Page 45 of Orion: Galaxy Huntress

Chapter 20

Orion

My hunter instinctskicked in as I shouldered Vice’s weight, guiding him through the thick bush, searching for a place to rest and take shelter. Reznor carried Ace because he was bigger and heavier, while I supported Vice, who kept whining like a little girl at the pain. The way he carried on you’d think he’d never been injured before. I certainly had. Pain had toughened me. Scars worn proudly.

Hadn’t seen any creatures like that here. Only cute, furry little bears, a prickly little beast that waddled, birds, and the odd big-eared, long-tailed, two-legged creature hopping away. Flighty things. Monsters back in Greece were aggressive and territorial. Kind of made me miss my homeland. This place was a little boring in the beast department, but it made up for it in other drama. Trouble I didn’t need hot on my heels when I planned to skip town once I earned enough money to buy me passage to my sisters.

Back in Greece, I knew what to expect from the monsters I hunted or that stalked me when I entered their territory. This place was a whole new game, dangerous in its own way. Deadly if I put a foot wrong. Now I had a new kind of monster after me for my power, not because I’d killed its companion or child. I’d not take my freedom for granted this time. Zeus had blessed me with release, and I thanked him.

In all honesty, I hadn’t expected the rescue, at least not from the kinky, slippery demon, who was only out for himself and his own pleasure. But I was grateful and relieved for it. Surprised, even. Except now I had two bleeding monsters on my hands, and a den of vampires out looking for us. I had no clue where we were, how far the vampires were from us, or how long until they came to hunt us. Vexlel’s eyes flashed in my mind. The ruthless, cold, dangerous look he gave us as we disappeared, promising retribution and death, especially to Reznor.

“Last time I listen to your mad ideas, Ace,” Vice grumbled, and I hefted him back up my shoulder, where he’d slipped down, getting weaker by the step. “Got clawed for it.”

“Don’t be a big baby,” I shushed him, hiking him back up, and he leaned on me heavily. “I’ve been hurt too many times to count.”

“Tell me more, kitten.” Vice perked up in my arms. Any mention of violence did it for him. “I want every gory detail, in graphic specifics.”

I rolled my eyes at his shamefulness but indulged him. “I got stabbed by a minotaur in the leg on one of my first few hunts and the goddess Artemis healed me.” Anything to get his weight to ease on my shoulders and back. Reznor’s feeding from me had stolen my own strength.

“Oh, that old bitch,” Vice muttered.

I hit him for speaking about her like that. “Don’t disrespect the great goddess of hunting. My first patron!”

Vice’s head lolled in my direction. “I like it when you hit me, kitten.”

“Do you want to know the story or not?” He gave me a well-mannered smile and nod, so I continued, “I also got thumped by a cyclops’ club and nearly died of broken ribs. Numerous bites from a Nemean lion. Burned by a griffon. Dryads are the worst, though. Vicious little things. Get too close to their tree they protect or insult it without paying it due respect, and they cast vines and strangle or squash you.”

Vice blinked down at me and grumbled, “Thanks for bruising my man card.”

“Man card?” I cut a glance from the dense woodland to him, navigating him to the side to bypass a large trunk.

“Sorry, kitten, I keep forgetting you’re from the past.” He squeezed me tighter around the neck, the pressure of his arm wearing down my resistance. “Man card can be best described as masculinity.”

Ah. Strange saying. From it, I interpreted that I’d bruised his ego.

“We’ll make a hunter out of you,” I reassured with a pat to the hand that rested on my shoulder. A burning, hot hand that scorched my skin beneath my shirt. A hand that I wanted back on my skin, tormenting me in the most delicious sexual ways.

Reznor stayed silent to our left, earning glares from Stormy. Those two were going to be problematic as mates. Stormy looked at the vampire like he wanted to tear his head off and Reznor looked at the shifter like he was a speck of dirt on his shoe.

Speaking of mates, had Vice accidentally created three for me? Seemed like the wicked kind of thing for a demon to do.

“How’s your balls, Ace?” The demon chuckled. “You took quite a hit there. Care to make a deal for a bag of frozen peas?”

Oh, that was right. Stormy had taken a nasty blow from one of the vampires. Men who suffered a wallop like that should wade into cold water for some moments to reduce the swelling and pain. No sign of water anywhere. Not yet, at least. But the land sloped into a valley where I knew we’d find a waterway. Rain always followed the curve of the land and pooled in the creases. Being smart about my surroundings was how I’d stayed alive in beast territory.

“Aching, thank you for asking.” The wolf readjusted himself beside us. “I’ll settle for some cold stream water. No deals, thank you.”

Women were frowned upon for speaking freely of these kinds of topics. It didn’t stop friends from gossiping out of reach of their mothers’ ears. But I’d grown up around the butcher and his son and they didn’t mince words in front of me. Neither did the brutish hunters I’d competed against who thought it sport to embarrass me with their filthy words. I wasn’t a prude or shy by any means, but discussing it with these three men, men who’d marked me, made me reserved.

“Gods!” I gripped Vice’s arm harder, trying not to collapse against his unyielding, heavy burden. “Are we really talking about Stormy’s seed sac?”

“Seed sac?” The demon laughed in my ear with a delighted hum that vibrated down my spine and swirled in the pit of my stomach. “No one calls them by that name, kitten.”

I’d spent a couple of thousand years in the stars and wasn’t up to speed with the correct slang or pronunciation of words. Balls sounded very degrading and disgusting. “That’s what they were called when I last resided here.”

“You need to catch up, kitten.” The demon slumped in my grasp and my muscles screamed in protest. “Say balls for me. Talk dirty, Hell Kitty. Ease my pain.”

Stormy growled fiercely, making Vice snap out of his dirty flirtations.

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