Free The Hunted by Kristy Berridge Page B

matter if he was interested? You may never see him again.’
    She was quiet as she got out of the car. Looking back at me as she rested her arms over the top of the car, a small grin formed on her face. ‘You’re right,’ she said, smacking a hand on the surface of the roof.
    ‘I am?’ I said, looking back at her in bewilderment as I slung the back pack over my shoulder.
    ‘Of course he liked me. How could he not?’ she said, gesturing to her voluptuous frame. ‘He was just shy.’
    Gay’s more like it.
    I rolled my eyes and smiled before shutting the car door behind me. If he hadn’t been attracted to Kayla’s long blonde hair, tanned skin and long legs then it was really anyone’s guess why he hadn’t made plans to hook up with her on Saturday night.
    I wandered into the loading dock, Kayla shuffling along behind me. Glen, the store manager, was sitting on an upturned milk crate smoking a cigarette. We both stopped and said a quick hello.
    ‘Morning ladies,’ he said cheerfully, blowing out a cloud of smoke.
    ‘Hey, Glen,’ we both replied in return.
    ‘Going to be a busy day today, I think,’ he said, taking a long drag. ‘Elena, you’ll be on front counter today, while Kayla and I attend to the consults we have coming in.’
    He stubbed out what was left of the butt underneath his shiny black shoes, pulled a mint out of his pocket, and then popped it into his mouth. Very considerate of him considering how sensitive my nose was to smells, not that he knew that.
    Kayla was doing a traineeship in interior decorating as well as studying a correspondence course in interior design and furniture restoration. She’d been working at the store for well over a year now, having left school immediately after her year ten examinations to pursue a career in the furnishings industry. Glen gave her a lot of opportunities to perfect her craft. She was actually pretty talented and held a lot of promise of one day becoming a good designer.
    That was how Kayla and I had met, here at work. While she worked full-time, I just worked here for the Saturday shift. It was long enough to earn a little bit of cash and yet not long enough to send me completely crazy—one day of mundane human activities was enough for me.
    Sundays were generally my day off and that time I usually spent with Kayla. While the rest of the week I was at the IMI either studying skills for the field or fulfilling my requirements to complete my home-schooling education. Of that, I still had a year and a bit left.
    Although I actually hated the schoolwork part, I loved being at the IMI, despite the fact that the people themselves weren’t one hundred percent welcoming. Sarah, one of the ladies, was racist in every way possible. I’m not black, I’m not gay, and I’m not foreign, but I was going to become a vampire, so that was probably reason enough for her to hate me. Kim, Sarah’s friend, was just a nasty bitch. The rest tolerated me because I think they believed I would one day aid them in the fight against the Vampires. Peter just ignored me when possible.
    But despite the frosty reception, watching The Protectors perform magic and hone their skills was definitely exciting. It was just a shame that I would never be able to learn that particular craft, as magical skills were inherent and not learnt.
    It was in the blood.
    ‘Elena, did you hear me?’ Glen asked as he stood up, straightening his tie and silk shirt. I’d never noticed before, but he was actually quite handsome.
    I wonder why I only just noticed now?
    He was tall, slim, but athletic, with blue-grey eyes and short sandy-blonde hair that curled around the sides of his ears. He was in his mid-thirties, an interior designer, a massive fan of Ralph Lauren, the application of stripes and spots, and also apparently liked long walks along the beach. Or so he’d told me at last year’s Christmas party when he’d had a little too much to drink.
    Still, he wasn’t really my type, and if