Page 3 of Hunter’s Valentine (Xarc’n Warriors)

I didn’t know what gave me the nerve to get all up in the terrifying hunter’s face like that. Maybe it was because I’d been living with people who didn’t give two shits about me, and I was sick and tired of being pushed around. Or maybe it was the adrenaline from being trapped by the bugs and killing three of them in as many minutes. Either way, I wasn’t going to let this asshole blame me for squat, and my body moved before my brain even realized what it was doing.

His musky, masculine scent drifted through the air, momentarily overpowering the stench of the dead bugs around us. I wanted to step even closer so it would keep blocking out the offensive smells, but then we’d be touching. Technically, we were already touching because I still had my finger on his chest, which was so warm I could feel it right through my ultra-thin gloves. He was basically naked from the waist up, save for a few pieces of armor. And yep, I called it, he was wearing the trademark Xarc’n loincloth.

The alien warrior looked as stunned by my actions as I felt, but only for a second. A grin replaced his look of shock, showing a row of white, gleaming teeth and a set of sharp fangs, reminding me that he was a predator through and through. Something blossomed insidiously in my belly—

Wait just a stinkin’ moment ! Did I find fangs sexy? Holy crap, I did. What was the matter with me?

Was I really that desperate after being trapped in a bunker with the same people day in and day out and not getting any? Whatever the reason, finding any part of a Xarc’n hunter attractive was not acceptable.

I tried to pull my finger away, but he grabbed it, trapping me.

“Hey! Let me go!”

“You will come with me,” he said. Well, to be precise, he made a scary-sounding string of growls, and a device on his belt translated.

“What? No!”

I yanked again, but he caught me by the wrist instead. Then he tugged, and since I was balancing on a piece of debris to get as close to eye level with him as possible, I lost my footing and fell. I flung my arms out, trying to stop the inevitable tumble, and ended up plastered all over his front, clutching his leather armor.

“I am glad you agree.” Thick arms wrapped around me.

Before I could protest, I was tossed over his massive shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and he was strolling away, not even reacting to the broken glass under his feet.I clutched onto my rifle sling, hoping I wouldn’t lose it or my backpack.

“Wait! My supplies.”

“Where are they?”

“Inside that building.”

“I will return for them.” He started walking again.

“No! Let me go!” I struggled, thumping on his back with the fist that wasn’t holding my things and trying my best to kick him in the face from my precarious perch on his shoulder. I didn’t escape from the bunker just to be kidnapped immediately by some purple freak.

“You have ruined my hunt once already. I will release you once my hunt is successful.”

“Hold up. You said that before. What exactly do you mean that I ruined your hunt? I still don’t understand how this is my fault.”

“I spent days planning this. Setting traps, putting up barriers to funnel the scourge into them. Everything was perfect. I turned on my lure. The scourge all followed the right path until you showed up. This was supposed to be the hunt of the century. I could’ve killed hundreds of scourge today.”

Oh shit! Now it made sense why there were so many bugs out even though it was winter. He’d called them in. And now that he mentioned it, I had thought it strange that so many of the streets had been blocked by debris. The only reason I’d made it through was because I was on a bike and not a larger vehicle. Mindless groups of alien bugs wouldn’t bother weaving through and around obstacles; they’d simply find an easier, unobstructed route.

“Okay. First off, I apologize for ruining your plan. But can’t you just call them back and have your hunt anyway?”

“Negative. The barriers and traps only work if the scourge all come from one direction—their nest. Because I used the repellent, they have now scattered everywhere.”

It took me a moment to figure out why the sentence sounded so strange. Then it hit me: the word “repellent” was spoken in English. A heavily accented English, but still English.

“Repellent?”

“Affirmative. I traded for it with humans from New Franklin .”

That too was spoken in English. Jack had mentioned on his show that their group worked with Xarc’n warriors to fight the scourge nest at the center of their town. Their plan was to destroy the nest completely and free the town of the invertebrate menace. It was a lofty goal, one Jack claimed could only happen if Xarc’n and humans worked together. It was this that had stopped many of the others in the bunker from listening to Staying Alive , even though the radio show gave amazing tips on how to survive in the post-apocalyptic landscape.

“Do you work with the humans there?” I asked, hope flaring within me. “Do you know Jack?”

“I do know Jack. But I do not work with New Franklin. Only trade. I am a lone hunter.”

Oh. That was too bad. But he knew where New Franklin was. And he did know Jack.

“Is it true that Jack’s wife is pregnant?” That was one of the reasons why I was heading there. I figured I would be needed.

He suddenly released me, and I slid down the front of his body only to be caught again, his palms on my ass this time.

“Hold on tight, female. I must climb.”

We hadn’t gone far, just to the building I’d seen him on earlier. We were at the fire escape, and I realized that the hunter planned on climbing it like an oversized ladder, rather than going up the stairs like a normal person.

“I don’t think this is a good—” I was cut off when he started ascending the metal deathtrap.

Not wanting to fall to my doom, I flung my arms around his neck and held on tight. There was that pleasant smell again. At least he didn’t stink.

The building wasn’t too tall, six or seven stories at most, but it was the tallest one in this area. Once we were safely on the roof he continued walking, taking huge strides toward the opposite side where there was a garret. This must have been his temporary hideout while he set up his traps, because the door was open and the place looked lived in.

He released me when we were by the entrance, but my eyes weren’t on his hideout anymore. Instead, they were on the traps he’d set. I walked over to the edge of the roof to take a better look.

He’d used the entire courtyard as his battlefield and wow, he hadn’t been kidding when he said it had taken him a while to set up. He’d used found objects, fences, barricades, nets and cables, containers, and anything else you would find in an abandoned town to make his traps.

I pictured the scourge coming in through two of the buildings, funneled there by the barriers he put in place, then being split into different groups. One group would climb a ramp only to be dumped into a giant hole that would be hard to escape. Others would get stuck in a makeshift oversized wildlife trap, the metal grates slamming down to lock them in.

There was a large X in the middle of the courtyard.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“My net launcher. After most of the scourge are stuck in the traps, I will throw food at the center and draw them to the X before shooting my net. There will still be a few loose, but I’ll take care of them when they try to flee the fire. They’ll try to leave the way they came in, and I will be waiting.”

I nodded. “Impressive,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t have thought it possible to kill the entire swarm of bugs I saw earlier in one shot, but this might actually do it.”

“Of course it will.” The hunter sounded peeved that I’d only said might .

“Well,” I said, slowly making my way back to the fire escape, “you don’t need me around for that. Call them in tomorrow morning and try again.”

“Why, so you can mess it up for a second time?” He moved so fast it was barely a blur, and I was lifted off my feet once more. “You will stay right here until the hunt is over tomorrow. I’m not going to let you spoil it again—”

He moved suddenly, covering my mouth with his palm.

“Humans,” he said quietly. Interestingly enough, his translator also managed to whisper. “I hear one of their vehicles.”

I didn’t, because our electric cars were quiet enough not to draw the attention of bugs or hostiles. We didn’t use them often since charging them was a challenge, especially since someone had stolen some of the solar panels from the roof early on in the bugpocalypse.

That had been our bunker’s first major emergency, actually. So we’d gone out in the evening, as soon as the flyers had returned to their nest, to relocate the remaining panels to a less conspicuous position in the back yard behind an overgrown garden. Even though we had to clear the growth off it occasionally it was a much better location, because most human survivors wouldn’t think to search there. One look at our roof and the empty panel mounts and they would leave, thinking the entire place was completely looted.

Would they take the vehicles out to look for me? Not if they simply thought I was gone. They’d rejoice. There’d be more for everyone else! But if they realized I’d taken some of the supplies, using the SUV was probably worth it.

Maybe it was best if I stayed here after all. The last thing I wanted was to deal with those ungrateful assholes again. Imagine if Mrs. Willis found out I had been caught by a hunter when I hadn’t even left the town limits. The horror!

Also, this whole getting cornered by a swarm of bugs, fighting my way out, getting human-napped by a warrior who was angry because I’d messed up his hunt thing had taken time. Too much time. Even now I could see flyers on the horizon, and I didn’t mean the two that had come with the group earlier, but a whole slew of them. It would be far too dangerous to travel any time soon unless I wanted to risk being bug chow.

I let the hunter guide me back into the garret, which had a large window facing the courtyard, a plan forming. I’d hide here during the noon hours when the bugs were most active, enjoying some sexy purple eye candy. Then later, when he was occupied with his hunt, I’d escape, recover my supplies, and head merrily on my way.

Perfect.