Bound By Destiny

Chapter 1

“Goddess help me,” I muttered as I ran after the satyr.

For being a fat, little thing, that bastard was quick in his hooves. I pulled my hair back and sprinted after him, the clink-clank of metal from my small armory I had strapped to my body accompanying my soft footfalls on the pavement. I always liked to give the creatures I hunted a head start before I took their freedom away. Most of the creatures I chased were simply trying to dodge something trivial, but I did manage to always snag a few blacklist offenders that I had to study before I reeled them in.

A large crowd of wood nymphs were shoved unceremoniously out of the way by my target. The sudden ruckus cause the nymphs to sprout trees, plants and other flora in the middle of a busy sidewalk. Dammit! I used all my might to leap on top of the nearest building, a good two stories up, before spotting my quarry heading straight for a pub. Excellent.

I quietly dropped back to the ground as I slowly meandered towards the pub. The idiot thought he lost me. I glanced towards the nymphs as they coaxed the copious amounts of plants back into the ground. I closed my eyes and imagined a completely different person. My hair lengthened and went platinum blonde as my eyes went pink instead of their natural turquoise coloring. I put a smattering of freckles across my cheeks as I felt my breasts grow to strain even more against my leather corset-style vest. I shortened my stature by a few inches because I always seemed less intimidating as a short woman.

Being a shapeshifter (human and supernatural alike) was a definite perk for my line of work. My name is Kat and I am a SBH, Supernatural Bounty Hunter, for the BSC, the Bureau of Supernatural Creatures. Just as the humans have the FBI for their criminals and whatnot, so do we supernaturals.

I was found abandoned as a newborn by Ted and Aqua Petierre on their front porch. They took me in and raised me as their own with no knowledge of who my biological parents were or where I had even come from. I definitely can’t complain though. I grew up in a loving, supportive home. Supernaturals and humans have been coexisting for centuries; creating a variety of hybrids no one has seen before. Everyone thought I was human until I turned first into a cat I had seen and then into the baby from a popular commercial when I was barely a year old.

I slowed as I neared the pub, scrunching my nose up at the smell of stale beer, sweat and too many species to differentiate between. I pressed a button on my left wrist and and immediately felt the thrumming of electricity. Should the need arise, I could effectively stun and knock out anything aside from a stone monster. I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail and pasted the brightest smile I could on my face. Then I stepped into the bar with a sway to my hips that would have any man breaking his neck to watch.

I glanced around the bar to identify number of patrons, exits and potential threats. I spotted my target near the restrooms with his back to the wall and his eyes on the entrance I just sashayed through. I always loved when they never knew I was coming. I loved being able to take on any form I chose to be project. Today I was bimbo Barbie. Yesterday I was a bird shifter. Tomorrow I could be a centaur.

My skin itched with the amount of attention I was receiving as I slid onto a barstool.

“What’ll it be darlin’?” The warlock bartender asked with his eyes glued to my breasts.

“A double of dragon fire,” I slid a $20 across the bar, my eyes sliding across the satyr in the back.

He quickly did as I asked and slid the bill from view. He definitely had done that a time or two. The satyr was paranoid as he watched the door. I smiled and downed my shot, suppressing the ball of fire before blowing out the smoke.

Dragon fire was a very potent drink. It set you on fire from the inside and made you breathe fire for the first few breaths. I always enjoyed the way my body felt, like I was ablaze.

“There’s another $100 of you don’t see anything in the next ten minutes. And I’ll buy everyone’s next round,” I gave the bartender a smile as I flashed my badge.

He nodded and told everyone the next round was on the house. Roars of approval and whistles rang through the bar as I casually made my way to where my satyr sat. I could smell the anxiety and fear pouring off of him as he glanced at me. I saw him visibly relax as I took a seat beside him.

“Nice of the barkeep,” I spoke with a slight French accent.

“Oh yes,” the satyr nodded as he claimed his apple beer.

I decided to pull the trigger and end the poor things misery. I held up my badge and allowed my shifted features to meld back into my natural ones. The blonde hair turned into my violet-black shoulder length hair and the pink eyes gave way to my turquoise ones. My breasts didn’t change too much, nor did my wide hips. Those were all natural.

“No.” He made a move to stand.

“Come now Lören, you won’t get very far.” I sighed as I mentally counted to five.

“I’ve done nothing!”

“You ran out on your hearing. You stole precious data and ran when they were to hand you the verdict.” I made a tsk sound as I held up my wrist.

The bounty, as I knew he would, jumped away from the table. I smirked and shook my head as he made it a half step before I shot an orb of electricity from my bracelet. His body convulsed a few times before he collapsed in an unconscious heap on the bar floor.

I quickly bound his hands and hooves with titanium coated silver cuffs and hoisted him over my shoulder. For being no more than 4’5”, he weighed over 200lbs. On my way past the bartender, I tossed an envelope filled with $250, more than I promised, but then I knew if I had a bounty here again, he definitely wouldn’t see anything.

I whistled as I went out to hail the BSC car that was waiting. They tracked my movements when I was in the trail, in the event that something were to happen and to make sure I didn’t just split. I looked towards the left and walked smack into a very solid rock hard body that towered above my 5’7” frame by all but a foot.

“Tate.” I growled as I stepped around him.

“Kitty Kat,” I could hear his smile as he turned to follow me.

“Back off, I was done by the time you even showed up.” I spoke as I threw the satyr into the back of the BSC SUV.

“Oh come on. You know I only follow you around to have fun. I got out of the game when the BSC recruited me.”

I rolled my eyes. Tate was once a bounty hunter like me until he followed the dollar signs for a suit and tie job. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the freedom and the chase. I could choose when I wanted to work and who I wanted to chase.

“What do you want Tate?” I looked around for Zephyr, my BSC handler.

“I’m your new handler.” Tate grinned as he looked at the still unconscious satyr.

“What happened to Zephyr?” I felt like screaming.

“Transferred. Apparently she wanted something, and I quote ‘less exciting with an easier caseload.’”

Fucking hell. This day went from amazing to shitty in no time flat. I felt the scowl form on my face as I glared at Tate.

“Come on Kat, will it be that horrible to work with me?” Tate asked as he studied my scowl.

I signed, “No, but you should know how I work. The whole point in being a hunter is working on my own. I don’t do rules. You of all creatures should know that.”

Tate was a supernatural creature too, just one I’ve never been able to positively identify. I’ve never asked him either, nor has he ever disclosed that tidbit of information to me.

“I get it Kat, believe me I do. I’m just here to bring in your bounties and assist you if need be.” Tate added the last three words when he noticed me open my mouth to protest.

I silently struggled to come to terms with working alongside the man who could cause my destruction.

“Fine.” This was going to be rough.

“Payments been made. Bosses gave you a bonus.” Tate grinned as he pulled keys from his pocket, “I need to get him back to the bureau.”

Tate strode to the drivers side and climbed in and I tried hard not to notice how his muscles flexed underneath his suit.

“Check your updated list. There’s a nice bounty on a vamp.” Tate spoke as he slid the window down.

“Vamp?” Ugh, I hated those bloodsuckers.

“He killed the BSC’s vice presidents son. The VP is paying the highest bounty I’ve ever seen to whomever gets him alive.”

Tate knew I wouldn’t turn down the money. Not that I needed it. I was the most sought after bounty hunter around. I was just shy of turning 30 and had racked up well over 500,000 bounties in the last five years alone. I definitely didn’t need the money, but I enjoyed the hunt. My phone beeped with the updated list of available bounties. Right at the top was the vamp.

Name: Vladimir Blackthorn (such a cliché vampire name).

Age: 355 years.

Sire: Unknown.

Crime: Murder.

Bounty: $5,000,000.

My eyes almost bulged out of my head. Holy hellfire! I continued reading the dossier on my newest target.

Last Known Location: Within 5 miles of the Bureau of Supernatural Creatures headquarters.

Dead or Alive? To be taken alive.

I walked to where I kept my car and pulled out my weapons bag. A vamp never goes easy. One with the biggest bounty ever will not go down without a fight. I needed to sort myself for anything I could use to maim not kill Vlad. Some of things I’ve heard about vampires is just downright hilarious. They are not allergic to garlic nor silver. They have reflections and the sun can kill them depending on their vampire age. I believe vamps become gradually tolerant of the sun around 350-400 years.

Oh yeah, I was definitely hunting the vamp. A bounty I would enjoy because I had a few sets of skills not listed on my dossier. I grinned as I pulled out a pair of titanium cuffs, along with several vials of various drugs to use if he decided to get nasty. I strapped my two silver daggers (vamps weren’t allergic but most supernaturals are) to my hips and grabbed my quiver and bow to slide across my shoulders. I pulled my hair into a tight topknot and made sure my electric orb taser was still charged.

I enlarged the picture of Vlad, studying it for several moments before I took off on foot towards the BSC building. Since it was his last seen location, naturally any decent bounty hunter with a brain would start there. Me? I could shut out heartbeats. Vamps had one, contrary to popular belief, but it was very slow.

It took a total of 15 minutes to reach the building and I counted no less than seven other hunters. I could hear their whispers and could feel their upset that I had decided to show. I picked a small alley near the BSC building and closed my eyes. I tuned out all the noise except for hearts beating, and then I slowly sifted through everything that had a normal beat. Urban legends would have you believe vampires were dead (truth) and they had no heartbeat (false). Vampires had the slowest heartbeat on the planet, one beat per every minute and a half.

It wasn’t hard to locate the barely beating heart of a vampire. Most of them tended to stay far away from the hq of the supernaturals. I slowed my breathing and allowed my intuition (?) or inner bad guy locator, whatever it was, and let it direct me towards the vampire.

I overheard a couple of the hunters as they watched me.

“Is that her?”

“Fuck man, we might as well go home.”

“Oh my Goddess, it’s Kat!”

More than a few of my fellow hunters knew my name. More than a few hated my guts. Plenty of them worshipped me. I couldn’t have gave a damn. I wasn’t here to play nice. I was here to catch a bounty and then collect my prize.