Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (16 page)

Skylar
shrugged.
“We
keep
out
of
their
way.”

“Why
not
hand
her
over?”
Jon
spoke
for
the
first
time.
He
sounded
genuinely
interested.
“You
get
rid
of
the
problem
and
pick
up
the
reward.”

Tannis
pursed
her
lips,
her
yellow
eyes
cold
as
she
considered
the
question,
and
Alex
peered
around
at
the
people
in
the
room
as
fear
gripped
her
insides.
Janey
and
Daisy
both
wore
identical
expressions
of
sympathy,
Rico
still
appeared
amused,
and
Skylar’s
face
was
blank.
The
captain’s
expression
was
hard
to
read,
and
Alex
waited
for
her
to
answer.

“Because
he’s,
or
should
I
say,
she’s
crew,
and
we
don’t
give
up
our
crew.
Not
to
anyone.
Not
unless
they
want
to
be
given
up.”
She
turned
to
Alex.
“Do
you
want
to
go
back?”

The
walls
seemed
to
close
in
around
her
as
she
thought
of
the
years
ahead.
The
stultifying
boredom
that
would
slowly
choke
the
life
from
her
until
even
the
will
to
live
would
abandon
her.
No,
she
didn’t
want
to
go
back.
At
some
point,
she
knew
she’d
have
to,
just
not
right
now.

She
shook
her
head.
“Not
yet.”

“Well,
you’d
better
stay
then,”
Tannis
said.

At
her
words,
a
warm
wave
of
relief
washed
through
Alex.

“Though
I
suppose
we’d
better
think
of
something
else
to
call
you,”
Tannis
continued.
“Cabin
boy
doesn’t
seem
appropriate
anymore.”

Alex
had
a
few
ideas.
Now
that
the
need
to
keep
a
low
profile
was
gone,
she
wanted
to
learn
everything.
How
to
fly.
How
to
fight.
Maybe
Janey
would
teach
her
how
to
hack
into
systems.
Then
when
she
went
back,
she’d
be
able
to
find
out
what
everybody
was
up
to—at
least
that
might
keep
the
boredom
at
bay.
The
ship’s
mechanic
the
Trog
was
already
teaching
her
how
the
engines
worked—there
had
never
been
any
need
to
keep
a
low
profile
with
the
Trog—even
if
he
had
guessed
what
she
was,
he
wouldn’t
have
told.
The
Trog
didn’t
talk
much.
He
basically
hid
under
his
scruffy
hair
and
skulked
around
the
engine
room
on
the
lower
deck.
Alex
often
wondered
what
he
was
hiding
from.

“Okay,”
Tannis
said.
“So
now
we
know
why
the
Church
is
after
us.
Let’s
just
keep
out
of
their
way.
Hopefully
they’ll
give
up—how
important
can
one
priestess
be,
right?”

The
question
didn’t
seem
to
need
an
answer.
Happiness
bubbled
up
inside
Alex
until
she
had
to
fight
to
keep
the
grin
from
her
face.

“And
at
least
we
know
the
Church
doesn’t
want
you
dead,
so
they’re
not
likely
to
blow
us
out
of
the
sky
without
any
warning.
Unlike
our
other
friends.”

Tannis
turned
to
Skylar.
“Any
thoughts
on
why
the
Collective
are
so
keen
to
see
him
dead?”
She
waved
at
Jon
and
frowned.
“Why
is
he
still
half
naked?
Janey—go
get
him
those
clothes.”

…

Jon
admired
the
sway
of
Janey’s
hips
as
she
left
the
room,
then
cast
a
surreptitious
glance
at
Al,
only
to
find
her
watching
him
out
of
those
huge
gray
eyes.
Hungry
eyes.
Heat
curled
in
his
belly,
but
he
dismissed
it—it
had
been
a
long
time,
that
was
all.

At
twenty-four,
she
was
no
child,
but
he
still
wasn’t
interested.
If
he
had
to
have
a
woman,
he’d
choose
the
other
redhead—she’d
know
what
she
was
getting
into.
Or
the
green
one.
He’d
never
seen
anyone
quite
that
green
before—she
would
have
a
certain
novelty
value.

But
his
eyes
were
drawn
back
to
Al,
and
then
to
the
screen
where
the
image
of
the
High
Priestess
still
stared
down
at
them.
He
was
finding
it
hard
to
believe
they
were
the
same
person.
Her
fear
had
been
obvious
as
she’d
waited
for
the
snake
lady
to
make
a
decision.
She’d
been
in
no
way
sure
whether
they
wouldn’t
hand
her
over,
and
her
relief
when
she’d
learned
they
would
let
her
stay
had
been
palpable.
The
decision
confused
him;
he
didn’t
know
what
to
make
of
these
people.

The
immediate
animosity
with
the
vampire,
he
had
understood,
and
the
fight
had
been
good—had
cleared
away
the
lingering
effects
of
the
cryo.
But
now
it
seemed
forgotten.
Rico
was
murmuring
to
the
Collective
woman,
but
his
body
language
was
relaxed.
As
though
he
sensed
Jon
watching
him,
he
glanced
up,
but
Jon
ignored
the
implied
question
in
the
vampire’s
eyes.