AHuntersDream by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

feeling well enough to take the controls?”
    He smiled through a cracked lip and swollen nose. “Sure. Are you eager to see your family again?”
    She laughed. “I am eager to see any world that isn’t about to be taken over by lava.”
    Venin leaned forward and routed the controls to the navigator station. “How did you know I was me this time?”
    “You are far too irritated to be anything else. Also, I can still see the small cut on your finger that I made with my knife.”
    He snorted and she got to her feet. “Where are you going?”
    “I have to use the lav and then I will get us both something to eat and drink. After that, it will be your turn in the lav. I would recommend a shower.” Her smile was beatific as she sailed into the rear of the shuttle and attended to the pressing matters that had been making her squirm for the last three hours.
    She scrubbed her hands and face before gathering water, some ration packs and utensils and returning to the cockpit.
    “There you go. This should help your healing proceed apace.”
    He grabbed at the water bottle and slugged it down, setting the empty aside with relief. “That was wonderful. Thank you.”
    She gave him the rations and then handed over her water. She returned to the back and got herself another bottle. Her rations were still hot when she got back and set the plate in her lap.
    “How did you know that he wasn’t me?” He was almost done with his rations and she quickly tucked into hers. She wasn’t going to part with her food. Water was another matter.
    She stared at him and realized that he had been very worried indeed when she had wandered off with the false Venin. “He swayed when I sent the impulse through the crystal. That meant that he was considering profiting from the crystal itself and that is something that would not cross your mind. Money isn’t your primary concern, but it was his.”
    “And yet you went off with him.”
    “I also told him that his compatriots would be rising in a few minutes as opposed to the hours that it actually takes. I wanted him to think that there was a reason that I was running back to the shuttle as opposed to the truth. I needed him to trust me so that he would turn his back to me away from reinforcements. If I had outed him in the clearing, I am fairly sure that you would have felt the hard side of a weapon before I could get to you.”
    He nodded slowly. “You were probably correct. They were startled when their companions hit the ground, but they relaxed when their shape shifter was able to fool you enough to let him follow.”
    She smiled with a cheeky grin. “And now, here we are. So, get me home and all will be forgotten.”
    His face sobered a little. “You want to return to your life as a hunter?”
    “It is what I know.”
    “Would you be willing to join the Citadel?” He looked horribly shy for a man who had rolled her across the floor of a booby-trapped cavern.
    “I don’t know. I don’t mind consulting, but Keroa is home. I have friends, family, a home and my rhesh. I wouldn’t want to leave it for long.”
    He nodded slowly. “I would enjoy seeing your home, if I may?”
    She smiled shyly. “I thought you would never ask.”

Chapter Eleven
    The window through the satellites surrounding Keroa was tiny, but Venin managed to navigate it easily once access was granted. “How long have you had the satellites?”
    Iris laughed. “Four hundred years. It deters interlopers to see the ground-to-air guns. It is the only tech that we allow on our surface aside from the transports themselves.”
    “What spurred your people to that point?”
    “Raids, constant interference by the Alliance, the usual. We are a fairly independent species and their exploration efforts were not appreciated.” She was leaning forward and watching the approach of the Citadel outpost. It was the most amazing feeling to be almost home.
    “So, they contracted to get the satellite grid?”
    Her snicker was