AHuntersDream by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

explanations will have to wait until we are back on our way to Keroa. I am not a fan of Thiiril anymore.”
    He nodded. “Fair enough. Do you know where the shuttle is?”
    “Certainly. The path glows in my mind. Now come on, they are going to wake up in a few minutes.”
    She slid the crystal back into the pack and lifted it to her shoulders. Iris drew her long knife and strode for the remaining greenery. “It seems a shame to cut it, but it is the leaves or us. Time is a factor here.”
    “Lead the way. I will follow.”
    Moving through the jungle at a rapid pace was not a safe thing to do with a blade in her hand, but she had little choice. If they were caught, she and Venin would be in for a very unpleasant time. It was not an experience she wanted to add to her life’s most memorable moments. A girl had her standards.

Chapter Ten
    The only plus side to the fire was that it had cleared out all animals it didn’t incinerate. The path was free and clear.
    Venin opened the shuttle and boosted her inside. “Come along. We have shields in case they try something unsavoury.”
    She unstrapped her long knife and put it aside.
    Venin relaxed and moved to the pilot’s seat. With a steady hand, she lifted her arm and drove her psychic knife into the base of his spine.
    His body flickered and he shifted his form. The scaly creature that was lying in the pilot’s seat made her wrinkle her nose.
    Iris grabbed his arm and hauled until he was at the door, kicking him free of the ship and sealing the door behind him.
    “We don’t have any shields, moron. We barely made it through the atmosphere.” She shook her head and walked to the cockpit. It was time to put her few hours of instruction to good use.
    Flipping toggles was ineffective, but when she concentrated, she could see a glow around the switches, just like when she was looking for a path. Methodically, she followed the glow, switch by switch.
    The shuttle shuddered and lifted off, flying with a distinctive wobble as she tried to follow the glow and hold the controls steady. Piloting was hard.
    The one remaining shuttle was rocking violently. The men were still unconscious on the ground. They would be out for at least an hour. She had noticed the fake’s sway when she had sent the pulse through the crystal using the gravel-voiced villain as her focus.
    The figure of Venin had been far too calm for her companion. The man she had come to know would have been fighting to get free in order to keep her from making a choice. He had knocked her out and tucked her into bed to save her from the ships after all.
    Iris started to bring the ship down, but the path showed her a switch that set the shuttle into a hover.
    Magnetic waves pulsed downward and pushed into the ash with a rhythmic burst of particles. The Raider shuttle rocked violently again and a hatch opened in the roof. Bloody and in shifted form, Venin bounded out of the Raider ship and lunged for her shuttle.
    A switch on the console glowed violently and Iris flipped it, opening the hatch to allow Venin to jump inside. The shuttle rocked as he made the jump and she quickly flicked the switch again to seal the door.
    “Gain altitude.” His voice was hoarse and more growl than speech, but he was her Venin. His scent filled the cabin as he approached her. In his current state, it was not a good scent at the moment, but it was his.
    She took them higher and flew them over the volcano, using the heated air to lift them up. Iris was buying time until he could take over the controls, but as he fell into the navigator seat, she steeled herself to fly them out of the atmosphere.
    Iris counted on her talent as never before as it led her, switch by switch, into a steep climb that took her into the blackness of space.
    It took her ten hours to get them pointed in the right direction, but by the time Venin woke, they were slowly making their way back to the jump point.
    “You flew us all the way here?”
    “I did. Are you