Agent Nicholas Hunter was fortunate enough to be within sight of the right street when a van that matched the description of the one owned by Greta Heinrich left the illusion that covered the Fae community. It had been a lucky guess, being one of the three major thoroughfares that once, and likely still, ran through the abandoned neighborhood. Getting the maps had been simple enough, but there was always a chance that when the Witch chose to leave the safety and protection of the Fae, he would miss her.

She could have chosen one of the other routes, left from the other side of the community, or taken one of the lesser used and more rundown side roads. Using his binoculars to get a good look at the van’s license plate, he confirmed that it was the right vehicle and put his car into gear to tail the van from a safe distance. He found himself surprised when the vehicle turned to take the bridge to Belle Isle.

What could they possibly be doing heading there in the late afternoon? Wait, there were the abandoned zoos there. Could she be planning to lock Phoebe Hood up there tonight in case she turned? Well, that likely confirmed that Phoebe had been bitten, which may have contributed to why she ran after killing her grandmother in self-defense.

He continued to follow from a safe distance and soon his theory about the zoos was seemingly confirmed as he watched the vehicle pull into the overgrown parking lot that faced one of them. Surprisingly, the Witch didn’t seem to be there, and the suspected Vampire was braving the afternoon sun. More surprising was the fact that the pink summoned creature was there as well. It should have dissipated not long after its task was done. Did the Witch summon another to come here in her place?

It was only after they had long left the parking lot that Nick got out of his car, not wanting to risk either Phoebe or the potential Vampire hearing him or picking up his scent. Opening the trunk of the vehicle, he extracted a clip of silver bullets for his gun, a small spool of silver wire, three wooden stakes, and a medallion. The stakes and the wire were quickly concealed under his suit jacket, and the clip replaced the one already in his weapon.

As for the simple silver medallion, that went around his neck. It was imbued with old magic, and it and others had been passed down from Huntsman to Huntsman in his family for as long as they had been hunting ‘monsters’. The enchanted medallion was drawn to magic, so that summoned creature would lead him straight to Phoebe and her blonde companion.

If Phoebe Hood could not be contained or controlled, or she or the others with her proved to be dangerous, then he would have to end them. He was hoping that wouldn’t be necessary, but his motto was that it was better to be prepared than dead. Phoebe Hood could kill him, or do far worse if he was not careful, and if the blonde was a Vampire as he suspected then so could she.

Nick waited until the sun had set before following the medallion’s pull toward his prey. He was navigating his way through the ruined zoo when an inhuman howl shattered the quiet of the night. Quickening his pace, he made his way around dilapidated cages and enclosures as stealthily as he could, the pull of the medallion around his neck becoming ever stronger. Then a woman’s voice called out, “Show yourself,” from the other side of a cage he had ducked behind to mentally prepare for a possible fight.

It couldn’t have been Phoebe. If the howl earlier was any indication; she was indeed a Werewolf as he had feared and had transformed. It was the blonde then, and he was moving stealthily enough that no human should have heard him coming. She was definitely some sort of Arcane, and the odds that she was a Vampire were rising by the minute. She could have been some sort of Fae, of course, but what the witnesses at the diner had reported hearing and seeing told him that her being a bloodsucker was far more likely.

With a heavy sigh, Nick stepped out from his cover and into the moonlight, his hands raised to show that he meant no harm. He could see the human-like summoned creature standing slightly behind and to the right of the blonde and both seemed ready to act if he did anything that could be even remotely taken as a threat to their safety. As for Phoebe Hood, the Werewolf in the cage behind the pair could only be her.

She seemed small for a Werewolf, but all of the information that he had on her stated that she was small in her human form as well. Still, even at five feet tall as a human he would have expected her to reach almost six feet in her hybrid form. She didn’t seem to lack the raw strength of her kind though as she furiously worked at the bars of the cage to try to escape. She had managed to bend the bars slightly, but they held firm and they, and the chains and padlock that they had secured the door with, looked like they would be enough to prevent the small Werewolf from getting free.

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the blonde warned again, this time opening her mouth just wide enough that he could see her vampiric fangs. “If I think that you’re reaching for a weapon, you’ll be dead before your hand can touch it.”

Despite the blatant threat, he was more hopeful about this situation than he had been a moment earlier. Not only had they taken measures to prevent the young Werewolf from getting loose while in that state, but neither the Vampire nor the pink woman behind her had made any threatening movements yet. The Vampire had spoken instead of attacking immediately, given him a warning, and seemed to be waiting for him to explain himself. He hoped that meant that she was able to control her bloodlust and could be reasoned with. Maybe this night wouldn’t have to end in bloodshed after all.

Meanwhile, in Romania…

A large, muscular man in a black trench coat climbed the steps to the cathedral with carefully controlled excitement. There could only be one reason for Cardinal Romanov to have called him there at midnight, he had work for him, and Piotr was a man who loved his job. He idly wondered what he would be asked to hunt this time, scratching his beard in thought before reaching the cathedral doors and reaching for the handle.

Beneath his coat he wore simple and serviceable black fatigues, only opting for tactical gear when on the hunt. Both his beard and his thinning hair were black and shot with silver. He was no longer a young man, and the fact that he was still alive at his age and the oldest member of the Holy Huntsmen stood as a testament to his skills.

Piotr made his way inside the cathedral and, not waiting for any sort of guide or permission, strode confidently up the steps that would lead him to the Cardinal’s office. Once there he briefly tapped at the door before letting himself in and facing the man with the eye patch who sat behind the large desk and in front of a stained-glass window depicting the Holy Host driving demons back into the depths of Hell. He didn’t waste time on pleasantries, choosing instead to get right to the point as he usually did.

“You summoned me, Your Eminence?” It was more of a statement and an invitation to get to the business at hand than a question.

“Yes, Piotr,” the Cardinal replied with a grim nod. He showed his age far more than Piotr, his hair white where it had not disappeared entirely, a host of wrinkles on his face, and the midsection of his robe bulged from long-maintained poor eating habits.

Cardinal Romanov paused ever so slightly before imparting the reason for said summons. “The Seer has had visions of a new Hellspawn that has been let loose upon this unsuspecting world. She has predicted that it could threaten our operations in America to cleanse a known hive of Hellspawn and Fae.” He spat out the last word as if to get it off his tongue all the sooner.

The Cardinal had no love of the Fae, having crossed paths with them several times in his younger days, when he was doing God’s good work, much as Piotr still did. One does not escape such encounters with those monstrous creatures unscathed. Of all Hellspawn, he hated the Fae the most and had contributed to driving their kind out of Romania. He rubbed absently at his eye patch. The Seer had told him where the Fae bitch who had taken his eye now resided, and this new Hellspawn and those she consorted with threatened his chance at vengeance.

The Cardinal was so focused on those thoughts that he almost missed Piotr’s response. “What type of Hellspawn, Your Eminence?”

Cardinal Romanov smiled, but there was no warmth in it, as he said, “It is the reason that I called you instead of one of your compatriots, Piotr, it’s a Wolf.” He passed a folder with the location of the beast and all other known pertinent information across the desk.

The smile that Piotr summoned in return could only be described as one of manic glee as he snatched up the folder and flipped through the contents. Of all the Hellspawn, Werewolves were his favorite to hunt. They were among the deadliest and presented the greatest threat and the greatest challenge. Oh, he could kill it with a silver bullet easily enough, but what would be the fun in that?

To make things more interesting, the Seer’s notes claimed that the Wolf was in league with a Vampire, a Witch, and some sort of magical creature that she could not identify in the Book of Demons. They were all holed up in that Fae nest that the Cardinal had mentioned too. This would be the biggest challenge that Piotr had ever faced. He was grinning broadly as he said, “I will gather my team and make the preparations. May God’s will be done.”

“May God’s will be done,” Cardinal Romanov agreed as Piotr left his office with the file in hand.

Piotr had barely left the room before taking his phone from his pocket and making a call. “Songbird, ‘Grandfather’ has given us a mission. We’re off to America to hunt a Wolf. Get started working on the passports and tell Cat and Duck to meet me at the usual spot so we can start planning.”

“Yes, Piotr,” Sasha replied on the other end of the line. “The passports and travel documents will take a few days to pass American scrutiny. It shouldn’t take Sonia and Ivan long to get to the warehouse, but they won’t be happy about having to leave the bar and prepare for a new job, we just came home two days ago, and you promised them we’d have at least two weeks before taking another job.”

“I will handle Duck and Cat,” Piotr said, his enthusiasm not at all faded at the thought of their inevitable complaints. This was too good to pass up, and he would need his whole team for it. After a moment of thought he added, “Tell them I’ll be breaking out the good vodka, I feel like celebrating.”