aHunter4Rescue (aHunter4Hire) Read Free Page B

there be honor in dying?” Fiona had seen enough death to know that most
people welcomed it as a relief from pain, or were just too weary to fight any
longer. Honor didn’t play a part of it.
    “Honor
is all a Hunter has.” Ardal stood. “Death is our reward, but to die fighting
brings honor.”
    “What
century are you from?” Fiona had only heard words like this in historical
fiction, never from a real person. “Were you fighting on the plane and that’s
why it crashed?”
    “We
refused to be led to our death.”
    Before
Ardal could continue speaking another man rushed up to them. “The Captain
lives.”
    “Bring
him to me.” Ardal was definitely in command. He straightened his shoulders and
his mouth thinned with determination.
    A
slight man with brown hair was pushed toward them. Fiona gasped when she saw
that he was walking with a limp. That didn’t seem to matter to the two men who
were leading him. Then again they were also walking with difficulty and their
wounds looked more serious. One of the men had a large gash to his forehead and
blood was dripping down his face. The other’s arm was bent, which suggested it
was broken, on top of several gashes. Overall the man they led seemed to have
gotten off light.
    “Captain,
you have earned honor.” Ardal’s voice was low with the faint hint of sarcasm.
“That is more than you deserve.”
    “You
were the ones who forced the ship down. If you had followed orders, none of
this would have happened.” The Captain shook off the hands of the two men
holding him. “Your death would have ensured peace. They will hunt you down
until every last one of you is dead.”
    “I
think it is unlikely that the Holman will search for us. We are all dead to
them.” Ardal’s tone was matter of fact, his features betraying no emotion.
    “You
killed all of my men.” The Captain pushed forward and jabbed Ardal in the
chest. “You’re no better than animals.”
    “Because
I refused to let my men be killed without honor?” Ardal shook his head. “We had
no choice but to fight you.”
    “So
you caused more loss. Hasn’t there been enough death on our planet?” The
Captain turned and gestured to the carnage all around them. “Look what you have
done. Instead of dying, you will have to live with being traitors.”
    Fiona
listened to this conversation with growing confusion. These men spoke in
riddles. It sounded as if they had just come from a war, but that wasn’t
possible. The Middle East was the nearest battlefield. These men didn’t look as
if they came from there.
    “Could
one of you please explain where the hell you’re from?”
    The
Captain and Ardal both turned to look at her. The Captain’s eyes scanned her
face and then perused her body with a lazy indolence that she had come to
recognize. A shudder of revulsion skittered along her back. It was only then
that she realized that Ardal and his men had not looked at her with lust.
    “Ah,
a beautiful mistress to greet us,” the Captain said in a low voice. “This does
look promising.”
    Fiona
didn’t have a chance to reply before Ardal had grabbed the man by the neck and
lifted him from the ground. “You will be respectful in a woman’s presence,” he
ground out between clenched teeth. He gave him a shake and then threw the man
to the ground.
    “My
pardon, Fiona. The Captain forgets the rules of the
Sacred Code. His actions suggest that he never knew them.”
    “You
haven’t answered her question.” The Captain rubbed his neck and shook off the
hands of the men trying to help him stand. “She has a right to know that you
are traitors who have escaped from the Holman forces.”
    Fiona
frowned. “I’ve never heard of them. Is that a country in Africa?”
    The
Captain snorted. “Look closely at my ruined craft and you’ll see that it is
beyond the technology of your people. We come from another planet.”
     

Chapter 3
    Traitors.
    Another
planet.
    The
words kept repeating in Fiona’s head all