Hunting Purity (The Hunting Series Book 2)

by Tracy Lauren

  “What are you doing?” I choke. Hero takes a long, slow breath and beckons to me. I’m shaking my head though, mouth gaping. I can’t…I can’t get near that.

  Not waiting for me to make a move, Hero turns back to the one still pinned to the tree. To my continued horror, Hero drives his knife into the side of the dead alien’s head. I drop to my knees and vomit. This time it has nothing to do with the baby growing inside of me.

  I’m still gagging as Hero approaches. His hands are covered in that tar-like black blood. He reaches for me and I fall back, trying to avoid the blood and mess. He’s too quick for me though and he grabs me by the shoulders.

  My brain isn’t processing fast enough to speak, to ask him what he’s doing. I’m all fear right now. But when he jerks my head to the side I scream. I can feel his wet hands in my hair, sliding over the side of my face and neck. He holds me down, keeping me from flailing. I feel pressure on my ear and all I can think of is the knife going into the dead one’s head. I know it’s Hero holding me, but I scream like he’s going to kill me too.

  My cheek presses into the ground, crunching against the decaying leaves. The pressure in my ear increases, until there’s a pop and it feels like something spreads itself out inside of my brain. For a second, I think I’m dying.

  And then Hero raises himself off of me and walks away as if nothing happened. I claw at the nearest tree, using it to help me scramble to my feet. I stabilize myself against it, sobbing. Tears cloud my vision.

  I hear that clipped conversation again in the background, but I can’t get out of my own head enough to pay attention. It dawns on me however, that Hero might kill this guy.

  “Please!” I beg, my face still buried against the rough bark of the tree. “Don’t kill him!”

  “Why not?”

  I choke and swallow my tears, wiping at my face and narrowing my eyes at Hero.

  “What?”

  “Is the translator functioning already?”

  Some internal force pushes me forward finally and I trip and stumble into the clearing, landing hard on the ground. Hero hurries to my side, pulling me up.

  “I don’t understand. How can I—” I stop short, placing my hand over my ear. When I pull it away it’s wet with the other alien’s blood. I yank away from Hero, dry heaving.

  “Did you kill him for this?” I choke out, wiping at my mouth.

  “Yes.”

  “Believe me, it is no great loss,” the other alien interrupts. I startle at the words. It’s like I can still hear the sound of his alien language, but whatever it is that’s in my ear translates it into English for me.

  “My God,” I whisper. I hadn’t thought of him as much more than an animal…but hearing him speak, comprehending his words, it makes this all the more ghastly.

  “Hero, help me. Cut him loose!” I hurry to the being’s side, looking at the ropes and his extensive wounds. The other alien had been eating him alive.

  To my perturbation, Hero hesitates.

  “WHAT THE FUCK?” I scream, pulling at my hair. I feel like I’ve gone mad. “HELP HIM, HERO! Fucking help him, he’s dying!”

  Hero steps forward, his expression unhappy. Before he cuts the ropes, he addresses the alien. “I am He’Rokvska Naa. You have heard of me, yes?”

  The alien chokes out a laugh. “Even a low one like me has heard of He’Rokvska Naa.”

  “Then you know not make any attempt to harm my mate. Do not cross me or I will find worse things to do to you than the Clymerrick did.”

  “You would be hard pressed,” the alien responds.

  Hero makes no effort to cut him loose, giving him an icy stare.

  “I have no plans to harm your mate, gladiator. She has pardoned me, I owe her a life debt.”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” I say, looking angrily at Hero. “Cut him loose now or give me a knife and I’ll do it myself.”

  Finally, Hero cuts the ropes.

  “Leave this place,” he tells the hunched over and bleeding alien.

  “What? Is this a sick joke? We have to help him, Hero, he’s injured!” I bellow, waving my arms at the evidence before us.

  But Hero doesn’t look at me, he stares stonily at the alien.

  “I will leave. I appreciate your assistance,” he says, nodding to me. He grabs some of the dead guy’s supplies and begins to limp away.

  “There’s ships to the east!” I hurry to call after him.

  “Not to the north?” he asks. I shake my head, not knowing what to tell him.

  “Decoys,” Hero offers. “She speaks the truth; the airfield is to the east.”

  The alien nods again before disappearing from our view.

  I’m still trembling when he leaves us alone in the clearing with nothing but a pile of ropes, a disheveled campsite, and a corpse.

  When Hero’s hands slide around my waist it feels like they belong to a stranger. A sob rises in my throat and I slink away from him.

  “What is this?” I ask, barely able to speak and completely unable to look at the nightmare surrounding us.

  “Finally, we can understand one another,” Hero says, smiling at me as if his hands aren’t covered in blood.

  Chapter 30

  Purity

  The look on his face is so pleased. I have to shake myself to make sure I’m processing all of this correctly.

  “We have spent too long only guessing at conversation. Tell me, my love, what is the first thing you would like to talk about?”

  My mouth hangs open. I can’t get words to form. I have to close my eyes and Hero approaches. He’s so close I can feel his warmth beside me, yet I can’t bring myself to find solace in him.

  “I can’t do this. Not here,” I choke on the words, feeling sick. I can finally understand the love of my life; too bad the price was murder. “Hero, you just killed someone,” I say as plainly as I can. “And you sent that…person out into the wild on their own. He was injured, Hero.” I have to grit my teeth to get the words out. I’m still trembling and I try my best to steady my hands.

  “You look unwell. I think you should sit down,” Hero says. His voice sounds far away.

  And then the unthinkable happens.

  I faint.

  I guess I never really thought fainting was a real thing. Sure, I’ve seen funny videos on the internet of grooms falling face first at their weddings. But a woman? Me? I’m tougher than that. Besides, if I could have chosen, I would have wanted my first faint to be during a truly swoon-worthy moment. The day Hero rescued me would have been a good one.

  But today has turned into a nightmare and my blackout is an added disappointment. The adrenaline, fear, horror, disgust…and probably even the baby—it all got to me. It’s unfortunate, finding out I’m liable to faint in a life-threatening situation, especially considering I live on a wild alien planet now.

  I start to come back into awareness and feel myself jostling back and forth. It’s dark out. Even still, the feel of Hero’s scales pressed to my check is unmistakable and I wake to the memory of our gruesome afternoon. My face screws up and tears overwhelm me. I clutch Hero’s neck and sob.

  “Hush, hush, hush,” he coos at me. “I am here, weak one. I will care for you.”

  Weak one? I revolt, kicking and flailing in his arms until he drops me. “Weak!” I bellow. “You did not just call me weak!” I slam my fists into his chest. “Fuck you, Hero! What the hell was that back there? How can you be so calm? Someone died!”

  “I am teasing, come here to me, my love. Let me help you back to the cave, we can talk more once I have you warm in front of the fire.” He’s reaching for my hand, but I jerk away from him, still angry and confused.

  “I can walk,” I bark and we continue on in silence for a while. I’m still fuming when he decides to be funny again.

  “If I’d have known a translator would make you this surly, I’d have waited until Braga Faro Sintra to get you one.”

  I stop in my tracks, unpacking what he just said
. I swallow hard. “Are you saying you didn’t have to kill that guy to get this for me?” I point to my ear.

  “I was tired of waiting,” he purrs, as if impatience is a good enough excuse to kill a man. That’s when I decide to shut my mouth. Neither of us speak again until we are back at the cave.

  “You have been quiet,” he tells me as he starts the fire. I cross my arms over my chest and put the flames between us.

  “I think you’re going to need to start from the beginning. I’ve been at a complete loss here, Hero. You need to fill in the blanks fast.”

  “Are you hungry?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “I just need answers.”

  “Of course,” he sighs and takes a seat by the fire, rubbing his neck as he considers where to begin. “I do not know how you got here, but I think it must have been a mistake. To the best of my knowledge most of the others were criminals—”

  “Like that man you killed back there?” I ask. It makes sense. He was like the alien version of Hannibal Lecter.

  “The Clymerrick? No, he was a hunter. I meant the others, the ones who were caged like you on the first night.”

  I furrow my brow. “A hunter?” I echo.

  “I was in the dome when I first saw you. It was your costume that intrigued me. I thought you were adorned with war paint,” he tells me, chuckling at the memory. “I claimed you then. You were meant for an Ihasa, but I denied him.

  “I wanted you badly that night. I could not wait for morning, so I followed you into the forest—all the while still thinking you were a warrior. It was when you fell asleep in that clearing that I began to question myself. I had to kill and dispose of a creature that was stalking you. You slept through the whole thing.” He laughs again. Somehow, I’m not seeing the humor.

  “Why didn’t you approach me then?” I ask.

  “I was studying you,” he replies.

  “Why?”

  “For battle. I wanted to know what I’d be up against.”

  “You thought I was going to fight you?” I ask, incredulous.

  “I had hoped you would. That is why I chose you. You looked fierce at the time.”

  “I don’t understand why you’d want that.”

  “The hunt would have been boring without a worthy creature to prey upon.” The way he says prey is painfully familiar. It’s something he calls me all the time…like a pet name. Other than that, what he’s saying doesn’t make any sense. My expectant stare causes him to sigh heavily.

  “I was invited here for a hunt, Purity.”

  “You’re a hunter?” Just like Rylan said. “And that makes me…”

  “You are my prey,” he says with a teasing grin. “Or you were, at least.”

  My stomach sours. “You came here to hunt me? Is that what happened to the other one? The one we saved from the Cuhmerrick? He was being hunted?”

  “Clymerrick,” Hero corrects. “Yes, it appears he was hunting the Vulna male. That is who he captured at least.”

  “Is that what you planned to do to me?” I force the question out, terrified of what his answer might be.

  “Eat you? No. I was going to bring your head back to my home on Braga Faro Sintra and mount it on my wall as a prize.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “I am not,” he says plainly.

  I swallow and take a step back.

  “I have no plans to do that now, Purity.” He laughs warmly. “You are my mate, I love you.”

  “What stopped you from killing me right away?”

  “Seeing how weak you were. It was an affront, that a great gladiator like myself would be given such an easy kill. There is no honor in that. So, I planned to nurse you back to health, then I was going to train you to be an adversary worth killing.”

  “At what point did you change your mind?” My heart beats against my ribcage.

  “In truth, it had been changing since the moment I saw you. I was drawn to you as if by fate.” His answer causes my fear to abate, if only slightly.

  “I see. So, before I came along did you put many human heads up on your wall?” I press, keeping my expression neutral.

  “You are the first of your kind I have ever seen and so far there is only one head on my wall—the head of the dhiragoni who killed my mother.”

  “What’s a dhiragoni?”

  “It is a beast, not sentient, but very smart. A good opponent in the arena.”

  “So you’ve killed before?”

  At this question Hero laughs…a little too easily in my opinion.

  “I am a gladiator, Purity. Killing is what I do.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re going to need to explain that a little better,” I tell him, feeling faint again. I make my way over to our bed and shakily take a seat.

  “Up until very recently I was a gladiator—one who fights in the arena for the glory of their house and the entertainment of the crowds. Gladiators are slaves. Sometimes they are stolen from their home worlds, other times they sell themselves into the life to earn glory.”

  “You were a slave?” I gasp at the realization. The thought of Hero being anything but free is appalling and the protectiveness I feel for him reminds me of the bond we share—despite our grim afternoon. “Please…” I sigh, “come sit with me.” I make space on our blanket and recognize how eager he is to be near me when he practically jumps out of his seat in his haste to join me.

  I could kick myself. I’m being so judgmental and I don’t even have the full story yet. He’s telling me he’s been a slave, forced to kill people, and here I am vilifying him for it as if I don’t already know his true colors. I take his hand in mine and bid him to continue. “How did you get there?”

  “I was born into it. My mother was stolen from her world when she was very young. She was strong though and made a better fighter than a whore, so she ended up in the arena. Somewhere along the way she had me. Eventually we found ourselves in a good house, we grew strong, and earned our master both money and glory. My mother never was able to earn her way out of the life, but with my last fight, I did.”

  “Does that mean you’re free?” My heart soars.

  “I bought my freedom, yes.”

  “Then how did you end up here?”

  “A freed gladiator has options. Many return to their home world, but Braga Faro Sintra is my home world. I’ve never seen the place of my mother’s birth and she rarely spoke of it. I have no ties there, emotional or otherwise. I know of others who have gone into pirating or become farmers.” He shrugs.

  “The arena has been my entire life. It is all I’ve ever known. So, when I earned my freedom, I claimed my right to the ninth house and became a master. I was set to begin building my stables—filling it with gladiators to train and put into the arena—when a male named Kosi came to me and offered me a spot here.”

  “My mentor, Sarran, urged me to come. He said it would raise up the name of my house, bringing me even more fame. All this is good for business, you see, and I have had my doubts about the business side of things. While I know I’ll excel at training my gladiators, I have never been interested in spending time with the high bidders, and a master’s house is expected to be a constant party for them, filled with extravagant food, flowing drinks, music, whores.”

  I don’t know how to respond to that.

  “That is where I had hoped you might find a place,” he says, playing with a lock of my hair.

  “With the whores?” I ask shakily.

  “With the— No! For all that is good, Purity. You are my mate, mine and mine alone.”

  “And are you mine?” I question.

  “Until my final day. I would have none but you. But what I meant was, I had hoped you might be willing to be my partner in business as well as love. You could take on the entertainment side of things while I handle the gladiators. I think you will be considered quite exotic on my world, Purity, a true novelty,” he adds. “The high bidders will love that, and if you like, I can even seek out more of your ki
nd. We can make the entire house staff human, if that would make you feel at home.”

  “You mean like a bunch of human housekeepers?” I frown.

  He shrugs. “Maids, servants, whores.”

  My eyes go wide at the suggestion, but I halt any response.

  “Help me understand your world and the arena there,” I ask, needing to get a better picture of the life Hero has planned for us.

  “The city is bustling around the arena and you can hardly see the sky through the exhaust and traffic from the airfield. Every day tens of thousands of aliens from all over the galaxy come and go, aching to place their bet on the next big fight. And towering above all other structures, the arena itself is the focal point of the entire planet. All else revolves around it. It is centuries old and looks like a massive temple. The exterior is covered in carvings representing the first house masters. It is a sight to behold. We will live within those walls. Outside, only the very poor reside in the surrounding structures and there is often much crime beyond the gates. But the arena is well policed, the entire economy of the planet depends on it.”

  “Built into the arena are the nine master houses. Up until recently only eight had been occupied. I claimed the final one. They are fantastic architectural creations, Purity, with private terraces and garden courtyards. Our house has more rooms than we will ever know what to do with. And the highlight, I think, is a beautiful crystalline pool on the top floor. The roof is open to the sky and we can watch all the ships coming in at night.”

  “I will spend my working hours on the bottom level, where the stables are. That is where the slaves will reside.”

  “How many slaves?”

  “A hundred perhaps, not including the household staff.”

  I nod slowly. Over a hundred slaves. “And what happens in the arena?”

  “What always happens. There is one winner and one loser. One gladiator brings glory to his house, the other brings shame and the odds are adjusted accordingly.”