Page 33 of The Hunter

“I thought we were friends!”

The humans repositioned themselves at the center of the group, with Elharat, Okkor, and Ayali as a buffer between them and Telok.

Elharat huffed and said in vrix, “If Scarhide comes for you hyu-nanz, I will not stop him.”

“I thought you were to protect us,” Lacey replied slowly in vrix, the alien words still clumsy in her mouth. “We are of Kaldarak.”

Ayali’s chitter was deep and powerful, yet somehow still rich and warm. “He gives the wrong words. He says will not, but he means cannot.”

Elharat growled, drew back his spiked shoulders, and puffed out his yellow chest. “I could.”

Okkor chittered, shaking his head. “Not if you want to keep your hide.”

“And you would fair better?”

The green thornskull lifted his chin and stood taller. “Yes.”

“Then let us witness your shar’thai,” Elharat replied, waving toward Telok.

With a huff, Okkor quickened his stride. “I must save my strength to protect you from beasts.”

“Then I shall save my strength for when you fail.”

“Looks like you’re on your own, Lace,” Cole snickered.

Lacey arched a brow. “You’re the one who pissed him off.”

“But you’re the source of his frustration. Cranky ass just needs to get his dick⁠—”

“Cole, don’t you dare finish that sentence.” She eased closer to him and lowered her voice. “Let’s say you’re right. Which one of us is he going to hurt if he’s angry? Me, the alleged object of his desire, or you, the one who keeps touching me?”

Throwing his hands up, Cole took a wide step away from her. “Fine. I won’t even breathe in your direction.”

“You better not expel any gasses in my direction, pal.”

Cole’s serious façade cracked with a smirk. “You’re a jerk.”

“Takes one to know one.”

“I hate when you’re right.”

Laughing together, they continued onward.

The day grew hotter as the afternoon wore on. Before long, Lacey swore she could’ve literally cut the thick, suffocating air with a knife. This made those Maine summers, which had already been plenty hot and humid to her, seem mild in comparison. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to this climate.

It was like living in a sauna, and she hated saunas. Who the hell wanted to sit and sweat like that for fun?

She eyed Cole. He was marching on with sweat dripping down his muscled back, chatting with Droztar and Koss, completely unbothered by the weather.

He probably loved going to the sauna, the bastard.

Lacey turned her attention to her surroundings. The rocky terrain was at an incline, with huge, gnarled tree roots sprouting from it. Dense vegetation grew everywhere—around the bases of trees, dangling from high branches, in patches of shade and sunlight, even in crevices in the stone.

She stared at one particular plant ahead of her. Its long stems and large leaves reminded her of a giant philodendron.

She grinned as an idea came to mind.

Stepping off the path Ayali was forging, Lacey approached the plant. Using her spear, she stabbed at the ground around it, because no way in hell was she going to make the mistake of thinking anything in the jungle was safe. When no thorny vines shot up from the ground to grab her, she pushed aside the giant leaves, broke off one of the smaller ones, and used it to fan herself.