“Uncle Hauk?”
Sumi quickly turned the device off and stowed it as she heard Hauk and Thia outside, preparing dinner. Terrified of being caught and killed, she scrambled back to her pallet while her heart continued to hammer in her chest.
But the images were burned in her mind. Worse, they made Hauk a real person to her. Not a target. And that was so dangerous it wasn’t even remotely amusing.
I cannot allow myself to feel anything for him.
He must remain the enemy and nothing more personal than that. It was the only way for this to work. The only way she could survive and do what she had to do. For her sake and for Kalea’s. She’d already made the mistake of putting her life and faith into a man and his integrity.
Sumi had barely lived to regret that stupidity. There was no way she’d ever do that again.
She refused to be a victim. It was that stubborn determination that made her such a lethal killer. Why she was one of the best assassins in her division.
When she went on the hunt, it was to the end. Nothing ever distracted her or got in her way. Especially not her own feelings.
And while Hauk might show loyalty to his friends, his brother had coldly turned his back on her sister, for no other reason than because Omira was afraid of having his child. Never once had Fain tried to contact them and, to the day she died, Omira had been terrified that their paths would cross, or that Fain would hunt her down and kill her for divorcing him. Her pacificist sister had even carried a small blaster wherever she went.
Just in case he found her.
Sumi would assume that callousness ran in their blood. That Hauk would be every bit as vicious as his brother. Especially if he was betrayed.
For now, she’d play her part and do what Kyr had demanded. But when the time came, she wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever she must to get out of this alive and unscathed.
No one’s life was worth more to her than Kalea’s.
CHAPTER 8
Waking with a start, Sumi cocked her head as she heard the most incredible music of her life. Low and haunting. Soulful. At first, she thought it was something the kids had on a player, until she left the tent and found Hauk sitting on the ground, with a beautiful violin tucked under his chin while he played with his eyes closed. He was so large and it so tiny in comparison, that it looked more like a toy than a real instrument. But there was no mistaking the skill he possessed as his fingers flew through an extremely complicated melody.
Now there was the last thing she’d ever expected to find. An Andarion who played a delicate instrument with the expertise of a virtuoso. Unbelievable.
Damn you, Hauk. You need to stop being so unpredictable. So unexpected.
So damn alluring. It was wreaking too much havoc with her convictions and sanity. He made it way too easy to see the beauty that was him, and not the cold-blooded killer she knew him to be.
She took a step. He immediately stopped and rose as if expecting an attack. And she had no doubt he could easily impale or even decapitate someone with the flimsy bow in his hand.
When he saw her, he relaxed into the sexiest, most masculine stance she’d ever beheld. It exuded confidence and lethal grace, yet simultaneously managed to be adorable and hot. “Do you need something?”
Yeah, against all sanity, she needed a taste of that hard, ripped body, but she wasn’t about to say those thoughts out loud… and never to him. “A change of scenery.”
And all that wealth of tawny male was definitely the most interesting thing to look at on this godforsaken rock.
“Ah.” He set his instrument aside then came to help her. Before she could protest, he swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the small fire pit, where he set her down on the air cushion he’d been using. The ease with which he could do that given her height was extremely disconcerting. Standing just over six feet in shoes, she was used to being taller than the average man by quite a few inches. By the time she’d turned five, her own father had refused to pick her up at all, claiming she was too big for him to manage.
Yet Hauk carried her about as if she weighed no more than his boots.
It was very unsettling.
Without a word, he went to return his violin to its case.
“You don’t have to stop.”
He closed the case and set it aside. “I don’t like to play in front of others. It’s something I do alone.”
She could understand that if he played badly. But his skill level said that he’d been playing for a very long time. It also seemed like an odd hobby for an Andarion warrior. Far too peaceful.
And speaking of peace… she suddenly realized it was eerily quiet.
Concerned, she glanced around the darkening camp and saw no trace of Thia or Darice. Only the remnants of Hauk’s dinner. “Did you get so irritated at them that you finally ate the kids?”
At first, he scoffed at the question, then he appeared to seriously consider it. He gestured at the vibrant pink tent that was to the left of his. “Thia’s off, drawing.” He pointed to the black one on the right. “Darice is tied up in his.”
“Tied up with what?”
“Rope,” he said simply. “I considered using the violin strings, but didn’t want to get blood on them. Given the amount of venom flowing in his veins, it might damage the wood.”
Aghast, she stared at him. “You’re serious?”
The innocent, almost childlike expression on his face was comical. “It was that, or kill him. It seemed the lesser evil, if not the better good.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “How long has he been tied up?”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “How long has it been quiet?”
Eyes wide, she covered her mouth with her hand. She was appalled at what he’d done, and by the fact that she actually found it charming. And probably warranted. “You’re so bad… Aren’t you worried about him?”
“I’d be more worried about his continued well-being if he were untied and still running his mouth around me.”
Lowering her hand, she shook her head at him and his cavalier demeanor. “I wish I could be more on Darice’s side, but given his attitude…”
He handed her a bottle of water as he sat down beside her and opened a bag of dried fruit. “He is his father’s son. Stubborn. Hot-tempered. Rash. And he never knows when to shut up for his own good.”
“Why do I have a feeling that someone has rattled that list off for you as well?”
He licked his fingers. “Probably because they have. Many times.”
Grimacing, she tried her best to unscrew the cap from her water. Had someone hermetically sealed it?
Hauk took it from her hands and effortlessly opened it. As he returned the bottle to her, she hesitated. Before she even realized what she was doing, she placed her hand over his, marveling at the strength and size of it. Unlike humans, Andarions had fingernails that were more akin to claws. Another natural weapon they were born with, like their fangs and heightened hearing and eyesight – they were a true predator race. Things that had terrified her sister whenever she thought of birthing such an alien creature with Fain. Omira had even feared that a hybrid fetus would claw its way out of her stomach while she carried it.
Andarions were extremely dangerous to humans.And still, against all rationale, she was attracted to him, while she considered the differences between an Andarion male and a human man. Hauk’s hands were more beautiful than she would have thought, especially given the stories she’d heard about Andarion savagery and battle skill.