The Killing Season Read Online Free

the field often.”
    “How many hunters are here?” I asked. I knew from classes and general talk at Fear University that all the bases up north were run by one person with a small coalition of hunters. Here, that was Killian and his hodge-podge group of tatted killers. Dean, as president of the university, acted as coordinator and general over all the leaders and their hunters, which by default made Dean the most powerful within the aswang hunting community. Whether I liked it or not, Fear University, with all its faults, was the center of my new world.
    “About twenty hunters are stationed in Barrow to watch the town, but us,” she said, gesturing with her spoon to Haze and Sin, “and ten others stay at the base year-round.” She lowered her voice and leaned forward, an unsettling glint in her eye. “We hunt the tundra.”
    One corner of her mouth hitched up in a wicked grin, like she was sharing a moment with me or something. I didn’t get it, but then, it’d been a long trip from Kodiak.
    I nodded and returned my attention to the creamy mushroom soup in front of me, sipping it up from a wide silver spoon and taking the opportunity to study everyone while they ate. Luke and Hatter talked quietly between themselves. Occasionally, Sin burst out with a loud laugh from something Haze had signed to him, his thick fingers moving with surprising speed and grace. Killian sat at the head of the table, scowling into his food, with Abigail to his right. She hadn’t even picked up her spoon yet, and she appeared paler than she had when I first saw her coming down the stairs. Her excitement over Luke’s arrival had waned, and now she tilted ever so slightly to the side, like if a stiff breeze were to blow across the table, she might tumble off her chair. She only paid attention to her wine glass in front of her, which Killian dutifully kept topped off, motioning over Burt whenever her glass dipped below half.
    By the time the main entree—roasted duck—was served, Abigail clutched the edge of the table to keep from falling over.
    No one acted like they noticed her, but I knew Luke did. His stormy silence and anger sent snapping waves of tension throughout the room.
    “So, Ollie.” My head snapped up at the sound of Killian’s voice. He smiled at me from the head of the table. “I heard you did well at Fields.”
    I clenched my hands beneath the table. Beside me, Sunny went still, her focus on her lap. We’d been so close to dying that night. It hadn’t been a test; it was a murder attempt. “You could say that.” I managed to bite the words out.
    “Don’t be modest,” Killian said, “I’ve received countless calls from professors talking about it. They said a first-year has never killed a ’swang, much less two in one semester.”
    “That they know of,” Luke said, his words making Killian tense. I wondered if he was talking about himself. How many had he killed by first-year? Ten? A hundred?
    I refused to let myself glance down the table toward Luke. I could take on his father without his help. “My test wasn’t exactly normal. Or so I’m told.”
    Across the table, through the flickering light of the candles, Eve shrugged a tattooed shoulder. “You’re lucky.”
    “How’s that?” My words came out a little more forceful than I meant, but Eve just smiled at me.
    “Because you got to show everyone what you could do.” She leaned forward, like she was about to tell me a secret. “Women have a hard time proving themselves in this business.”
    Haze made an odd snort that sounded like he was choking, and Sin rolled his eyes heavenward. “Oh, please. Not this glass ceiling bullshit. Just kill more ’swangs and no one will ask about your time of the month anymore. Simple as that.”
    Eve flipped her dinner knife over in her hand. Sin laughed, turning his attention to me. “That’s how she got her nickname, you know. Because she’s such a bitch all the time, everyone just assumed she was constantly