Page 73 of The Hunter

The gray vrix lowered his spear. He slowly stepped out of the bushes. Telok backed away—guiding Lacey along with him—to keep some distance between them.

She shifted to peer around Telok, and her eyes widened. Now that the gray vrix had emerged from the vegetation, she was able to see all of him.

He stood barely an inch or two taller than Lacey, and his build was lean, even more so than that of the shadowstalkers. His short white hair was a bit chaotic, with strands hanging down over his headcrest, which was low and understated. Matching fur grew on his mandibles, shoulders, around his pelvis, and at the joints where his legs met his body. Even shorter fur covered the top of his hindquarters, but it was in a vibrant blue and red pattern framed by white, and it bore a beautiful metallic sheen that the rest of his fur lacked.

He reminded her of a peacock jumping spider.

She almost snorted at the sudden, absurd mental image of him raising his hindquarters over his head and wiggling it back and forth to attract a mate.

Lifting an arm, the gray vrix chirruped again.

With a delighted warble, the larkhet took flight, landing delicately on the stranger’s forearm.

“I am called Wen’Xal Tas. You may call me Tas.” The gray vrix gestured to the larkhet with his chin. “And this is Ganok’salek. Swiftclaw.”

Lacey pointed at the bird and narrowed her eyes. “You little spy.”

The bird’s crown feathers swept up. Its dark eyes looked from her hand to her face before it gave an offended squawk. She wasn’t sure if Swiftclaw was bristling at being called a spy or upset because she wasn’t offering more food.

“What are you called?” Tas prompted in vrix.

“I am Okkor ki’Shaal, Shield of Kaldarak,” the thornskull said, slapping his chest with his upper hands.

“I’m Lacey Anderson. Just call me Lacey.”

Telok, who stood glaring at Tas with his spear still tightly gripped in hand, remained silent.

Lacey cleared her throat.

Telok turned his head slightly, looking at her with four eyes while the others kept Tas in his sight.

She stepped around his legs to move to his front. He immediately wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her against his side, fingers clutching her. If Lacey hadn’t known better, she might’ve thought he was putting on a possessive show for Tas.

Sighing, she nudged him with an elbow and muttered, “Introduce yourself, you grumpy ass.”

“Telok,” he grated with even more growliness than usual.

Tas chittered, which earned him another glare from Telok.

“I want to know how you knew I was a human,” Lacey said.

“We have much to talk about,” the gray vrix replied in that uncannily good English. He held up his upper hands with his palms turned skyward. “But first we must find trust between yours and ours.”

“Were you trying to take her?” Telok demanded, the human words coming faster and more smoothly in his apparent irritation than they normally did.

Tas’s fingers curled, and he lowered his hands, fuzzy mandibles twitching as though in discomfort. “Yes.”

Telok tensed, a growl building in his chest. As his body jolted forward, Lacey jumped, threw her arms around his neck, and tugged his head down, bringing him to an abrupt halt.

Her eyes locked with his. “Calm down, Telok.”

He released a ragged breath through his nostrils. “I am much calm.”

“Liar.”

“He was going to take you,” Telok growled.

“But he didn’t.” Lacey stroked her thumb along his hairline on the back of his neck, making him shiver. “Even if he had, I don’t think he was going to hurt me. I’m pretty sure it has to do with him knowing what I am.”