.’
His words landed as hard as a slap. Evie didn’t say anything.
Vero took Ash by the elbow. ‘I told you we shouldn’t have bothered with her,’ she said, tugging him backwards. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
‘No,’ Evie said, reaching out and grabbing Ash’s arm.
He turned back to her impatiently.
‘It’s not that,’ she said. ‘I want to help.’ She paused. ‘But …’
‘But what?’ he asked.
She hesitated, wondering what to tell him. ‘I need to deal with something first.’
‘Listen,’ hissed Vero, rounding on Evie, ‘we gave you time. And space. We kept away these last eight weeks even though things were getting out of hand and we could have used you. But we’re all dealing with stuff, you know. Not just you. We need to end this,’ she growled. ‘We owe Risper that. We owe Cyrus that.’ A pause. ‘You owe him that.’
Evie staggered back a step, reeling at her words.
‘Is it Victor?’ Ash suddenly asked. ‘Is that the thing you need to deal with?’