Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (62 page)

Out
in
the
hallway,
all
hell
broke
loose.

The
men’s
attention
was
drawn
to
the
open
doorway.
Faster
than
he
could
follow,
Skylar
drew
her
weapons.
She
stood
in
the
center
of
the
room,
a
pistol
in
both
hands.
He
rocked
his
chair
until
it
tumbled,
finally
crashing
him
to
the
floor
as
the
lasers
flashed
over
his
head.
Alex
dived
toward
him
and
took
cover
behind
the
metal
desk.
All
he
could
see
of
her
was
her
feet
sticking
out.

As
the
men
swung
around
at
the
sound,
Skylar
opened
fire.
Christ,
she
was
good.
They
didn’t
stand
a
chance.
They
were
all
down
before
they
could
even
draw
their
weapons.

Skylar
shot
him
a
quick
glance,
saw
he
was
still
in
the
land
of
the
living,
and
ran
into
the
hallway.

Jon
lay
tied
to
his
chair,
staring
at
Alex’s
feet.
He
was
alive,
and
there
was
a
good
chance
he
was
getting
out
of
here.
It
didn’t
seem
possible.

There
was
a
movement
to
the
side,
and
he
turned
his
head.
The
sergeant
was
down
but
not
dead.
His
pistol
was
in
his
hand
and
aimed
straight
at
Jon.

Just
when
you
thought
your
luck
had
changed…

Time
seemed
to
slow
as
he
watched
the
finger
tighten
on
the
trigger.
Jon
wanted
to
shout
to
Alex,
tell
her
how
he
felt,
but
it
was
too
late
for
that.
Too
late
for
anything.

The
man’s
face
erupted,
and
the
laser
pistol
dropped
from
his
lifeless
fingers.
He
was
definitely
dead
this
time,
but
whoever
had
shot
him
was
making
sure.
The
laser
beam
persisted
as
the
body
began
to
smoke,
filling
the
air
with
the
stench
of
scorched
flesh.
Finally,
the
beam
stopped.

Jon
twisted
his
head
and
watched
as
Alex
crept
out
from
behind
the
desk.
She’d
dropped
the
medical
kit,
but
a
laser
pistol
was
clamped
so
tight
in
her
right
hand
that
her
knuckles
were
leached
white.
The
pistol,
still
aimed
at
the
sergeant,
shook
visibly.

“He’s
dead,”
Jon
said.

At
the
sound
of
his
voice,
she
swung
around
and
raised
the
pistol.
The
shock
and
panic
faded
to
be
replaced
by
wonder.
The
pistol
fell
to
the
floor.

“You’re
alive.”

“Yes.”
He
nodded
at
the
dead
man.
“Thanks
to
you.”

She
hurried
over
to
where
he
lay.
Outside
in
the
hallway,
he
could
still
hear
spasmodic
shots.
He
hoped
the
good
guys
were
winning.
The
adrenaline
was
fading
from
his
system,
everything
hurt,
and
shivers
rippled
through
his
body
as
Alex
crouched
down
beside
him.

“Oh
God.
Oh
God,”
Alex
muttered
under
her
breath,
her
hands
shaking
as
she
tried
to
unravel
the
chains
from
around
him.
She
sounded
in
a
worse
state
than
he
was.

“Alex,
I’m
fine—really,
I
am.
Calm
down.”

Finally,
the
chains
were
undone,
and
she
unwrapped
them
from
around
his
neck
and
chest
before
sitting
back
on
her
heels.
Her
gaze
suddenly
fixed
on
his
hand,
her
eyes
widening.
Looking
down,
he
saw
the
knife
still
stuck
out
of
the
back
of
his
hand,
fixing
him
to
the
chair
arm.
He’d
forgotten
about
it—just
one
more
pain
in
a
big
jumbly
mass
of
pains.

“Pull
it
out,”
he
said
through
gritted
teeth.

She
swallowed,
bit
her
lip,
and
wrapped
her
hand
around
the
knife
hilt.
She
tugged
once,
and
the
blade
came
out
easily,
blood
pulsing
from
the
wound.

“Don’t
go
anywhere,”
she
said
and
scrambled
to
her
feet.

“I
won’t.”

He
dragged
himself
half
up
to
lean
against
the
desk.
The
effort
was
almost
too
much,
and
he
closed
his
eyes
as
exhaustion
threatened
to
overwhelm
him.
It
was
a
side
effect
from
the
drugs—he
was
coming
down
from
the
high,
though
high
wasn’t
really
the
right
word.

Alex
hunkered
down
beside
him
with
the
medical
kit
next
to
her
and
stared
at
the
contents
as
though
she
didn’t
know
what
was
what—and
likely
she
didn’t.
In
the
end,
she
picked
up
a
bandage
and
wrapped
it
around
his
hand.
At
least
he
wouldn’t
make
a
mess.