Page 11 of Fated to the Hunter (Xarc’n Warriors #13)
Kiera’s lust crashed into me, raw, primal, impossible to ignore. Her scent spiked, rich and sweet, and my body responded instantly. I unclipped the harness and shifted her so she sat across my lap. She was already watching me, eyes hooded with need, lips parted in invitation.
But as I reached to cup her face, we were interrupted again by my shuttle. The alert was loud and grating, pouring ice over us both. I glared at my shuttle’s screen, trying to figure out what was so important. Nothing. Just that we had arrived, and the others had already landed.
That did not warrant an alert. Why the fuck were the alerts so loud all of a sudden? I was certain it hadn’t been like this before.
Kiera scrambled off my lap, her face still flushed.
Perhaps it was for the best anyway. The humans at the camp were probably eager to show Kiera and Connie around.
I found my usual spot and landed my shuttle.
Moments later, I was stepping out into the place I’d called home for the last few months.
Aanya and Haax’l greeted us immediately; Jorg’k and Connie were already with them.
“Come on,” Aanya said. “Let’s get everyone inside before more of those bastards come.”
“Where are Curtis and Terrence?” I asked, looking around. In the absence of Sam, who’d stayed in New Franklin to work on Operation Mothership Earth, the two males were the ones I trusted most with my shuttle.
The two males hadn’t gone to the market, choosing instead to stay back and protect the camp with Lok’n, Nov’k, and Max’n and a few other humans.
“Why? Something wrong with your shuttle?”
“I wish to install an extra seat for the mission.”
“Good idea. Check the training ring, and if they aren’t there, they could be washing up.”
“Let me give you guys a quick tour of the place. And you can meet Moose.”
Kiera brightened. “Bael’k mentioned Moose. Called him cute. I’d love to meet him.”
“Moose is a chipmunk Haax’l and I adopted. He came from the Colorado group and was orphaned as a baby. But since they already have Henrietta and Reese’s Pieces, they couldn’t take him in.”
“Oh! Reese’s Pieces and Henrietta! Siobhan talks about them all the time. A chicken and a cat who are best friends. I’d love to meet them one day too.”
Their conversation faded as I went in search of someone who could modify my shuttle. I found Curtis training in the large space that had once been a supermarket.
Curtis was a little older than the other humans in the group, but still extremely fit, and loved to fight.
His sandy colored hair was graying at the temples.
I liked him because he was a simple male with a simple goal that overlapped with my own: kill as many scourge as possible and protect the camp.
“Bael’k! You crazy bastard. I heard all ‘bout your mission.” Then he grinned slyly. “I bet the girl you’re doing it for is super purdy.”
I could not deny it. “She is. She is also the Keeper of Knowledge.” She was beautiful, reminding me of the light of dawn, but had so much more to offer aside from her beauty. “She is the reason I need your help. I wish to install a secondary seat in my shuttle for Kiera.”
She needed to be able to strap in safely during aerial maneuvers. As much as I enjoyed our moment of connection when I’d chased down that flyer, I doubted it would work long term, especially if we were being hunted by the flyers and not the other way around.
It was something that happened more often than one would think. Flyers had learned over the centuries to pile on top of our shuttles, forcing us to crash. I’d heard the humans call it a dogpile, even though no canines were involved.
“I can do that for sure,” Curtis said. “In fact, we even have a seat ready.” His face fell. “But it’s out in the barn across the street. And the flyers are already starting to come in.”
He waved Mo over. “Any way we can use the repellent briefly?”
Mo hesitated, thinking. I understood why they must limit the use of the repellents to brief and rare occasions.
They didn’t want the scourge to get used to the sound.
It worked by emitting a special frequency.
I didn’t know what the scourge heard, but to me, it was the most painful frequency I’d ever endured.
But I was able to ignore it for a short time to get work done in the absence of the scourge.
Which was part of the problem. Some hunter groups had been noticing a decrease in the effectiveness of the sonar repellent, since some of the scourge were learning to ignore it. So now we tried to use it as little as possible.
Many hunters suspected the same thing was happening with our lure, but at a much slower rate. We often only used the lure when we were ready to destroy as many scourge as possible, so not many of them lived long enough to learn to avoid it. There wasn’t a next time.
It was different with repellent, and what had once been extremely effective became less so with every use.
“I suppose it’s best to get it done now so the mission won’t be delayed. The earlier in the season you enter the Dead Zone, the better.”
He was right. It was spring, and as the weather warmed, the scourge in the nest would start multiplying, preparing for the upcoming swarms. To be honest, I was surprised the hunters working at the Dead Zone had even agreed to help us get in.
It was a bit of a unique request, and I’d expected them to just shut it down, much like that nomad group had.
But the Tech Wizard persuaded them rather easily.
They wouldn’t let us in unless they thought we had a chance. And I wondered how they planned on getting us in and out safely.
“You'll want to get your shuttle inside too. I’m sure Sam wouldn’t mind you guys using her workshop. Five minutes,” Mo said. “You have five minutes before we turn it off.”
I grunted in acknowledgement. That was plenty of time to get everything into the camp.