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

It’s hard to see. Just a quick flutter. But the motion is combined with a rising in her chest.

She’s alive, I think.

With a flash of light, I am back in the real world.

He has repelled us! Xin shouts in my mind. The effect is wearing off. Quickly!

I blink twice, focusing my eyes, and see the guilt plaguing Amaguq fade. Without a shout of warning or final words, I bring Whipsnap up and swing the blade down as hard as I can. There’s a sound, like shucking corn on the cob, and Amaguq’s head falls free. His body collapses. A pool of violet forms around his torso.

I step back from the beast, breathing hard, and doing my best not to show the toll this battle and the trip through a Nephilim mind has taken on me. When it is clear that Amaguq will not be returning to this world, the soldiers clap and cheer, their relief flooding over me.

As I step away from the body, General Holloway approaches me. He looks like he’s about to give me some kind of speech, but the words seem to come and go several times before he simply extends his hand.

I take Holloway’s hand and shake.

“Welcome aboard, son,” he says. “We’ll follow your lead, but the orders to my men go through me.”

“Understood,” I say, glad to finally have an army, small as it is, to direct.

As others come to congratulate my victory, Xin’s voice reaches me, though barely. Brother...

He’s dying.

“Xin!” I shout, turning to where I last saw him and breaking into a sprint. I reach him quickly and drop down to my knees beside Luca, who never left his side. When I say his name again, tears are pouring down my face, damn what these men and women think of me now.

Brothers, Xin thinks, speaking to Luca and me simultaneously. Before I knew you, my heart was as dark as Amaguq’s. Together, you granted me forgiveness and a taste of innocence. I carry the burden of what I have done to the next life, if such a thing waits for me, but you have given me the strength to find peace.

I can sense Luca’s overwhelming sadness. It’s a pretty fair match to my own.

Xin’s body quakes. The motion elicits a sob from Luca. Em arrives behind the boy, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Xin reaches up, placing his hand on the back of Luca’s neck, pulling him closer. Before my life ends, he thinks, a gift. For each of you.

Luca’s forehead touches against Xin’s and I’m suddenly separated from the two. Luca’s eyes flutter for just a moment. Then he gasps and sits up.

Xin turns to me. Now you.

I lean down and place my head to Xin’s. His words fill my mind.

This is the last time I will speak to you in life, brother. You have become the man I wish I could have been and I believe, with all that remains of me, that you will destroy the monster Nephil and all who follow him.

Though I am in my mind with Xin, I can feel the warmth of my tears on my face, the shake of my trembling muscles as I hold myself over him, and the tightness in my throat that would keep me from speaking if we were using our mouths to talk.

You taught me how to love, brother. And that is a gift I can’t possibly pay back, but I will try. Next time you speak to the Clarks remember something they have told you. Goodbye, Solomon.

Goodbye, Xi—

A wave of energy fills my head. I clench my eyes shut, afraid they will burst. The pressure builds. It moves deeper into my mind, spreading, seeping into every fold. And then, it stops.

And Xin, my brother, is gone.

I open my eyes and look at his body. His chest rises and falls, but more slowly with each breath. Just seconds remain. As I look at him, I remember his words about his burden. About the world to come, if such a thing waits for me. I feel the fear in those words. He is part Nephilim. Does he have a soul? Or will he simply cease to exist?

I don’t know the answer, but there might be a way to be sure.

I stand quickly and shout, “Kat!”

She appears by my side still clutching the rewrapped shofar, as I knew she would. “Give it to me!”

Xin’s chest falls and for a moment, I fear it will not rise again.

I feel the shofar in my hands and turn it to face Xin.

His chest rises. It’s a shallow breath, but it is enough.

The horn sounds loudly, its blast pouring over Xin’s body. He doesn’t writhe, shriek or react in a way that a Nephilim might. Instead, he changes. The scales covering his body rise up, like flower petals and blow away in the breeze. A soft skin is revealed, human skin. The shape of his body changes, shortening and bulking. His head grows smaller, taking on a more human shape, though he remains as bald as ever. His serpentine, yellow eyes, which are staring up at the empty sky, shrink. The pupils turn circular. The color becomes blue. The transformation completes just as I run out of breath.

The horn blast fades.

A gentle smile forms on his human lips.

His chest falls as his last breath escapes his now fully human body.

Xin is dead.