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

When we finally reach the massive cavern containing the doors to Tartarus and I suggest a rest, Kainda and Em both sit without saying a word. I’m tempted to point it out, but I don’t want them to feel any regrets about their freedom. There are other kinds of strengths that can replace the darkness that was removed, they just need to discover them.

We gather near one of the cavern’s entrances, but don’t enter. I can see the bone mounds clearly, and though I neither see nor smell any danger, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Part of me wants to return to the location of our last battle with the warriors and see what happened with the bodies of Hades and Cerberus, but we’re actually miles away from that scene and the distraction would waste time, energy and quite possibly lead us into a trap.

The more I think about it, the more I’m certain a trap is unlikely. Now that I have the Jericho shofar, the Nephilim and their hunters will be at a severe disadvantage in the underworld, where sound carries and numbers are limited by the size of the tunnel you’re in. No, I suspect we’ll find our path to the surface all but empty. It’s on the surface that the real danger lies. With all that empty space, the shofar, for all its supernatural power, won’t be able to turn away thousands of Nephilim warriors.

“I’ll be right back,” I say, stepping into the giant chasm.

“Where are you going?” Kainda asks. She might be tired, but she’s still vigilant.

I sigh. She won’t believe any answer but the truth. “I have to pee.”

She couldn’t care less. Hunters are accustomed to pretty much dropping their pants and doing their thing wherever and whenever the urge strikes, unless they’re trying to conceal their scent or in one of the citadels. “Don’t go far.”

“I won’t,” I mutter. It’s a lie. I might be a fellow ex-hunter, but I’m still me. Even when I had access to a bathroom with an actual door, I couldn’t go if someone was standing outside the door. My solution was to turn on the fan, if one was available, run the water and sit on the seat, rather than standing. When I confessed all this to Justin, he laughed and teased, but when I pointed out that he had to run home every time he had to go number two, he dropped the subject.

I walk maybe fifty feet away and stand behind an outcrop of rocks. They won’t see me, but all three women have good ears. I’m going to have to angle this against the wall just right, I think, and then I spread my feet apart so the ensuing puddle doesn’t reach me.

After one last look around, I start to pee. I close my eyes in relief. I’d been holding it for a while.

“Solomon!” The voice is so loud, so close, that I shout out and stumble back, stepping in the little river of urine. I look back, but no one is there.

“Are you okay?” Kainda shouts. I can hear her running toward me. Actually, I hear three sets of feet coming quickly. I rush to put myself back together, momentarily forgetting about the voice.

“I’m fine!” I shout back. “No worries. No big deal.”

I finish cinching my leathers around my waist just before Kainda arrives. She’s got her hammer out and ready, looking for an enemy to smash. All she finds is me, glowing red from embarrassment.

“What happened.” It’s not a question. It’s a demand.

That’s when I remember the voice. I replay the sound in my head, remembering it perfectly, and recognizing it instantly. “Xin.”

“Where?” Em asks, coming into view, knife in hand.

I look around, but I already know the answer. “In my head.” I turn my thoughts outward. Where are you?

Coming, Xin replies. He sounds casual. Almost friendly. Not that we’re not friends. We are brothers. I trust him more than most. But he’s serious. He knows what’s at stake and he’s been actively pursuing our mutual cause on his own despite not being accepted or trusted by the other hunters who have pledged themselves to me.

Why did you frighten me?

Apologies, Solomon, he says. I found it...humorous.

I can’t help but smile. That Xin finds anything funny is in itself, funny.

“What...are you doing?” Kat asks.

“Huh?” I say.

“You’re just standing there,” she says. “And you’re making faces like you’re talking to someone or hearing voices.”

“I am,” I say.

“Which one?”

“Both. Xin,” I say aloud and think at the same time, “say hello to Katherine Ferrell.”

Hello Katherine. I hear the voice, and I know that the others do too because they all jump and look around. Greetings Kainda, daughter of Ninnis. Greetings Emilee, daughter of Tobias.

“Where is he?” Kainda asks, sounding irritated.

Look to the north.

Despite being in a sunless cave, Kainda, Em and I all turn to the right, instinctually knowing the direction.

Kat turns with us. Though she lacks our subterranean sense of direction, she can see much further in the well-lit cavern. “I see something, just beyond the large pile of bones.”

For a moment, I see nothing, but then a shaky line of green emerges. The line grows bigger, stretching across a large portion of the cavern.

“What the hell is that?” Kat asks.

“No idea,” I say. Xin, should I be worried?

Only if you are against us.