I am so dead…

Another thing the commander had failed to warn her about was how much Dancer Hauk favored his brother Fain.

Every bit as muscled and fierce as Fain, Hauk took second to no one. His dark brows arched over a pair of eerie, piercing white-and-red eyes that glared a hole straight through her. There was no doubt she was on his menu, and he was already barbecuing her butt in his mind.

I am so dead, she repeated again.

Trembling uncontrollably, she did her best not to show her fear. But she was pretty sure he saw it. He’d have to be blind not to.

His gaze followed every move her hands made as if he was waiting for a reason to kill her. And still he didn’t speak. He just watched with a deeply unsettling intensity. If she didn’t win him over fast with guile, she would be a stain on the ground at his feet.

With perfectly sculpted features, he’d be pretty if not for the lethal aura and well-trimmed goatee and mustache. But there was nothing feminine about this gorgeous warrior.

He was simply horrifying and bloodthirsty.

“Before you lie to me,” he finally growled in a low, feral tone that was thickly accented. “I know who and what you are, assassin. Why you’re here.”

She swallowed hard at the underlying threat. “Then why am I still alive?”

“Uncle Hauk? Can you please tell your monkey that —” The female’s voice broke off as she entered the tent with a plate, and saw them. A friendly smile spread across her beautiful, innocent face as she met Sumi’s gaze. “You’re awake! I’m so glad you’re not dead.”

She handed the metal plate to Hauk, who made it look more like a saucer in comparison to the size of his gigantic hands, before she knelt down beside Sumi and felt her forehead. The girl’s concerned kindness stunned her. “Do you remember being injured? Do you know where you are?”

Completely confused, Sumi couldn’t answer at first. She’d been told that Hauk would be alone on some Andarion spiritual quest. No one had mentioned he’d have companions, never mind family with him. This girl, who appeared in her late teens or early twenties, had called him “uncle.” But she was quite human while Hauk was definitely not.

The girl glanced over her shoulder at Hauk, whose gaze threatened Sumi’s life. “Uncle Hauk, stop scowling like that. You’re terrifying the poor woman. She thinks you’re going to eat her.”

She turned back to Sumi with another bright, dimpled smile. “I know he’s huge and scary and a full Andarion, but he won’t hurt you. I promise. I tend to think of him as just a big attack dog, who’s actually quite cuddly once you learn to ignore his growls.”

Arching a brow, Hauk pinned a look of utter disbelief on the back of his niece’s head.

Unaware of his ire, she continued talking. “I’m Thia and he’s Hauk. We found you wounded and brought you back to our camp. Uncle Hauk patched you up. Can I get you something to eat or drink?”