Hunted: The Warrior Chronicles #2 by K.F. Breene Page B

voices?”
    Rohnan huffed out a laugh as he followed her gaze. “Chosen, you went from traveling alone—or should I say running away alone…?”
    “I’m almost over that villainous comment, Rohnan, and not far from beating you senseless.”
    Rohnan’s laughter echoed through the trees. “Traveling alone, then. You went from traveling alone to traveling with family and a mysterious madman. It could be worse.”
    Shanti sighed and stretched out beside the warmth of the fire. She braced her head on her hand, still staring at the flame. “It could be, I suppose. I don’t know how, but it could be.”
    After a beat in which smiles around the fire flickered like the flames, Shanti said, “When did you hear about the other Chosen, Rohnan?”
    She barely saw his shrug as the shadows played across his expanse of shoulder. “Along the way. A woman said something of it while we lay in bed. She liked to gossip—she was a barmaid. I found all I needed from her, but still sampled the rumors in other taverns just to be sure.”
    “What did you think?”
    Rohnan hunched forward. “Until then, I wasn’t sure you were still alive. I feared the worst. When I first heard about the new Chosen, I was happy and terrified at the same time. I thought it was you. That you were alive. Scared, of course, because the Chosen was rumored to be part of an organized army. You didn’t have that, so I thought you had been taken. Then it turned out to be an Inkna. As I happened in taverns for more information, I heard about the violet-eyed girl. Sightings. They said you helped a great Captain take down a city of Inkna…”
    “Yes.”
    Rohnan studied the flames. “I am eager to meet this great Captain of men. He is rumored to be eight feet tall and as big as a forest.”
    “As big as a forest?” Shanti laughed. “My goodness, that is certainly large. Even being as big as a tree would be a feat.”
    The smile didn’t reach Rohnan’s eyes. “You were right when you said this has become bigger than us, Chosen. All of this. I hunted down Burson because I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know how to find you and no idea how to combat this upstart-Chosen. They wanted Burson, so I figured I should get him. We couldn’t have possibly prepared for all of this.”
    “No, we couldn’t have,” Shanti said quietly. “Which is why we are going to get help.”
    “But you are still the Chosen. That much I am sure.” Rohnan’s lips thinned—him at his most stubborn. “The Chosen must reunite her distant kin. That was clear. The Shadow People are our distant kin. The Inkna are not.”
    Shanti was about to retort when something tickled the very ends of her awareness. The wide-reaching net of her Gift picked up a mind she recognized.
    She sat up in a rush. “He’s coming. Death’s playground,” she cursed, “He’s on our trail! Coming slowly, but he’s got our trail.”
    “The Hunter?” Rohnan asked, standing. “You’re sure it’s not just another band of thieves?”
    Shanti gave Rohnan a level stare as she felt the intruder’s mind. Two Gifted crouched around him, watchful. They waited for an attack. Other, less intelligent but no less dangerous men traveled with him. Eight of them in all.
    “The distance is too great to attack with the Gifted blocking his mind. I’d just alert them that they are gaining.” Shanti swore and kicked dirt onto the fire to smother the flame. “Burson, can you deaden their Gifts ?”
    “Not at this distance. I don’t have anywhere near your range. But neither do they, so they have no reason to push any faster. Although, they are already moving faster than we are.” He helped Shanti put out the flame as Rohnan packed up their sleeping sacks. Cunning intelligence burned in Burson’s gaze, a look Shanti realized was locked with survival and his insistence on being her guide. “That particular officer is extremely ruthless. He will drive those with him to death without compunction. You may be