- 25 -

Pandora knew well how it felt to have men look down on her for not pretending she was beneath them. It was rare that a hunter would act that way; all hunters were equally insane, after all. But in wider society, there was no shortage of men who considered themselves a cut above. Several of those men now stared her down as she walked across the second-class smoking room; a space off-limits to women.

The room itself was a distorted copy of the first-class smoking room. The stained glass windows matched and the seating was the same style, though the brilliant green had been swapped out for a deep blue. This room was smaller than its first-class counterpart; unfortunate as the space now had to accommodate both groups.

The mixing of the two classes was the reason for Pandora's visit. The ship was heavily segregated by economic class, and the person she wanted to speak with was firmly in the group above her. The newly mixed area was the chance she needed. Pandora scanned the room looking for the captain. Older men dressed in the finest of clothes packed the tables. Young women in revealing outfits moved between them pouring drinks and laughing at bad jokes.

I guess when they said no women, they only meant the ones they couldn't gawk at.

Before now, Pandora hadn't cared about her exclusion from the smoking rooms. Her cigarettes worked just fine on the observation deck. What was she missing out on? Some gaudy decorations and the company of stuck-up assholes? She had no desire to be here, but she had no choice. There had been two youkai attacks already yet the people in charge were acting like everything was business as usual.

The head security officer, Albert... or maybe Allen, had told her as much two days ago in the infirmary. She had believed him, but couldn't fathom their stance wouldn't change in the wake of six more deaths. Yet, the next day they attended each meal to assure the passengers the youkai had flown off into the sunset. The blatant disregard for passenger safety appalled Pandora. Apparently, she wasn't the only one. Her new acquaintance told her when and where she might find his boss.

He had been right. Pandora spotted the captain sitting at a table across the room. When she approached, a man seated across from him jumped to his feet. "What is the meaning of this?"

Pandora ignored the protest, opting instead to take the newly vacated seat for herself. The man stood slack-jawed as she pulled her cigarette case free and drew one into her mouth. As she fumbled loose a match the man finally found his courage.

"This lounge is only for men. Leave now or you will be made to leave."

Pandora reached around to the holster she wore below her cloak. When her hand returned from behind her back, she cocked the hammer of her revolver, letting the man hear the click.

"You'll need to find six more people that care enough to make me leave. Not sure how you'll decide which order to approach me in, though. I imagine you'll all want to be seventh."

The man wilted like a drought-stricken rose. Without dropping her gun, Pandora struck the match and lit her cigarette. She took a long drag and spit her smoke in his face. "In the meantime, I'll be right here having a conversation with the captain."

Pandora had already turned her attention to her real target when she heard the man scurry off. The face across from her was still and free of emotion. She had barged in and made a scene and he had sat by in silence. Not only that but he seemed disinterested. Without sparing her a glance, the captain waved over one of the server girls and held his glass out for a refill.

Is he ignoring me?

Pandora often used frustration to give herself an advantage in conversation but that didn't seem viable. As she rethought her opening, the man spoke first. "So what exactly is your goal in coming here?"

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Pandora's main goal was to complain. She often felt best when her complaints were levied directly to the person who had fucked up. But there was a small part of her that hoped to correct the root problem as well.

"I don't know. I wanted a nice place to smoke and have a drink, but it's just so crowded here after you let that youkai paint the green room red."

"I should have known." The captain swirled his glass, then brought his nose to the brim. He breathed in and a slight smile formed on his lips, then he took a sip. "You act as if I set the beast loose on those men. It's my ship it has ruined; my name that will be dragged through the mud."

"You did set the beast loose on those men. The youkai killed four of your crew the day before and you kept it secret."

The captain slammed his glass down on the table. Finally, some hint of emotion. "I only kept it secret from the passengers. Should I have let them panic? We already had men in place, hunting the creature. Frightened passengers would have only been a distraction for them."

"Even without distraction four of those men ended up dead, along with two innocents." Pandora reached forward and tapped the end of her cigarette across his glass, dropping ash into the amber liquid inside. "And now you've filled another smoking room with victims."

"If your goal was to anger me you've succeeded. Why do you assume there will be another—"

A sudden crash drew the attention of the room. The heavy double doors at the entrance had been thrown open. A chorus of questions filled the space like a dull roar. The head security officer rushed inside, eyes darting around the room. "Where is the captain?"

The question stoked the worried chatter even further. Someone must have pointed him in the right direction because his eyes locked on their position and he rushed over.

"Captain Thomas, there's been another attack."

The sound in the room exploded. Men jumped up to scream questions that were lost over each other. Even the captain rose from his chair, though he was close enough that Pandora could make out what he said.

"Is it dead, Allister?"

"No."

Pandora had done her best to get a rise from the captain, but nothing she did brought him anywhere near the anger now plain on his face. "Then what are you doing here? Why didn't you chase after it?"

"I didn't see it. Witnesses said it fled to another part of the ship after the fight. I don't know where."

"Witnesses?" the captain asked.

"Yes sir. I arrived after the fight had already ended."

Pandora's intuition pulsed. She knew most of Allister's men had died in the last attack, and she had a feeling the ones that survived weren't up to the task of fighting off the youkai. Someone else had their hands in this, and those hands were fuzzy.

"Can I have your attention, please!"

The shout came from the entrance. It cut through the chatter in the room reducing it to silence. Pandora didn't need to look to know who it was. She knew that smug tone. The gorilla stood in the entranceway with his shirt off. His broad physique spoke almost as loud as he did.

"The youkai has returned! It's clear the ship's crew isn't equipped to keep you safe."

The captain ran past, no doubt on damage control. It was hard to feel sorry for him. He had promised everyone safety even though Allister told him the youkai would return. Now it had come back to bite him. Let him wallow in his own bullshit.

"What you all need is a hunter to keep you safe," Gamal continued. "And I can be that hunter. I just need you to gather 40,000 milliliters. Between all of you, isn't that a small price to pay for safety?"

The crowd erupted in cheers. One of the men took off his hat and began to pass it around. Before long it came back filled with coins of all denominations. The passengers were more than happy to pay for piece of mind. Pandora was less impressed by the offer.

"Holy shit," she sputtered. "That's four times the rate of a youkai of this rank."

She had mumbled the words to herself, not expecting anyone to hear them. However, Allister took a spot beside her and replied, "I can't promise forty, but I think I could get you twenty thousand."

"What?"

"Pandora, I'd like to hire you on for the hunt."

"Under who's authority?" The captain cried, back from his failed public relations mission.

"My own authority," Allister said. "The company already has eight paychecks they no longer need to pay out. They can find the money." He turned to address Pandora directly. "If they don't then I'll pay you myself."

Pandora stared at Gamal, then brought a hand up to massage her temple. "I was already planning to hunt, but if that gorilla is involved I don't have a choice. He'll get you all killed if I don't keep an eye on him."

Pandora watched him for a moment longer. Hat in hand, he stood silently counting the coins he had received so far. She was dreading once again hunting the same youkai as that bastard. Something about him made her skin crawl. A feeling that flared further when he caught sight of her in his periphery. A disgusting smile distorted his face and he approached her.

"Ah, Pandora. How fortunate to see you here. There was something I wanted to tell you; a word of advice. You should keep better track of your little girlfriend. She would have been bird food if I hadn't saved her."

Lily!

Pandora didn't know when, but she had started running.