Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (74 page)

“Too
late,”
Skylar
said.
“Get
back
inside.”

Men
were
spilling
out
from
the
door
opposite.
Men
in
the
black
uniforms
of
the
Corps.
Jon
put
his
arm
around
Alex’s
shoulder
and
hustled
her
inside
the
building
and
into
a
large
room.
Three
men
lay
unconscious
on
the
floor.

“Good
to
see
you’ve
been
busy,”
Rico
said.

Jon
crossed
the
room,
stooped
over
one
of
the
bodies,
and
pulled
the
laser
pistol
from
the
holster.
He
studied
the
room,
a
frown
on
his
face,
then
crossed
to
the
table
and
kicked
it
over
so
it
lay
on
its
side
against
the
wall.

“Get
behind
that,”
he
said
to
Alex,
“and
don’t
come
out.”

Alex
opened
her
mouth
to
argue
but
bit
back
the
words.
She
knew
enough
about
him
by
now
to
know
he
would
fight
much
better
if
he
thought
she
was
safe.
And
he
was
a
far
more
valuable
fighter
than
she
was.

The
first
shots
bounced
off
the
walls
as
she
crouched
down
behind
the
table.
She
drew
her
blaster
but
was
scared
of
hitting
the
others
who
were
ranged
in
a
row
in
front
of
her.
Focusing
on
Jon’s
back,
she
pushed
down
her
fear
and
guilt.
Why
had
she
let
him
out
of
her
sight
earlier?
She
should
have
held
on
to
him.
They
would
likely
still
have
all
died,
but
not
like
this,
in
a
strange
place.
She
wanted
to
be
back
on
El
Cazador
so
badly
it
was
a
pain
gnawing
at
her
chest.
Out
of
a
window
to
her
left,
she
could
see
the
courtyard
crawling
with
soldiers,
all
heading
in
their
direction.
This
was
the
end.

In
the
months
since
she’d
been
on
the
ship,
they
had
come
under
attack
many
times,
and
she’d
never
experienced
fear.
Now
she
was
drowning
in
terror;
it
coated
her
mouth
and
throat,
froze
her
mind,
and
turned
her
arms
and
legs
to
useless
slabs
of
stone.

She
didn’t
know
how
long
the
fight
went
on—time
lost
meaning
as
the
world
was
reduced
to
chaos.
Jon
stood
shoulder
to
shoulder
with
Tannis,
Rico
beside
Skylar.
They
were
shooting
steadily,
deflecting
the
incoming
blasts
with
ease,
and
shooting
down
the
soldiers
as
they
appeared
in
the
narrow
entrance.
But
every
time
a
man
went
down,
another
took
his
place.

“Brace
yourselves,”
Tannis
shouted.
She
plucked
a
gas
grenade
from
her
belt
and
rolled
it
out
through
the
doorway.
Alex
gripped
onto
one
of
the
table
legs
and
a
second
later,
the
shock
wave
washed
over
her.
There
was
a
moment
of
respite,
as
the
men
retreated
from
the
dense
cloud
of
sickly
green
gas.

Jon
turned
to
her.

“You
okay?”

She
nodded,
though
it
was
a
lie.

“I
love
you,”
he
said.

“I—”
There
was
no
chance
to
finish
the
words.
The
window
exploded,
raining
shards
of
glass
into
the
room.

She
shook
her
head,
clearing
her
vision,
as
a
shot
from
behind
spun
the
weapon
out
of
Jon’s
hand.
A
figure
stood
framed
in
the
window,
pistol
outstretched,
aimed
at
Jon’s
exposed
back.
Alex
didn’t
think,
just
acted
on
impulse,
pushing
herself
up
then
diving
forward.

The
world
seemed
to
slow.
From
the
corner
of
her
eye,
she
could
see
Jon
twist
around,
screaming
at
her.

“No!”