Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (46 page)

Behind
Hezrai,
the
three
men
moved
as
one,
their
hands
shifting
to
rest
on
their
laser
pistols,
and
the
tension
rocketed.
Alex
peeked
sideways
at
Jon,
expecting
his
own
hand
to
be
on
his
gun,
but
they
hung
relaxed
at
his
side.
A
small
smile
played
across
his
lips
as
though
daring
Hezrai
to
move
against
him.

Rico
had
told
her
Jon
had
a
death
wish,
but
she
still
didn’t
believe
that
was
true.
Rather,
she
suspected
it
was
more
that
he
was
an
arrogant
ass.

Hezrai
waved
the
men
down.
“Not
everyone
can
believe
in
the
Lord,”
he
said.
“I
will
pray
for
your
salvation,
Mr.
Decker.”

“Thanks.”

“In
the
meantime,
if
you
would
give
me
an
account
number,
I
will
see
that
the
payment
is
made.”
He
pressed
a
button
on
his
wristband
and
a
small
screen
appeared
on
his
right
palm.
“The
number,
please.”

Jon
hesitated
and
looked
at
her,
as
though
expecting
her
to
say
something,
but
there
was
nothing
left
to
say,
so
she
kept
her
mouth
tight
shut.
After
a
second,
he
shrugged
and
reeled
off
a
list
of
numbers.

Hezrai
turned
his
palm
toward
them.
Jon
glanced
at
it
and
nodded.

“Good,”
Hezrai
said.
“Then
we’ll
be
saying
good-bye.
I’m
sure
you
have
important
things
to
do,
and
we
must
get
our
little
priestess
back
where
we
can
take
care
of
her
properly.”

Alex
ground
her
teeth
together
at
the
syrupy
words.
She
didn’t
want
to
be
taken
care
of.
Why
did
no
one
think
she
was
capable
of
taking
care
of
herself?
But
there
would
be
time
to
exert
her
new
independence
once
Jon
was
safely
away
from
here,
so
she
swallowed
down
the
words.

Besides,
she
was
fighting
an
almost
overwhelming
urge
to
grab
hold
of
his
hand
and
drag
him
with
her
far
away
from
here.
It
was
dawning
on
Alex
that
this
was
the
last
time
she
would
see
him,
and
she
hadn’t
realized
it
would
be
so
hard.
The
thought
made
her
chest
tighten
and
her
stomach
churn.
Everything
seemed
to
narrow.

Jon
didn’t
speak
although
she
could
feel
his
eyes
on
her.
Then
he
moved.
Out
of
the
corner
of
her
eye,
she
saw
him
turn
around
and
walk
away.

Keeping
her
eyes
on
the
pale
sand
at
her
feet,
she
held
herself
very
still
as
though
if
she
moved
at
all
she
might
unravel
and
never
manage
to
get
herself
back
together.
But
at
the
last
moment,
she
had
to
see
him
one
more
time.

She
whirled
around
and
ran
after
him,
clumsy
in
the
stupid
dress.
“Jon!”

He
stopped
walking.
“What?”

“Just
this.”
Her
hands
grasped
his
shoulders,
she
reached
up
and
kissed
him
on
the
cheek.
“Thank
you.”

“Don’t
thank
me—I
did
it
for
the
money.”

“I
meant
for
the
orgasm,
of
course.”

“Well,
if
you
were
really
grateful,
we
could
nip
behind
that
rock
over
there,
and
you
could
repay
the
favor.
I’m
sure
your
friend
would
wait
for
us.”

“I’ll
pass.
Besides,
I
don’t
think
he
likes
you.
Go,”
she
said.
“Be
safe.”

She
turned
around
and
trudged
back
to
where
they
waited
for
her.
Hezrai
was
speaking
into
his
comm
unit
when
she
got
back.
This
time
when
he
looked
at
her,
he
made
no
attempt
to
hide
the
loathing
in
his
eyes,
and
unease
shifted
inside
her.
He’d
always
at
least
made
some
small
effort
to
mask
his
hatred.

“Stupid fucking little bitch,” he snarled and lashed out with his right fist.

The blow caught her by surprise, taking her across the cheekbone. Pain flared, and the force flung her to the ground in a tangle of long skirts.

She pushed herself up on her hands and spat out the sand that had filled her mouth. Fire burned along her cheek, and she stayed where she was for a moment, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

And failed totally. Hezrai had never laid hands on her before. Maybe it was a mistake.

Swallowing, she forced herself up just as a booted foot kicked her hard in the side. She went down a second time, instinctively curling into a ball to protect herself as he kicked her again. A sickening pain shot through her, and she bit her lip to keep from screaming.

“Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me, bitch?”

She lay, listening to his heavy breathing, and praying it was over. Then the rush of air before his boot caught her in the ribs, and for a moment, she blacked out.

Unfortunately, it was only a moment.

When she opened her eyes, his boots were directly ahead of her, and she tensed, waiting for the next kick. When it didn’t come, she rolled cautiously onto her hands and knees. The movement sent searing pain shooting through her body. A wave of heat washed over her, followed by chilling cold. Her stomach turned liquid, and she vomited over the polished black boots.

Hezrai swore loudly but stepped back from her.

“Get up.”

Unsure if she could, she wrapped one arm around her ribs and used the other to push herself up. She’d managed to get halfway when he grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her to her feet before dropping her arm as if he couldn’t bear to touch her.

“Why?” she asked.

“You always were a snooping little bitch. Shoving your nose in where it wasn’t wanted.” He studied her for a moment, eyes narrowed. “Or were you spying on me that day? Did someone put you up to it?” He reached for her, gripped her shoulders, and shook her, so she had to grit her teeth against the pain that shot from her ribs to every nerve in her body. “Tell me.”

What was he talking about? “Put me up to what?”

“You eavesdropped on my meeting with—” He glanced behind him at the men who stood watching silently and broke off. Alex followed his gaze and nearly threw up again. They were big men, and their faces held identical expressions—cold and ugly, but eager as they stared back at her. She forced her gaze back to Hezrai and choked out, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No, maybe you don’t. You always were slow. But I can’t take the risk.”

Unable to help herself, she stared at the point where Jon had disappeared only minutes ago, willing him to return. He must be back at the shuttle by now—he’d probably already forgotten her.

Hezrai brushed his robes and peered down his nose at her. “I’d like to say I’m sorry for what’s about to happen, but the truth is—I wish I could stay and watch. Unfortunately, I need to be able to stand before the council and say I don’t know how your death happened.”

Her mind refused to work fast enough to catch up with what he was saying. She licked her lips. “Death?”

“You ruined everything. It was all arranged.” His voice rose with each word he spoke. Then he snapped his mouth closed, and the tension drained from his narrow shoulders. “I was going to live forever.” He turned to the men behind him. “I don’t care what you do to her, but I want her dead at the end of it. Afterward, send the body to the Church and disappear.”

He stalked away, black robes swirling around him. Alex stared after his retreating back, wanting to scream at him not to go. To tell her this was a bad joke, but she knew it would do no good. She had no clue what he was talking about, but that didn’t make her situation any less real.

Nobody moved as Hezrai disappeared inside his shuttle, but she could feel their eyes on her, and she shivered, tightening her arms around her middle.

Okay, she was scared. She admitted it. But her mind was sluggish, and she couldn’t make sense of what had happened. Refused to consider what was about to happen.

The engines flared, and the shuttle lifted off and still nobody moved. Finally, Alex straightened her shoulders and turned slowly to face the three men. Her breath was coming short and fast, and she slowed it trying to clear her mind.

After one lesson in fighting, she doubted she was in any position to take down three men, each one at least twice her weight and all heavily armed.

She would have to talk her way out of this one. “The Church will pay to get me back unharmed.”

“We’ve already been paid,” the tallest one said.

“They’ll pay you more.”

A cold smile twisted his lips. “That would hardly be honorable, would it?”

“Honorable? You call this honor?”

“In our way—yes. We’re paid to do a job, and we do it. It’s nothing personal.”

“I have friends—they’ll come after you.”

“Your
friend
just sold you for a whole load of credits. Besides, the priest ordered his shuttle to be destroyed.”

Her mind reeled in shock; she wanted to run, scream, somehow warn him, but how could she? Maybe they were lying. “I don’t believe you.” She didn’t want to believe them, but it would be like Hezrai. The double-crossing slimeball.

“They’re giving him time to get safely back, then—bang. So give us what we want. We’ll have a bit of fun, and then we’ll kill you quick.”

They circled her. She stood still, her gaze darting between them. The man who had spoken was obviously the leader. He was the one she had to convince. But staring into his cold, set face, she had a sinking feeling there was no way that was about to happen.