Page 21 of The Hunter

“Guess I’ll be finding out,” she muttered as she tightened her grip on the gift, fighting back threatening tears.

God, she’d been doing a lot of crying lately, and she hated it. She hated the guilt, the worry, the uncertainty. Hated that it was her fault to begin with.

Most of all, she hated that she’d hurt Telok.

As Lacey stepped onto the platform, she glanced around. The area was vacant. That wasn’t surprising. Many thornskulls preferred to gather near the center of town to work and socialize on warm, sunny days like today. This platform was tucked away in the boughs, where little sunlight could reach it. Not ideal for sunbathing—which most vrix seemed to enjoy.

A tingling, unsettling sensation spread through her chest as she approached Telok’s den, and her palms became clammy.

Maybe he’s not home?

She could just leave the gift and go without having to face him.

Coward.

Lacey stopped outside Telok’s den and stared at the brown curtain covering the entrance. No, she wasn’t going to run from this. If he wasn’t home… Well, she’d just have to find out where he was or wait until she could present the gift to him in person.

Taking in a deep, fortifying breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the doorframe.

She didn’t hear movement inside, but a large, clawed, black hand with a scar across one finger caught the curtain and moved it aside. Then Telok was standing before her.

His broad shoulders spanned the doorway, and his headcrest nearly touched the top. Standing at least seven feet tall even in this casual stance, he towered over her five-foot-eight self. Lacey couldn’t stop her eyes from roaming over him.

Though his upper body was more or less humanoid, there was no mistaking Telok as human. He had a second set of arms tucked beneath his upper ones, both pairs with dangerous points extending past their elbows. The way his black hide sculpted to the powerful muscles beneath made it look like his torso was covered in armor plates.

His lower half was all spider. Six long, segmented legs positioned toward the front, large hindquarters, complete with spinnerets in the back, and two claspers on either side of a closed slit at his pelvis. Bright green patterns, bordered in strips of white, marked his back, legs, arms, and headcrest, and ringed the joints of his fingers and mandibles. Behind his three-pointed headcrest, his black hair, threaded with strands of green and white, was gathered in a thick, messy bun atop his head.

His hide was a tapestry of scars in all shapes and sizes, wounds inflicted by both beast and vrix through a life of danger and conflict. The most wicked looking of them all were the three deep slashes across the right side of his throat and the jagged scarring running down the left side of his face.

But out of everything, it was Telok’s eyes Lacey was most drawn to. Glowing vibrant green, they possessed all the emotion his mask-like face was unable to express.

And those entrancing, inhuman eyes were staring at her now. His mandibles twitched as his hand tightened on the curtain.

Lacey smiled awkwardly and waved. “Hiiii... I just wanted to drop by. Hope I’m not disturbing you?”

Telok narrowed his eyes, slowly lowering his mandibles.

“Can I…come in?” The weight of the gift pressed against her shoulder, and she wrapped her hand around it as she shifted on her feet.

His silence only exacerbated her rising dread.

Lacey eased her foot back. “Or…would you prefer I leave?”

Telok’s chest swelled with a slow inhalation. He released it in a harsh huff through his nose slits and stepped aside, holding the curtain open.

Surprised, she paused, her gaze flicking between him and the entrance. She’d really expected him to tell her to fuck off. Hell, some part of her would’ve been relieved to hear it. That would’ve been better than this silence.

Offering him another smile, Lacey stepped past him. As soon as she entered his den, she was struck by his heady wood and smoke scent. Warmth stirred within her.

Not here to get turned on, Lacey. Focus!

Yet she couldn’t help but breathe in more of his scent. He just smelled that damn good.

She’d been inside his den once before, but she hadn’t really looked around—her furious, misguided mission had consumed her. Now, she took her time to study his home.

Though natural light came in through the open windows, it was scant, and the blue glow of the crystal shards on the walls and worktable didn’t add much brightness. But if it was a bit gloomy to her, it was probably perfectly acceptable to the keen eyes of a vrix.

Brown silk curtains were tied off beside the windows, and a few furs lay on the floor. Telok’s bag, made of well-worn, carefully tended yatin hide, hung beside the entrance, not far from the rack that had held the spears Lacey had stolen and damaged. There were a few other weapons hung on the walls, including obsidian hatchets, knives, and even a heavy club with shards of obsidian embedded within it.