"Zoë, you're going to have to kiss this better," Thalia groaned as she placed ice on her face. She dramatically spread out in her chair and let out a moan of pain. "I'm dying."
"You're being a baby," Zoë said as she didn't look up from her desk. She was in the middle of typing a report on some merman they had taken down the day before. It was a whole thing that involved a tip from Percy, a net, and her favorite leather jacket almost getting ruined.
"Clarisse is a cheater, and she almost killed me," Thalia complained. She lowered the ice and looked at her reflection in her phone. Her right eye was bruised and swollen from where Clarisse had decked her right in the face.
"I think you're upset that you were beaten so soundly," Zoë commented. Thalia grumbled to herself as she logged into her computer and started to check her emails. Her gaze moved around the office. Most of her fellow hunters were at their desks, either typing up reports or receiving information on their next case.
As her emails were nothing but spam and things she didn't give a shit about, she moved her eyes to the case files on her desk. It was all from completed cases, and she really did not want to type anything up on her computer. A dramatic groan left her.
"Nice bruise," a voice commented as someone rolled next to her. Thalia blindly reached out to push their chair away. "What happened?"
"Go back to work, Phoebe. I'm very busy," Thalia dismissed.
"You wouldn't be busy if you wrote your reports when they came in," Phoebe rebutted. Thalia glared at her and looked back at the files. "Seriously. What happened?"
"I sparred with Clarisse. The chick who guards the door. The big, scary one. She cheated and hit me right in the face when I was talking to Annabeth," Thalia explained.
"After three rounds of her getting her ass kicked," Zoë added in. Thalia glared at her partner.
"Was she crying?" Phoebe questioned. Thalia grabbed onto Phoebe's chair and gave her a big shove back to her other desk. Then, she turned back towards her own desk and started to type up reports. Her hand moved to grab her earbuds, but before she could put them in, she saw a frown on her partner's face.
"What's wrong?" Thalia asked as she turned towards Zoë. "Feel guilty for being mean to me?"
"No. I have an email here. It's from the police captain. He-"
"Ah Captain Fat Fuck. How could I forget him?" Thalia cut in with a fond look on her face.
"Anyway," Zoë continued as she gave her a look. "He said a lot of vulgar things. Specifically about you. He also mentioned that Lycaon and Ma Gasket had some kind of disagreement."
"A disagreement or a fight?" Thalia prodded. Zoë just shrugged. "Well, that's not helpful. Unless they started tearing up the city like a knockoff Godzilla movie and got arrested."
A chair rolled next to them again. Thalia turned towards Phoebe, "If you say anything else about my eye, I swear."
"I have someone from Exterminata on the phone," Phoebe whispered as she motioned to her desk. Thalia scowled and nodded. She wasn't quite sure why someone from that terrorist group was calling them. This had to be intentional, but she wasn't sure why. "What should I do?"
"Let me handle it," Thalia decided as she walked towards the desk. All she wanted to do was go to the group's headquarters and arrest every asshole that claimed allegiance to the group. It pissed her off that any group would hunt down and torture creatures for fun, but those assholes preferring werewolves hit a little too close to home.
Thalia grabbed onto the phone and lifted it to her ear. She saw Zoë turn in her chair to watch her. Phoebe rolled next to her but gave her a good amount of distance. Her fingers nervously tapped on her knee. Thalia spoke in the phone, "This is Lieutenant Grace, what the fuck do you want?"
"Lieutenant Grace," a woman said. Her voice was cold and commanding with the hint of an accent. "It is Thalia Grace, I presume."
"If you're trying to threaten me or my family, I'll fucking end you," Thalia promised.
"No. Nothing of that sort," the woman dismissed. "My name is Hylla. I can help you with a werewolf problem that you have."
"Werewolf problem?" Thalia questioned. Did this Hylla know about Lycaon? She didn't hate the asshole enough to sick Exterminata on him, but it was tempting.
"Yes. A werewolf recently moved into your city," Hylla continued. Thalia frowned at that. This wasn't about Lycaon then. It was just a waste of time.
"Well," Thalia began. "I actually have a lot of problems. And really, a werewolf moving to a city just doesn't register on my radar. Especially since you guys have such a fucking hard-on for them. Just let them mount you already."
"This werewolf is very dangerous," Hylla warned, seemingly unfazed. "This werewolf has killed a member of their family in cold blood. Imagine what they will do to people they do not know. I can handle this werewolf before they become a problem."
"I don't see how a single werewolf can cause that much trouble," Thalia retorted.
"This werewolf is extremely violent and vicious. They are cruel and evil-"
"Are you still describing the werewolf or your own group?" Thalia interrupted. She wanted to get a rise out of this woman and maybe learn something besides her name. If she could figure out who this werewolf they were targeting was, they could protect them and also hopefully catch Hylla or one of her associates.
"Thalia, I know that you hate our organization. You think you and your friends not only take the high road but have paved it all the way to heaven. The truth is that your little government funded group is only there to keep the wool over the eyes of regular people. My group handles the beasts and keeps the streets safe. I know that you don't want the streets to turn into a bloodbath. Help me remove this threat before it becomes a problem."
"I want to work with you," Hylla continued.
"We do not work with terrorists," Thalia shot down. "And, God help you if I ever see you in person, Hylla."
"I'll keep that in mind, Thalia. Now," Hylla noted, and Thalia could hear the smirk on her face. "When the bodies start piling up, I'll be expecting your call."
Thalia slammed the phone down, "Fuck that insufferable whore!"
"It didn't sound good," Phoebe began. Thalia sighed and sat on her desk. Phoebe leaned back in her seat and gently nudged her.
"Some asshole from Exterminata told me that a werewolf moved into our city and that they are violent and dangerous. We haven't had any reports of a werewolf causing problems, have we? Not in Lycaon's gang of course."
"I'll research it," Phoebe replied.
"If you have a lead, let me know. I'm going to send a report of that call and the log up to command," Thalia said. She sighed angrily. "Fuck. I hate those assholes."
"Did you get a name?" Zoë questioned.
"Yeah: Hylla. Didn't get anything else, though," Thalia replied. Zoë grabbed her arm.
"I heard you say something about them threatening your family. Did Hylla threaten Jason?" Zoë questioned.
"No," Thalia answered as she tried to release the tension from her shoulders. "But, she did know my name. I wonder how much more she knows."
"Or, she just looked at the directory on the website," Zoë assumed. Thalia remained silent. While that was probably true, she did not want to take the chance. If anyone went after her little brother because of her, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
"Maybe," Thalia grumbled.
"Hey," Zoë said softly. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out. I'll message some of my associates to see if they know about this Hylla character, and we'll keep an eye out for anything about new werewolves coming to town. If we can find the werewolf, we can find Hylla and arrest her."
"You're right," Thalia finally agreed.
"I always am," Zoë stated.
"The world must be ending," Thalia proclaimed. "I have never seen you joke this many times in one month. No. In an entire year!"
Zoë hummed and remained silent. A small smile came to Thalia's face, and she found some tension releasing from her shoulders. She did hope that Hylla decided to show her face. That woman had another thing coming if she thought she could walk into town and get what she wanted. Thalia was really looking forward to meeting her.