The Last Hunter: Collected Edition (Antarktos Saga #1-5)

Shoot. I hadn’t even considered that Whipsnap’s unique design would be recognizable to hunters.

A knife flies through the air, just missing my arm as I spin. A second one follows, cutting through my poncho’s arm on the other side. I’m forced back by the barrage of knives, which are thrown with a skill I have only seen once before.

I know who this is.

I know who the woman with the hammer is!

But I’m unable to speak their names as the air has yet to return to my lungs.

The knife-wielding woman is in a rage. She’s going to kill me without realizing who I am!

I stagger back against a tree. The woman steps out from the light and I see her face for the first time in months. It’s so wonderful that I nearly miss her eyes locking on my forehead. Her hand pulls back and snaps forward, releasing a knife.

In one fluid motion, I toss Whipsnap up, and duck my head down. The knife passes between the top of my head and the hood. With the poncho pinned to the tree by the knife, I duck down out of it, shedding it like a skin, and emerge in time to catch Whipsnap. But I’m too late.

There’s a hammer raised to strike. Two knives raised to throw. An assortment of other weapons, too, held by at least fifteen more hunters.

But they’re all frozen in place as though my eyes belonged to the gorgon, Medusa.

I try to catch my breath and speak, but all I manage is a wheeze.

It doesn’t matter, though. I hear a telltale gasp and the two knives drop to the ground.

“Solomon?” Em says. “Is it really you?”

I smile and nod, dropping Whipsnap to the ground. Em rushes to me. She’s got all of her blades, around her waist and chest, looking as dangerous as ever, except for the pixie-like hairdo that’s a result of her shaving her head when she pretended to be my wife. She leaps into my arms. I squeeze her tight, enjoying the sensation of feeling loved for the first time in a long time. Hunters never cry. I’m usually the only exception. But I’m not alone today. Em squeezes me hard and lets out a joyful sob.

I hear whispers all around me as the strange turn of events is explained. I hear only bits and pieces. “Solomon.” “The Last Hunter.” “Tartarus.” “His hair.”

Weapons lower.

Tension melts.

And then the strangest thing I think I’ve seen since arriving on this continent takes place. This squad of deadly hunters drops to one knee and bows their heads.

To me.





23



“We thought you were dead. Gone forever,” Em says, still clinging to me and oblivious to the bowing hunters around us.

“I came back,” I say, stating the obvious.

“How did you escape Tartarus?” The voice is unbelieving, yet surprised.

I look up and see Kainda’s strong body step out of the light. Unlike the others, she’s not bowing. Her skin is deeply tanned, and she’s dressed in black leathers. There isn’t even a hint of a smile on her face, but she’s a vision. Em has always been a sister to me. Kainda is…something else. I’m not sure. As Ninnis’s daughter, she was offered to me as a wife, which I—being the impetuous Ull at the time—rudely turned down. Insulted, Kainda became a bitter rival out for blood. But when we met next, I saved her life, and when Ull’s personality emerged, I felt something for her. And now, that personality is part of the whole person I have become. My first impression of Kainda was that she was much older than me, but time is funny in the underworld and she now looks about my age. But I also think it has something to do with her current lack of makeup. I hadn’t realized she’d been decorating her face before, but her natural beauty is now clear to see. As is her confusion, from my lingering stare.

“I left,” I say.

“You just left?” Kainda sounds annoyed by my answer. “You were in Tartarus.”

I understand her confusion. Tartarus is a place regarded as a tomb of eternal torture that the Nephilim fear more than anything else. When I stepped through that door, I had no idea how easy it would be to return. Not that letting go of my burden was easy. People seem to be wired to cling to the things that make them feel bad about themselves.

“It’s a long story,” I say, “but yes. I opened the door and walked out.”

Kainda looks enraged by my casual reply. She takes her hammer and slams it into a tree. With a crack, the tree topples and nearly crushes some of the bowed hunters, but the branches tangle in the canopy and the tree’s fall is arrested. “Then what the hell took you so long!?”

With that, Kainda stomps off into the jungle.

I look down at Em and ask, “Did I do something wrong?”

Em smiles up at me. “You did something right. She just wasn’t expecting it.”

The hunters around us stand up as Em explains.

“I knew you would come back.” She motions to the others. “And they believed it too.”