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

I’m beneath the ferns, looking up at a ceiling of luminous green. Kainda crouches down, sliding through the growth. As she descends, I can’t help but notice her more feminine features. Her skin, though mired with mud and her own blood, gleams with sweat in a way that draws my hands. As she slips beneath the thin covering, her eyes lock onto mine. She looks almost predatory.

I smile broadly, but a little sheepishly, too. We haven’t really had much time alone since we first kissed. Our intimate moments consist mostly of gentle touches in passing. And before Kainda...I’m not exactly experienced when it comes to interacting with members of the opposite sex. There was that foot bump once, but I don’t think that qualifies as a genuine encounter.

“Hi,” I say dumbly.

Kainda smiles back, and I swear I feel my insides turn to liquid.

“You fought well,” she says.

“You already said that,” I reply.

“Should I kiss you, or not?” she says.

My gut churns. “Yes, please.”

Her smile looks almost sweet. It’s a different kind of look for her. “So polite,” she whispers, leaning down. “We’re going to have to work on that.”

Then her lips are on mine.

We remain still, our lips interlocked. My chest loosens. My mind relaxes. This is bliss.

She leans back slowly. The skin of our lips sticks for a moment, not yet willing to let go. Then she’s sitting atop me, leaning over me with her hands on the ground, to either side of my head.

“Whoa...” I whisper. “What was that for?”

“To thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything,” she says. “And...I’m relieved you’re unharmed.” It’s a moment of rare vulnerability. It makes me adore her even more. “I thought...when the madness had you. I thought you were gone. When I looked into your eyes then, I couldn’t see you. I couldn’t—”

I raise my hands to her face, holding her soft cheeks. “What do you see now?”

As she looks into my eyes, a single tear falls free from her face and lands on my cheek. At the moment of impact, I feel its warmth. I can’t normally feel any temperature, hot or cold, and I’m unaffected by the results of their extremes. I can’t be burned, nor can I freeze. But I can feel the warmth of Kainda’s tears. There is power in them.

A coolness covers my back. I can feel the earth beneath me!

“What is it?” Kainda asks.

“I—I can feel temperature,” I say. “I can feel the ground.” I look down and sense the warmth of Kainda’s bare legs over my waist. “I can feel you. More than I could before.”

I hadn’t realized how much I missed feeling temperature. There is pleasure in a cool drink or in the warm touch of a woman. In the Antarctic, and the underground, not feeling was largely a blessing. There were times I should have died from exposure, but I was immune to the effects of below-freezing temperatures.

She smiles at me. “It’s a gift.”

I start to agree, but then wonder if my powers have left me, too. The ferns shake as a breeze of my creation wafts over them. I relax again and lean my head back on the cool, soft earth.

“Shall I thank you now?” Kainda asks.

“I thought you already did?”

She smirks and leans back, reaching for her belt.

The nervousness I felt before explodes through my body. “I know you’re my passion, but I’m not sure this is the best time to—”

She draws a knife, and strangely, it puts me at ease. Like I said, we haven’t had much time to get...familiar with each other. What I thought was going to happen would have been a leap forward.

“Relax, Solomon,” Kainda says. “Even hunters are not without their traditions. Marriage comes before any coupling.”

Coupling. Of course hunters call it coupling. There’s no romance in the word. Still, that hunters actually get married is strangely heartwarming. I’m sure they don’t have elaborate ceremonies, rice throwing or a reception with dancing, but that the institution even exists shows that some part of them retained a notion of purity, even though they might kill someone for suggesting it.

She lifts the blade to her palm and draws it across. The cut is neither deep nor severe. Just enough to draw blood, which drips over her hand.

She hands the blade to me and it’s clear she wants me to do the same. I sense that this is meaningful to her, so I take the blade and place it against my palm. I simultaneously feel the warmth of her blood and the chill of the metal, then a sting as I cut my hand.

She takes the knife from me and stabs it into the ground beside us. She holds her hand up to me, opening her fingers. When I reach out with my wounded hand, she nods. I’m doing it right. We interlace our fingers, squeezing our hands, and our blood, together.

Kainda makes sure I’m looking in her eyes. “Say what I say.”

I nod.

“Blood to bind.”

“Blood to bind.”

“Flesh to join.”

“Flesh to join.”

“Man to woman.”

“Man to woman.”

“Woman...to man.”

“Woman to man.”

“Forever.”

“Forever.”