Page 12 of Treasured By the Hunter

I handed it to her. “This is for you. From Heather.”

She took it from me tentatively and unfolded it. As she read the letter, I unwrapped the foil covered food.

Zoey’s eyes were round as she tucked the note into her pocket, and I held the open foil out to her. “Take one. Heather said they tried something new.”

“What in the—” Her eyes were wide. “How? That looks freshly made. How?”

“I do not know. I am not a good cook.”

She shook her head but didn’t ask any more.

I continued to hold the opened foil to her. “Take.”

“I don’t want to eat your food.”

“I have food bars in my ship.”

She made a face. “We tried some of your food bars. I don’t mean to offend, but they’re kind of nasty.”

“You do not offend. The older bars we brought from the last planet are barely palatable, even to us. The ones made here on Earth from your domesticated bovine are much tastier.”

“You mean cows? I guess beef food bars would be better than whatever the other bars were made of.”

“They are made of an animal that looks similar to your lobsters, except they’re green and live on land, and they grow much larger. They taste horrible but are safe to eat. I much prefer your cows.”

“The space bugs do, too, I think,” she said wryly.

“You are correct.”

“So you’re telling me you hunters raise cows for the food bars? I thought the bugs got them all.”

“They got most of them. But we saved many. They only thrive now in our island production centers.”

All the cows in this area were now preserved inside scourge nests. It was the reason the nests were still going strong. There had been many of these bovines all over this continent, and the scourge had collected them all the first year and injected them with their toxins, preserving the meat. It would feed the nest for a very long time.

“If you do not want my meat, have this.” I dug in my pouch and handed her another package wrapped in foil. “I am not partial to sweets.”

She opened the foil and gasped. “A cookie!” She did not try to give it back; instead, she took a bite. “Oh, this is good. And there are eggs in these. All the powdered eggs have gone rancid. Ours did.”

“They are made from fresh ova.”

Her brows drew together. “Sanctuary has chickens, and we traded with them for eggs. But it’s been a while.” She ripped off half of the cookie and held it out to me. “I don’t want to eat your entire cookie. Let’s share.”

“No, it is yours. I tried numerous times to convince the humans to add pieces of meat or perhaps chopped-up chunks of our food bars to their baked goods,” I said. “They did not like my idea.”

She grinned, and the smile lit up the room over the pale moonlight. “It’s not that crazy an idea. I used to make bacon cookies every Christmas. They were my specialty.”

I licked my lips, my ears focusing on that magical word: bacon. “I love bacon.”

Zoey laughed, and the sound made my heart clench. “We’re not so different after all.”

I moved over so as to be closer to her, and she didn’t move away. I offered her a sip from my flask, which was filled with enriched vitamin water. She declined, dug into her bag instead, and brought out a water bottle.

“I will stay with you tonight,” I declared.

“You said you wouldn’t—”

“I will not steal you away in my shuttle, but I did not promise I would not stay. You should not be alone after such betrayal.”

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