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

“Adoni wait,” I say. “When we meet you next, do not trust us until…” Until what? I know what I want to say. We need some kind of password system that only the four of us know, just in case one of us is replaced by a shifter. My solution is ridiculous, but without context, they’ll never know. I raise my hand and do my best Vulcan greeting, opening my fingers, two to each side, and say, “Live long and prosper.”


He looks at me like I’ve gone crazy. Maybe he has seen Star Trek? “It’s what I’ll say the next time we meet. So you’ll know I’m not—” I nod to Eshu’s dead body. “—one of them.”

He nods his head in understanding. “Ahh.”

“And you,” I say. “Will do this.” I reverse my two center fingers so that they come together, leaving just the index and pinky fingers extended. “Nanu nanu.”

Adoni raises his hand, performs the gesture perfectly and says, “Nanu nanu.”

I nearly laugh, hearing someone here say Robin Williams’s greeting from Mork & Mindy, but I contain my humor. “Perfect,” I say. “Now go.”

As Adoni leaves, Em calls after him, “Tell Luca I love him.”

Adoni waves in response, then fades into the dark jungle.

I turn to Kainda and Em. “Thank you. For coming.”

Kainda rolls her eyes and stomps off in the direction of Olympus. “I hope you’re not going to talk the whole way there.”

Em smiles at me and pats my shoulder. “You have strange taste, brother.” Then she follows after Kainda.

I take one last look at Eshu’s body. It took four hunters to kill the ten foot tall Nephilim. And now the three of us are heading into the core of the Nephilim world, where thirty foot giants reside. But my friends are there, too, and they have no idea what waits for them.

I’m coming, Mira, I think. I know there can never be anything between us, but she stole a part of my heart a long time ago, and never gave it back. She will always be important to me. If she and Merrill are here to find Aimee, they’re here because of me. If something happens to any of them… I’m pretty sure I would drown under the weight of that burden.

With renewed urgency, I run into the jungle. As I pass Em and Kainda, they give chase. The Clarks have a three-day head start, but I doubt they can travel as quickly as three conditioned hunters. We’ll gain ground quickly. And if we can catch them before they reach Olympus, we might be able to save them. If not…

I’m coming.





30



We run for the rest of that night and half of the following day. We hear occasional bouts of distant gunfire. Twice, we cross strong cresty scent trails and steer clear. We don’t fear the dinosaurs, but they could delay us. That said, while we might be hunters and conditioned for long distance runs, we can’t run forever.

I slow my pace when I see a group of boulders that will conceal us as we rest. I test the area with my nose. There are a thousand subtle smells, including blood, smoke, fresh-cut wood and gunpowder, but most of them are carried by the wind. We have been moving steadily upward for several hours now and the wind rolls down-slope, carrying the scents of Olympus with it.

Satisfied that there’s no danger lurking nearby, I settle down next to a rock and lean my head back. Em slides over the rock and sits next to me. She’s out of breath, like me, but she’s also covered in sweat.

She looks at me and frowns. “You’re not even sweating.”

I look down at myself. She’s right. I’m definitely feeling the effects of running so far, though. I’m exhausted. And hungry. My lack of perspiration can wait. Em seems to be thinking the same thing. She takes out a wrapped cloth, opens it and hands me a stick of dried meat. I don’t even ask what it is. I just eat it, chase it down with a drink from my water skin and rest my head.

Then I open my eyes. “Where’s Kainda?”

Kainda replies from above. “Up here.”

I turn my eyes up and see Kainda further up the incline.

“You two rest. I’m going to scout ahead.” She doesn’t wait for an acknowledgement or for approval. She just turns and goes.

“She’s a machine,” I say.

“What’s a machine?” Em asks.

“Something man-made. Out of metal usually. They can move for a long time, and are stronger than men.”

“Then yes, she is a machine.”

We share a smile and Em gets serious. “Why her?”

I know she’s talking about Kainda. She saw us kiss. For a moment, I’m terrified that I’ve read our relationship all wrong, that Em sees me as something different than a brother. She did pretend to be my wife, after all. “What do you mean?” I ask, suddenly nervous. “You don’t—you aren’t…interested in—”

“Oh! No!” She looks like she’s just tasted something foul or licked a frog. “Ugh. Gross.”

“Okay! Okay!” I say, laughing.

She shakes her head at me and takes a bite of dried meat. “Gross.”

I lean my head back on the stone, returning my thoughts to her question. “I don’t know,” I admit.

“Aside from the obvious,” Em says, then makes an hourglass motion with her hands.

I laugh again. It’s nice to have an open conversation. I can speak more freely with Em than I have with anyone in the past. “When I…you know…”

Em places her fingers against her lips.

“Right,” I say. “It was instinct. It felt right.”