“Everyone who is human, Serena. I am not.”
A heartbeat passed. “What about the other Arum? The ones I ran into at the gazebo?
They were together.”
“When we are together, we are not socializing. We are mostly aligning ourselves with who we think is more powerful. It’s about survival. Not friendship.”
“Wow. That sounds really lonely.”
“We don’t get lonely.” My gaze followed Serena’s slender finger along the rim of her glass.
She glanced over at me. “Why…why do you keep staring at me?”
I barked out a short laugh. “Am I not allowed to?”
“I guess you are, but you’re
“I like watching you. It’s your hair.” Did I just say that?
“My hair?”
I had. “It’s the color. Whatever.”
A small smile appeared on her lips. “So, what do you do when you’re not working?”
I thought about that before answering, actually considered it. “I like to work with my hands.”
Serena’s gaze slid to mine. “Why do I have a feeling there’s an innuendo behind that?”
Thinking of where my hands hand been last night, I cracked a grin. Her cheeks heated and the red shaded the aura around her. I bet if I slipped my hand between her thighs right now she’d be wet and ready.
It took a lot to not find out. “I like to build things.”
Her mouth opened, and then her eyes widened. “Wait. Do you like to carve?”
My brow arched.
“Did you make the gazebo by the main part of the lodge?”
When I didn’t say anything, a wide smile broke out across her face.
“You did! Oh my God, Hunter, that is amazing.”
I shifted in the seat. “Not really.”
“It is! I wish I could do something like that. The design is so amazingly intricate. Do you do that a lot?”
Serena continued to pepper me with questions about the woodwork I did, and while I wished I hadn’t said a damn thing, I answered the questions without thinking, like she had my balls in a pair of vise grips. Yes, I had built the gazebo from scratch. It had taken an entire summer. No, I didn’t find it hard. Yes, I built other things. That had made me think of the horses with Serena’s breasts and I’d laughed, which had brought another smile to Serena’s face.
Damn, Serena was a really, really good-looking woman, but when she smiled? Hell, she was hands down beautiful.
In the lull of conversation, Serena sat up and pointed at the sky. “Oh look! Is that a falling star? Jesus. I’ve never seen one that close.”
My eyes searched out the trailing flash of white light zooming down to Earth at an ungodly speed. Instinct fired, causing my skin to tingle.
I shot to my feet. “That is not a falling star.”
“What is it?” Fear lanced her voice. “Is it one of them?”
“Serena?”
“Yes?” She was on her feet now, coming to my side. “It’s one of them, isn’t it?”
I turned to her. “Go inside.” When she hesitated, I leaned down, my lips close to hers as I spoke. “Go inside, Serena.”
When I pulled away, Serena didn’t move. Shit. I had a feeling she was going to stand right out here and argue with me until she got herself killed.
Keeping my voice low, I ushered her back toward the door. “It is one of them and you need to be inside.”
“But—”
“No buts.” I shoved her inside. “Keep the doors locked and the lights off. Don’t answer the door for anyone.”
With that I closed the door, shutting her inside. Separated by glass, I met Serena’s stare, willing her to listen to me. Then finally she reached out and the click of the lock being turned broke the silence.
I turned and smiled.
It was time to hunt.
Chapter 12
It took very little time for me to find the “falling star.” Moving among the shadows, faster than the wind could carry, I ended up on the other side of the lake, deep in the thick woods of Monongahela National Forest and behind the enemy.
Slowing down, I moved soundlessly as the man walked out from between two tall elms. He was dressed in black, as if he sought to hide himself. Rather ironic considering the bright white light outlining the human form gave him away.
“Hey there,” I said. “Fancy meeting you all the way out here.”
The man spun around. Shock splashed across his face. “
“
“What are you doing here?” the Luxen demanded, hands flexing at his sides. “How could I not sense you?”
“Ah, that
He took a step forward. The Luxen was bold. I appreciated that. “I should be able to sense you,” he said. The pupils of his eyes started to burn bright. “How is that possible?”
I cocked my head to the side. “Even if I had the desire and the time to go into that, I wouldn’t.”
Now the Luxen’s pupils were as bright as diamonds. He glanced over his shoulder toward the cabins, and then his gaze settled on me. “Why are you here, so close to the colony? You wouldn’t dare to venture where you’re sorely outnumbered.”
I’d dare to go wherever I damn pleased, but that was beside the point. “I have a question for
“You think to question me?” The Luxen’s form began to shimmer in anger. “You’re nothing but a lower life- form—a bottom feeder compared to us.”
Ah, Luxen were such pompous asses.
And I was bored with this. As long as I’d lived here, Luxen never crossed the mountain. They were forbidden by the DOD, for obvious reasons. If one was here, he was here for Serena, which begged the question as to how they had discovered Serena’s whereabouts, but I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that the Luxen would willingly talk.
“I will destroy you and then I’ll—”
“Blah, blah bullshit,” I cut in, smirking. “I’ve heard it all before and the end is always the same. You talk. We fight. I feed. You die. The end.”
The Luxen dropped its human skin and took its true form. Blinding light illuminating the dark forest, a shape of a man spun forward, light pulsing with energy.
I smiled.
Throwing out my arms, I slipped the human skin. Air crackled as the Luxen raced toward me. I whirled to the side, drawing the shadows toward me, multiplying my shape and strength as my essence latched on to the night around us.
A pulse of light cut through the shadows, shooting straight for me. Dipping down, I slammed a fist into the ground. Soil flew into the sky as a shock wave rippled outward, picking up the Luxen and tossing him into the air. I darted up, catching the Luxen as thick, dark smoke blew off me, turning night into the darkest hour.
I spun, tossing the Luxen like a disk.
