Hanna and the Hitman - Honey Phillips Page 0,65

like it, but I was willing to go along to keep her safe. It wasn’t until we arrived here that I knew they were after you.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t going to let them hurt a fellow Pardorian, especially not you, my friend.”

“Thank you. As soon as I take care of Chotgor and make sure that my female is safe, we will return and rescue yours.”

Naiz clasped his forearm, then Aidon stepped into the clearing. He didn’t bother to change his form—Chotgor would never live to tell the tale.

Chotgor’s eyes widened as Aidon emerged from the jungle.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m the one you’ve been hunting.”

“How did you disguise yourself so quickly?” Chotgor asked suspiciously.

“It’s not a disguise. It’s who I am.”

“I don’t care what you look like. As long as you die.”

Chotgor raised his knife and ran at him, his fighting skills obliterated by rage. Aidon waited, letting the other male come to him. Just before he reached him, Chotgor staggered and slapped a hand to his neck. A dart lodged there, and he fell to his knees even as he pulled it free.

Aidon stared in disbelief as Chotgor collapsed. Leaves rustled, and then Hanna stepped out of the jungle.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hanna ignored the bodies lying on the ground, only interested in Aidon. Blood trickled down the side of his beloved face, but he was alive, alive and healthy. She threw herself at him, and he caught her as she burst into tears.

“You’re all right. Oh God, Aidon, I’ve been so scared.”

“Hush, saachi. I’m just fine. But why are you here?”

“Because she didn’t believe me when I told her you could take care of yourself.” Tanor stepped out of the jungle, and Aidon stared at him as the rest of the villagers who had accompanied her joined them.

“I don’t understand. What are all of you doing here?”

“Hanna said you needed help. So we came.” Aidon’s grandfather snorted as he looked around the clearing. “I see we were too late to join the fun.”

“Fun?” Hanna sniffled. “Chotgor was going to kill him!”

“You went to the village? By yourself?” Aidon still looked stunned.

“Not exactly. Trouble went with me.”

“I told you to go to the house and hide! Don’t you know what could have happened to you? I just watched three males die because they didn’t respect the jungle.”

She gulped, glad she hadn’t known that before she’d left. The run along the river path had been terrifying enough.

She ran as far as she could, walked long enough to catch her breath, then started running again. As night closed in, the familiar sounds of the jungle became strange and threatening. She worried about Trouble, but he kept close to her side. Once he growled and came to a halt, peering out over the dark water. She paused next to him, her heart pounding in her throat. A slithering sound came from the darkness, followed by a quiet plop as something disappeared beneath the water.

She waited anxiously as Trouble sniffed the air, but he only looked up at her, his tongue lolling, and started trotting up the path again. She followed behind him, her hands shaking, and took a firm grip on the blue pipe.

They were almost at the turnoff for the landing pad when an eerie cry came from ahead of them. Trouble stepped in front of her, peering into the darkness. His small body somehow looked larger as a long, challenging moan came from his throat. The cry sounded again in response, and Trouble looked ready to leap into the darkness.

Despite the terror racing through her veins, she couldn’t let him tackle whatever was hiding there. She bent down and gathered him up in one arm, gripping her dart in her opposite hand. Trouble quivered, straining in her arm, but she wasn’t about to let him free. Another cry, and then a strange, lizard-like creature landed on the path ahead of them. It wasn’t large, no bigger than a small dog, but as it opened its mouth to let out another cry, she could see the multiple rows of teeth so common on Pardor. It prowled toward them, seemingly unconcerned by the increasing crescendo of growls from Trouble. Yellow eyes gleamed, and moonlight reflected off its scales, mottled in a shifting pattern of light and dark.

She took a deep breath, praying that her hand wouldn’t shake, and let the dart fly. Her aim was true. The sharp point buried itself in the creature’s eye. She fought back a wave of sickness as the