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Chapter 12
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2023-02-24 08:00:38Sushmita made her way to the lunch lounge that was built exclusively for the chameleons while the octopuses and archers spent their lunch hour on a separate floor. The chameleons’ lounge had posh furniture and high-tier lighting, floors that shone and air-conditioners that were all fully functional. Sushmita breezed past the food stations and chameleons queuing to form a millipede, heading straight to the VIP section where the salt and pepper hair of her boss came into view. Patterson was there, too. As expected.
The Chief Chameleon sat leaned back with one leg over the other, an arm casually resting on the empty chair next to him, chatting with Valor with the confident, easy smile that gave him such a big boost in climbing up the ranks.
Sushmita wasn’t sure whether it was the pattering of her sneakers or her radiating anno
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Exiting the elevator, Sush drew in a greedy lungful of air. She loved the smell of the trenches, which she wasn’t sure whether was odd. Even before she was chief, her senses loved it here. She didn’t like the politics, the gossip, the need to please the higher-ups, but the work? God, she loved the work. She especially loved inventing things and tweaking inventions, drawing immense satisfaction from bringing her imagination to life, running tests, finding solutions to problems, improving designs and modifying structures. This was her place, her escape. Sure, there were bad days but even those days had good stuff in it.It was sad that she’d have to leave once she’d avenged her mother. It was the main reason she stayed, she felt - to linger around long enough to be entrusted with every piece of information within the headquarters. Deep down, she knew she’d love to stay forever if she could. But she couldn’t have it both ways. It wouldn’t be wise or feasible to stay by the end of her pl
Last Updated : 2023-02-25The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 14
Sushmita reached her one-bedroom apartment after midnight. Lying in bed and staring into the darkness that jeeringly matched her life, she kept telling her body to go to sleep. But it couldn’t. Her energy levels would normally be wiped out by now and she may not even remember her head touching the pillow or whether she pulled up the blankets. But tonight, she even had the mental and physical strength to charge her phone.Yes, she knew it wasn’t good for the battery. No, she didn’t care.Her brain was still buzzing, nerves still firing. From Delilah to Valor to Catrine Carter to Monica Upshaw and… to Greg. Why Greg? She delved deeper into that.Unlike the catastrophe of a person she’d imagined, he actually seemed… decent. Not a choice of word she’d go for from the little she knew about him before today, especially not after the way he ended Logan Larson. She should be terrified from witnessing the kill, but she actually felt envious that Greg was granted permission to do something she
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“Did you know he threw the iced latte right down the sink?” Hazel whispered like a flood just swept away an entire village.“Really? I didn’t think someone like him would drain a cup before throwing it into the trash. Ow! Haze!” Sush flinched when her deputy struck her arm with a thick ring folder.Sulking in her chair and tucking the folder back under her tablet on her lap, Hazel said, “You’re usually funny when you’re mean, but not this time.”Rubbing away the sensation from the blow, Sush said, “Maybe the duke’s just here to work, Haze. How about you give him a pass? It’s not like you don’t have other offers. And pull up B-12 for me, please.”
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At lunch, Hazel asked Sush about why she had to get Greg bagels and coffee. Sush lied eloquently on the spot, saying that she lost a bet against the duke about his age, to which Hazel reprimanded, “How could you not know that? Everyone knows it’s a hundred and ninety! Five years older than the king! Last I checked, you’re thirty-five, so aren’t you supposed to have the memory of a thirty-five-year-old?” “Unlike you, my brain cells are limited and I have to be selective about what I store in them. His age seemed too trivial to warrant a space in my mental archive.” The truth was she knew. Like Greg, she’d memorized his and the mavericks’ profiles and faces before they showed up, down to the most trivial detail of their ages. “So… he just happened to tell you he took coffee?” Suspicion crawled onto Hazel’s face. “Nope. He just said whoever lost the bet would buy the other bagels and coffee.” “You two sure are getting along,” Hazel remarked, not even trying to hide her indignation. H
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Back in the trenches, Greg popped from correspondence to system maintenance to weaponry maintenance when he heard her sigh. It was as if his auditory nerves had been programmed to listen for that sound. His ears perked, his skimming of the inventory list paused, his chin lifted. He watched as Sush dumped the clipboard next to the keyboard as she slumped into her swivel chair, brows furrowed and mouth downturned in a frown as she scrolled through her phone.Setting the list in his hand onto his chair, he strode across the space, toward the elevator, jabbed the number six, tapped his foot impatiently against the ground as he waited for the elevator bell to chime faintly, stepped onto the cafeteria floor and made a beeline for the coffee bar.Nancy looked up from her phone when Greg asked, “What does the Chief Octopus normally tak
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In the dark room of Sush’s apartment, the red strips displaying the time on her bedside alarm clock showed 3:16 AM when the sound of her ringtone blared through the room, jostling her awake. Phones were never turned off in this profession, especially not if they were chiefs or deputies. They were paid at a laughable wage to work at fixed hours and be reachable at all hours. Swiping to answer the call without checking the caller identification, she hid under the covers with her eyes closed while the caller spoke. A security breach. In the east. EAST. She didn’t choose to stay in the west because she’d enjoy taking a hell of a long flight to the other side of the globe, especially not when it was still dark, her bed still warm and her eyelids still heavy. She tried wrigg
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The latter two questions had been answered by an autopsy report and confirmed by the eastern octopuses: the sprinklers were not turned on from the control room, meaning it could’ve only been switched on by an external source. They traced it to an unauthorized wireless device, suspecting that the intruder had a remote in his trousers pocket that managed the feat.As for the screaming, the sprinklers sprayed - not water - but zahar: an air-borne substance that tampers with its victim’s neurons. They’d feel as if a million needles were being pierced through their skin, causing momentary paralysis while their assailant struck. Zahar wasn’t lethal in open spaces, but it did buy time.Why wasn't the assailant himself affected? The octopuses concluded that either he had already ingested an antidote or he wasn’t
Last Updated : 2023-03-01The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 20
The following day, Sush was scrutinizing each flagged file. Frustration filled her when formatting issues disturbed her flow. These were very old files overseen by Kenji’s predecessor, who wasn’t exactly the most efficient or thorough octopus, so Sush supposed she should have expected half-baked work like these. It really bothered her, but since the retired hunter was not within her vicinity to be yelled at, all she could do was sigh to herself as she perfected the documents by correcting each formatting issue that didn’t conform to the standard way they did things. These old timers, she thought to herself in dismay.Her flow got better, until one broke her momentum - an archive from over a decade ago about the remnants of a victim suspected to have been bombed. Her eyes trailed along each line, each photo. Her hea
Last Updated : 2023-03-02
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Days after Kenji’s update, Sush was no closer to figuring out the last time she came in touch with Upshaw, and Asahi pointedly told the eastern leader that despite the eastern attacks - which he was still blaming Kenji and his octopuses for - he would never stoop below professionalism and hunter hierarchy. That assertion was entirely believable because Asahi has never broken a single rule in his career - be it something as serious as committing treachery or as trivial as abiding to lunch hour to the dot. That brought them back to the lead itself: what did Upshaw mean? When did she and Sush last meet? It was probably when Upshaw was still in the western headquarters, and the exchange was either in a queue during lunch at the cafeteria or that they brushed past each other on the archer’s floor when their practice sessions coincided. In both scenarios, they wouldn’t have even spared each other a nod or greeting. Did that count as being in touch? “What’s on your mind?” Greg’s drawl bru
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Bonus Scene 1/2: Chapter 59.5
After the meal, the families strolled around the greenery of small trees and flower beds, mingling with other families and teachers. Pups either left their parents’ side to play with their friends or were clung onto tightly by their respective parents as their teacher spilled every detail on their grades and behavior in class. Some grinned with pride while others hid behind their parents’ legs, which were as good a hiding spot as having none. Little Ken was well-loved in terms of character and behavior, but could use some help in sports. Reida and Ianne were a lovable pair mostly due to their inquisitive nature, but their chatter during lessons was incredibly hard to stop. The teachers - especially the science teacher - appreciated that their chats were about the scrawls of facts and processes on the board, but he made it a point to note that he’d appreciate it more if their discussion didn’t come when he was still talking and trying to get the pups to pay attention. Lewis was ado
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Stina's Note
Dear readers,We’ve come to the end of The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke, and I want to thank everyone who has stuck around. I hope you can spare a few minutes to rate this novel and leave a review here and on *Goodreads*. It'll help a lot in seeking new readers and sharing the love!Thank you for the gems, comments, reviews, follows, and - most of all - patience throughout this journey. When I started Book One, I would have never thought this would be the direction I’d take in Book Three, especially not when I was writing the first few chapters of my debut, but here we are.I named the female lead Sushmita after my closest friend in the sixth form (she doesn’t know yet), coupled with Alagumalai which means “beautiful mountain” and is part of the name of my favorite English teacher (she doesn’t know either). I almost chickened out and was going to use something generic, but the tale didn’t carry the spark I wanted as I began writing, so I swapped it back. If either of them e
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Epilogue
Xandar’s jet landed next to the Forest of Oderem and everyone trailed out to meet Pelly, Octavia, Rafael and Amber. The forest greeted them with the waft of freshly baked goods and a gentle breeze, growing pink and amber-colored flowers around Enora and bringing the butterflies that she always loved seeing. One landed on her nose and Enora’s hands were about to catch it when it flew away. The breeze brought along dried leaves of different shape, color and texture, raining them on Reida and Ianne who collected them. The girls even brought a small sack to gather them after their first visit, always patting the branch that would magically extend toward them as a way of conveying their thanks. Sush lay her eyes on the forest for the first time, feeling an undeniable
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 85
A week after they’d returned from their honeymoon, the pups came over. Christian had been adamant about keeping his family away from Greg in the beginning, but it was difficult to keep his son away from Sush, so trust was built over time. In the first twenty times Sush and Greg brought Lewis to the park when they took Enora, Christian and Annie went along, staying on the benches solely to observe, learning from there that their son had a knack for something other than his camera. Unlike Ken, Lewis wasn’t good with puzzles - wasn’t patient enough, but he picked up catapulting quite quickly, shooting fake nests off high branches, even accidentally catapulting Greg in his ass in his first try when Greg was placing the nests into trees. Lewis gasped and quickly hid the weapon behind his back the moment Greg turned around with a
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 84
In the following week after returning from the kingdom, a paternity test was taken, and it confirmed Sush carried Ferdinand’s genes - a fact that didn’t surprise him but disgusted her. Of all the things she imagined her birth father to be, a defense minister that was the epitome of an irresponsible, disloyal, and unreliable hypocrite was not one of them.Upon learning this, Sush sat on the couch and stared into space.Greg came over soon after, placed her on his lap and asked whether she wanted to talk things through; preferred if he just held her and stayed silent; or simply wanted to be left alone so he should leave for now. At the mention of the last option, Sush grabbed onto his shirt - her action conveying that she did not want him to leave before her words did. She asked for the second option, and a very quiet
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 83
Back at work, many were pleased to learn that media scrutiny and public pressure were immense enough to force Ferdinand and Valor to take a temporary leave from office pending investigations of the reports made. Therefore, the two defense systems that human territories relied on now fell into the hands of the deputy defense minister, Agu, and for the hunters, the majority decided they wanted Sush, who received the same magnitude of support from the ministry with Agu placing the discussion of lifting her suspension as the first thing on the agenda in the first meeting held without Ferdinand.The second thing on the agenda was to officially remove the defense ministry’s superiority over the hunters, letting them exist as a separate entity with its own independence, working with them as a partner rather than a subordinate. Agu’s proposal was not well-received, and many suggested they
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 82
Before her eyes opened the next morning, Sush’s heightened sense of smell detected the distinct scent of musk and sandalwood wafting stronger than before from the creature lying next to her. Her eyelids slowly lifted as her vision adjusted to the darkness, and she was welcomed with a very clear view of the most gorgeous man in existence. She wondered if it was possible to find him more alluring simply from being able to smell him better now. The tip of his lips quirked, lilac eyes gazing into hers.He dozed off seconds after her the night before, and woke up just minutes before she did, using the time alone to watch her sleep, then watch her wake, which was better than watching the sunrise or sunset. He never understood the point in those. It was something that happened everyday. Surely, at some point, anyone would get bored of it.
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 81
After a very long day of surrendering the hostages to the police and making reports, submitting a public statement for the media to circulate throughout the kingdom, empire and human territory in case someone did something to cover-up the truth, everyone dragged their exhausted selves back home.In the diplomatic residence, Sush was in sweatpants and one of Greg’s shirts as they lay in bed. She lay on her side facing him, head resting on his arm, hand on his bare torso as Greg’s fingers fiddled with her hair, relishing in the tiny sparks that dotted his fingers when he touched the strands. When he wanted to feel a higher charge, his fingers went to her shoulder, pulling up the sleeve to feel her bare skin, leaving goosebumps that his fingertips continued stroking through.“Hey,” she began in a whisper.
