Free Hunters in the Night by Ramsey Isler Page B

you should ask him politely.”
    “Then
what are you saying?”
    “Bring
him in as a detainee. We will make him cooperate.”
    “You
can’t detain a nightcrafter,” I said.
    “With
your help, I think we can.”
    “My
help? What makes you think I can help you with this?”
    “You
know these people. You know their ways.”
    “Not
all of them,” I said. “I’m just a novice. I don’t even know what I don’t know.”
    “You
still have more expertise than any of us,” Dominique said. “And you have also
become a very resourceful tactician during your time as part of our team.
Combine that experience with your skills in nightcrafting, and I’d say you’re
one of the most dangerous men on the planet.”
    “You
give me too much credit,” I said.
    “You
give yourself too little,” she said.
    I
laughed at that. “I’m not being modest. I’m being realistic. I don’t see how
this idea is going to help. I have no idea how to even find Kellar.”
    Dominique
slowly walked over and took a seat next to me on the couch. When she spoke
again, her voice was softer. “You just had an encounter with more nightcrafters
than we’ve ever seen in one place. There’s also been a worldwide spike in
unexplained nighttime events. Something is up. The nightcrafters are getting
bolder and more conspicuous. If we find enough of them, we’ll eventually make
our way to Kellar.”
    “And
what do you plan to do with him if you get him?”
    “We
convince him,” Dominique said.
    “Convince
like . . . persuade? Or convince like torture the hell out of? Because I don’t
think you’re going to have much luck either way. Why in the world would he
destroy the thing that has given him so much power?”
    “You
just find him,” Dominique said. “Leave the convincing to me.”
    I
sighed and rubbed my forehead. I felt a headache coming on. “You know, Kellar
isn’t the only powerful nightcrafter out there. There are thousands of others
who would still be around to fight us even if we could get Kellar”
    “They’re
not a concern,” Dominique said. “All I care about is getting Kellar to help us
close the Rift. Without the Rift, the nightcrafters have no power. They will no
longer be a problem. We won’t need to know who they are, or where they are. It
won’t matter. Without their magic, they won’t be a threat anymore.”
    She
had a point. I mulled it over silently for a few seconds, and made a decision.
“Okay then. We’ll try it your way. We need to start small though. I suggest we
work our way up to Kellar by taking out some junior nightcrafters first. Maybe
we can get some info out of them. If we can harass or capture enough
nightcrafters maybe we’ll even get Kellar’s attention and he’ll seek us out.
That might end up being something we’ll regret, but it’ll certainly get things
moving one way or another.”
    “Agreed,”
Dominique said.
    “I
need resources if you expect me to pull this off. Weapons, vehicles, manpower.
We’ll have to go on raids to catch our first nightcrafters by surprise.”
    Dominique
nodded. “Tell me what you need and I’ll get it for you.”
    “This
won’t be easy,” I said.
    “I
never expected it to be.”
    I
took a deep breath, let it out, and said, “Give me a few days to think of a
plan. I’ll send you a shopping list.”

CHAPTER 4
     
     
    Dominique
fulfilled her promise and gave me everything I asked for — security clearances,
a mission budget, and a few Men with Guns.
    Regardless,
the first raid didn’t go well.
    The
Men with Guns were an eager, young bunch. The oldest guy was my age. Dominique
explained that these were the boys NATO needed to train up a bit more, and they
were the best she could recruit without divulging more information on the
mission to the Powers That Be. I was fine with that, as exuberance was more
important than experience for this task. No one in NATO had the experience
required for this kind of work anyway.
    So
it worked out for both