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

Zuh nods, speaking for all of them, and I lead them down the hall. When we round the corner, we’re faced with a fully armed human army. Kainda, Wright and Kat stand at the front of the two hundred strong group. Elias is with them, discussing the best route out of Olympus.

Kainda tenses when she sees the hunters following me, but she draws her hammer when she sees Zuh. Great.

I hear a rattle of chains and turn to find the sickle end of Zuh’s kusarigama in her hand.

“Seriously?” I say. “Are you two for real? Look, whatever issues you two have had in the past, suck it up and get over it. You’re not those people anymore.”

Kainda opens her mouth to object, but I speak over her. “The men behind you are from countries that have been warring since before any of us were born. Their feuds go back hundreds of years, if not more. Yet they stand here, united against a common enemy. I expect the same from you.” Kainda backs down, though she’s clearly not happy about it. I turn to Zuh. “Both of you.” She puts her weapon away.

I wave Elias over and introduce him to Zuh and the four other hunters, whose names are Jozz, Felix, Pietr and Kaleb. “These five, are hunters, like Kainda, Em and I.” Elias nods in understanding. “They know the land, and the enemy as well as I do.”

To the hunters I say, “These men are capable soldiers. They know how to kill the Nephilim. But they can also reach the outside world and get a much larger army. I want you five to lead them out of Olympus and to the coast. Elias will point the way and lead the men. You five do what you can to protect them and mask their progress.”

Zuh doesn’t look pleased with the assignment, but then asks. “Can I train them?”

“You can start with me,” Elias says, flashing a winning smile.

Zuh returns the smile, but her mischief is impossible to hide.

“Gently,” I tell her. “We need them to survive the trip.”

She chuckles. “I will not lose a single man, my king.”

King? What the? I’m about to object, but Zuh claps Elias on the shoulder and starts giving orders, which he relays to the other English speakers and they translate for the rest of the group. Soon they are all moving, swarming into a tunnel leading down.

Elias pauses at the rear and says, “We will wait for you.” He grins and adds, “my king.” Then he’s gone with the rest and our number is back to five.

I know Elias was teasing, but I’m really uncomfortable with this king thing. Honestly, I don’t really want this leadership position and think that if some kind of higher power selected me for the job, like Cronus believes, then it made a poor choice in me. I can put on a good show now. Flex my muscles. Bend the wind. But I’d still rather be in my parent’s living room eating Captain Crunch and doodling with Justin.

Before I can join Kainda, Wright and Kat, Em takes my wrist and squeezes hard enough to get my attention.

“Ouch,” I say. “What’s wrong?”

“Zuh,” she says in a tone that makes me wonder if I shouldn’t have sent the woman after all. “You should know about her past.”

I wait for more.

“When the Nephilim became aware of your return to the continent, they held a match between the top hunters, and their daughters. The winning father would break and train the last hunter, vessel of Nephil. It was the greatest honor a hunter could have. The winning daughter...”

I see where this is going. “Could marry me.”

She nods. “Zuh and Kainda were those daughters.”

“And Kainda won,” I finish.

“No,” she says. “They nearly killed each other, but their fight was a draw when neither could stand. It was the fathers who decided the fight.”

Ninnis was the man who broke and trained me, so I already know who won that fight, but the details are a revelation.

“Ninnis killed Zuh’s father,” she says, “but he didn’t stop there. He drank the man’s blood. It is the gravest of insults.”

I shake my head. Ninnis. I called the man a friend once. If not for Aimee, I could have become just like him.

“So Zuh wants revenge for her father?” I ask.

“Not at all,” Em says. “He lost the fight. Ninnis was the better hunter. She would respect that. The problem is she and Kainda never finished their fight. Kainda’s claim to you, while no longer relevant to you or me, is still disputable to Zuh and Kainda. And I can tell by the way Zuh looked at you, she wouldn’t mind a rematch.”

I look up and see Kainda keeping an eye out for trouble, though I can see she’s flexing her arms, crushing the handle of her hammer.

“Thanks for telling me,” I say to Em and then make my way to Kainda. She hears me coming and glances in my direction. Tension radiates off her like heat from a stove.

I put a hand on her shoulder and feel the muscles beneath tense. Then I lean in, kiss her cheek and whisper, “I am yours,” before moving on. She says nothing in reply, but a moment later, she snaps at the others and says, “Get moving. Hades awaits.”





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