I wasn’t tired as I walked back to the Gate. I’d spent enough time in the Josu Rainforest that my Regen had completely healed my HP and MP. But my feet still dragged. I couldn’t resist glancing at the mountains that surrounded Gate Vale every few steps, hoping Kesstel would pop out of a hidden cave any second. Stupid, really. Even if he did do that, it was so far away that I’d never be able to see him. But I couldn’t stop looking.

I stopped halfway through the clearing that circled the Gate and scrubbed my face with my hands. What was I doing, getting so worked up over him? There were so many other things that I needed to concentrate on. Leveling up, finding a cure for my mom, finding a way to save Earth from the parasite — which felt more and more impossible. I didn’t even know where to start.

No, Kesstel told me that there had to be one portal that led to the parasitic planet. But I wasn’t at a high enough level to survive going through a portal yet. Come on, Jyn, I thought. Concentrate on getting stronger, so you can go through the portals. Kesstel is so strong, nothing was going to hurt him.

A threatening presence closed in on me.

Immediately, I dropped my hands and shifted into a battle position, kindjal warm in my palm. I was close to the Gate, but I wasn’t in Eden so there was always a chance monster encounter. Instinctively, I turned towards the presence. And paused. It wasn’t a monster — well, a monster from the Gate.

Blake charged up to me, his handsome face contorted in anger. He was in full armor still, with black blood splashed across his red tinted steel. He didn’t hold a weapon, but he still looked like he was going to lose it at any given moment. Mark and one other Hunter walked behind him. Mark scowled at me, like I was an irritant. The other guy, who I didn’t even recognize, gave me a look that I knew so well. One that said I was too small to bother with, so why bother?

I carefully watched Blake’s body language, just in case he went on the attack. Preferably, I’d walk away. But it didn’t take a genius to realize that I wasn’t going to be able to get away from him. I gripped my short sword and pulled a trick from Kesstel, making my face as blank as possible.

Blake stopped too close to me, and loomed over my head. He stared down his nose at me, his brown eyes on fire.

Seriously, what did I do?

“You’re supposed to be dead,” his hissed in a low growl.

It was late in the day, so there weren’t many Hunters around us. Even if there were, I doubt too many would have heard his words.

As for me, I heard it loud and clear. The words punched right into my shocked mind. I knew he wanted me to die. Hell, he’s personally tried to kill me the first day we met. Was that what he was talking about? Don’t tell me that it literally took him this long to put it together?

I returned his hard stare. “Sorry to disappoint you. Oh, actually, I’m not.”

His eyes widened in fury. His hand lunged towards my throat.

The moment that he twitched, I was already moving. I skipped a couple steps back, out of his reach.

What happens in the Gate, stays in the Gate. But that rule only applied if there were no witnesses. Blake’s lackeys would obviously back him up, only that didn’t apply to the few dozen or so Hunters that were crossing the clearing towards the Gate. They weren’t close enough to hear our conversation, but they had eyes.

As soon as I was out of his reach, Blake paused. His hands stayed in the air, fingers like claws that were dying to rip my throat out. “Don’t think that you’re anything special, just because you have a powerful backing. Insects like you belong under a boot. Always have, always will. Once the Noble is done whoring you, he’ll leave and you’ll have nothing to stand on. Nothing to back up that arrogant attitude.”

God, how I wanted to kill him. My mouth hooking up in a sneer. “Between the two of us, I know who likes to parade around like a rich little bitch. How much longer is President Price going to put up with you? How many more millions do you need to lose for him before he kicks you aside?”

If he was going to call me a whore, I was going to pass it right back. Of course, I’d seen him interacting with Daniella, but damn, I wasn’t going to back down after that comment. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to take on a B Hunter, but I was feeling reckless and stupid right now. It almost felt good, thinking about something else other than worrying about Kesstel.

It really bothered me that he implied that my only worth was related to Kesstel. Especially the ‘worth’ that Blake implied. Did he know how many people wanted to recruit me just this morning? Granted, they would all run as soon as they saw my ‘rank,’ but my skills still drew them to me.

What did Blake have going for him? He was a B, sure. I couldn’t judge his fighting because I hadn’t even seen him swing his sword. All of his gear was given to him by President Price, that was no question. So in what way was Blake better than I was? Because he had a posse following his every move? To hell with that.

The faces of the two men behind Blake flushed red with anger.

Blake’s face went straight to purple and his Hunter aura exploded like a bomb around him. A black hilted longsword appeared in his hand and he reached for me. “This time I'm going to make sure you stay dead,” he snarled.

I bet it ate him up, knowing that his guild’s president wanted someone Blake tried to kill to join their ranks. I felt Blake’s pressure, but it was nothing compared to Kesstel’s or even the Boss Portal’s pressure. I lifted my kindjal, ready to block. Maybe I could lead him into Eden and out him as the one that kept trying to kill me. Hell, he obviously was going to try right now, witnesses or not.

“Hey!” A female voice yelled out.

Blake froze and looked over. He jumped like he was hit by a live wire. His sword vanished and he shifted into a suave posture, like he’d never turned into a raging bull at all.

I blinked, just as shocked at his reaction as I was that someone actually stepped up for me. When I looked over my shoulder, I was blown away with another bolt of lightning.

Bethany Wilks stood not far behind me wearing a deep pink robe, her arms crossed under her near bursting chest. Two of her body guards wearing black armor stood twenty feet behind her, but I knew there were at least seven more close by that I couldn’t even see. She frowned at Blake, her head tilted back and to the side. “It’s my turn to talk to her. Go away.”

Blake hissed in a quick breath, drawing my attention to him. Several emotions twisted his face — shock, anger, denial — before it settled on a reluctant smile. Seriously, it was like someone carved his face out of wood. “O-of course, Miss Wilks. Excuse me.” He bobbed his head like his neck was a rusted joint in something like a farewell-nod-slash-body-spasm and turned around. With a violent swing of his hand, he motioned for his posse to follow him.

I watched him stomp away. Did that really just happen? Was she helping me? Or just wanted to take a shot herself?

Confused, I turned to Bethany. “Are you really helping me?” I asked. “I didn’t think that you would.”

She pursed her lips together and reached up to toy with the sparkling gems that decorated the thick blonde braid that hung over her shoulder. “Yeah, well, Kesstel would be upset if something happened to you, right?” She frowned at me. “You really need to find a better team that will actually back you up if you're going to piss off the wrong people.”

My head tilted to the side. “I don’t have a team.”

“Wait,” she objected. “What about Kesstel? I thought you two were a team.”

I looked at her like she was crazy. “Of course not. There’s such a difference in our abilities. Partnered up, he’d either accidentally kill me or he’d spend the whole time babysitting me, bored out of his mind.” I shook my head. “I’m not like you. You have a whole team of bodyguards watching you all the time. I can’t see all of them, but I know they’re there.” I motioned around in general since I couldn’t pick them out. I bet she’d never been alone in her life. Everything she had was handed to her on a golden platter. Protection, money, food.

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, they’re there. But it’s just pieces of paper. Without those contracts with Daddy, do you think they really would stay with me?” she whispered. Her mouth wrinkled in a frown and her brows furrowed over her sad blue eyes.

I flicked a glance at the men behind her then stared at Bethany, trying to decide what I was supposed to feel. What point was she trying to make?

Bethany bit her lips together in her mouth then smoothed out her expression. She flung her hair over her shoulder and lifted her head, exuding confidence like she was a queen. “Anyway. What did you do to piss off Blake like that?”

I snorted and crossed my arms. “I exist. Do I need another reason?” Before she could agree with him, I moved on. “He’s a nasty guy. I didn’t think he’d listen to you. He was almost meek.” Although he almost died just acting like that.

Bethany’s mouth curled victorious as her blue eyes narrowed almost maliciously. “Of course Blake’s going to act good around me. His cousin’s trying to bang me.”

I blinked at her, completely shocked. “... What?”

She waved a hand, dismissively. “Well, technically he wants to get married. It’s part of his ‘make his guild stronger’ plan. That man-whore has never been short on women. He’s such a stiff, but some women love the submissive play, I guess. Ugh. God knows he’s not going to let any of his side squeezes go, even after he gives a girl a rock.” She scrunched up her nose. “He’s actually hoping he could get benefits from me without having to go through the trouble of playing marriage. Scum. He’s so not hot enough for that.”

I simply stared at her, trying to wrap my mind around what she was saying. I couldn’t help rubbing my aching forehead. Was everything that she said a puzzle? “Hang on, who is Blake’s cousin?”

“Huh?” Bethany gave me a dumbfounded look. “You don’t know? Blake Hans is the younger cousin of Jordyn Price, the president of the Stone Mace Guild.”