Page 11 of Treasured By the Hunter

“Whatever. We have enough charge to make it to the one in the pub.”

Zoey stiffened in my arms. This news upset her. I tightened my arms, keeping her immobile but not so tight as to make her uncomfortable.

“I don’t think she’s here,” said a third voice. “I’ve been this way recently. These houses are looted out. And I think I saw one of them purple freaks in the area.”

“Yeah, she ain’t here. Let’s stay in the big house at the top of the hill tonight and pretend we’re rich.”

“Wearerich,” replied the first one who spoke. “This whole town is ours. Tomorrow, we’ll head out at first light to the next safe house and charge up.”

We stayed that way until the three males returned to their vehicles and drove off.

“They are gone,” I said. “Continue your story.”

She sagged in my arms, and I resisted the temptation to sniff her hair and inhale that delightful scent. I relaxed and let her go. She had calmed by now, and instead of scrambling away, she moved slowly to lean against the wall next to me.

“Corey is the one who spoke first. He was part of the group that stole that hunter’s shuttle and convinced Sanctuary to keep him as a prisoner. Honestly, I was surprised Clark—he’sSanctuary’s leader—even agreed to it. He seemed like such a logical man.”

“Heather says they were withholding vital medication, and many elderly and children were dying.”

She nodded. “Yeah. That’s what we heard too. And we didn’t have any to sell them. Well, anyway, after your guy was rescued, Sanctuary halted all trade with Corey’s group.

“Then, one day, we found Corey waiting for us at one of our safe houses. He said his group was all dead. The hunter they’d messed with came and killed them all. Burned everyone alive.”

I pressed my lips in a thin line. Kan’n had gone back but he had gone back with good reason.

“I’m not good at Xarc’n faces, but you suddenly look a whole lot scarier. That tells me there’s a lot more to this story than I was told.”

I tried to school my features. I didn’t want to scare her. “There is. This nomad group has been causing problems for the humans I work with. Kan’n, the warrior they imprisoned, found his mate in our group and stayed. The nomads lured scourge to attack our camp in the middle of the night, while they tried to infiltrate through the back. Kan’n and Pip responded by following the group back to their hideout. Their leader, knowing he was trapped, threw an incendiary in a confined space. Kan’n barely made it out alive. We didn’t know there were other survivors of the incident.”

“There weren’t. Corey and a few others were out. They only found out when they got back. We were dumb, and we let him into our group. I mean, he’s an asshole, but he’s still Connor’s brother. After a while, he started talking about this New Earth Militia and how we should join them.”

“I have heard of them. They do not like Xarc’n warriors and still think we are here to take over Earth.”

She scoffed. “Clearly, they haven’t watched you guys fighting these bugs—what’s your word for them again?”

“Scourge.”

“Right. Scourge. They haven’t watched you hunters fight these scourge like your life depended on it.”

“You do not subscribe to the belief that we are using the scourge to take over your planet, then?”

“Hell, no. Neither did the rest of my group. Connor put Corey in his place, and we ignored him every time he brought up the NEM.” She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, it seemed like she was somewhere else. “We should have watched him a lot closer. Two of his friends showed up the other night, and they—” Her words tripped over a breathy inhale that ended in a sob.

“I’m sorry.” I put together the information I gathered from listening to the three males and now understood. They’d massacred her group.

“Corey had traveled with us for long enough that he knew many of our safe houses. Connor made the mistake of giving him the code for our safes. Corey and his friends left me and Riley alive so they can offer us to the NEM.”

I couldn’t stop the low growl from emerging.

Instead of shying away, she huffed. “Right? Too bad for them. I’m the one who set up all the charging points for our group. Now, I’m sabotaging them so they can’t use them.”

Ah, so that was why she’d stopped at the other locations.

I wanted to offer to dispose of the males for her, but I worried that would be going too far. I’d just met her, and I didn’t want her to think I went around disqualifying humans from life.

Her stomach chose that moment to complain that she hadn’t eaten yet. I dug into the pouch at my belt and took out the foil-wrapped food I picked up from our base earlier today. That was when I noticed the folded-up piece of paper.

Oops, I was supposed to give that to her. Heather wanted to convince Zoey to come live with us. That would be ideal. I’d already promised I wouldn't take her away in my shuttle today, but there was always tomorrow.

---