On the Hunt (9 page)

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Authors: Alexandra Ivy,Rebecca Zanetti,Dianne Duvall

Tags: #Fantasy, #Romance

BOOK: On the Hunt

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“If I knew that, I would rescue her myself. We’ve done quite well without you.”

Was he implying that he had some sort of relationship with Bailey?

“You son of a bitch.”

Charging forward, Mika ran into a brick wall named Wolfe.

“No, Mika,” his leader muttered, glaring at the doppelgänger. “Do you have any information that will help us track her?”

“I had a vision that related to Bailey.”

“Well, what was it?” Mika snapped.

Boggs shrugged. “I saw an arrow.”

Mika made a sound of disgust. “That’s it?”

The white eyes glowed with an eerie light. “I saw the mother of the sun god at the edge of the water,” he said, his voice distant, as if he was lost in the memory of his vision. “There was a boat approaching.”

It was Wolfe’s turn to growl with impatience. “What the hell does that mean?”

Mika frowned, pulling out his phone. Two bars, thank God.

Surfing the web, he quickly had the information he needed.

“There,” he said, turning the phone to show his companion what he’d discovered.

“Leto Warehouse,” Wolfe read out loud. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

“Leto is the mother of Apollo, the sun god.” Mika arched his brows at Wolfe’s astonished expression. “What? Some of us actually read.”

“Hey, I’m not judging.” Wolfe pointed toward the phone. “But as a clue, the mother of the sun god is kind of vague. Why do you think this warehouse is the place in the vision?”

“This is the only place with Leto in the name that’s close enough to water that a boat could be approaching.”

Wolfe blinked at the simple explanation.

“Good enough for me,” he at last said. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Nine

Bailey struggled to breathe.

Dammit. She hated being afraid.

From the time she was a little girl she’d always thought of herself as a brave adventurer. More Xena than Cinderella.

But she couldn’t deny a bone-deep terror as she watched the man named Limburg motion for his bodyguard to cross the small room and stand beside her.

She didn’t know what they wanted from her, but she knew it wasn’t going to be good.

Not that she was going to let them see her fear, she bleakly told herself.

She might not be a warrior princess, but she did have a little pride.

Besides, she knew one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Mika was coming for her.

It didn’t matter where they’d taken her, or how hard they tried to cover their tracks, he would find her.

The knowledge gave her the courage to stiffen her spine and meet Limburg’s sneering glare with a tilt of her chin.

“Master?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

The dark eyes narrowed. “I see you are in need of training,” he murmured, pointing toward the door. “Jacob, leave us.”

“Why?” the young Sentinel asked, his expression troubled. “What are you going to do to her?”

Limburg sent his son a warning glare. “I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me.”

Jacob grimaced as he turned toward Bailey. “I’m sorry. I . . .” His voice cracked as he backed toward the door. “I truly am.”

Bailey waited until Jacob was gone and the door closed before she made a sound of disgust.

“Does it make you feel like a big man to bully your son?”

Limburg folded his arms over his sunken chest. “Robert,” he murmured to his companion.

Without warning the thug backhanded Bailey with enough force to slam the back of her head against the cement wall.

Holy shit.

Bailey’s teeth snapped together and a groan was wrenched from her throat as blackness threatened to suck her under.

Only grim determination kept her from passing out.

“You will show me respect or I will kill you,” Limburg purred, his smug tone making Bailey wish she had the strength to kick his ass.

“I don’t think so.” She lifted her fingers to wipe the blood from her lips. “You brought me here because you need me.”

“Correction.” The too-thin face hardened with seething hatred. “I need a healer. If I decide you aren’t worthy to serve me, then I’ll kill you and get another.”

Bailey swallowed her angry words.

It wouldn’t matter if Mika was on the way if she couldn’t stay alive long enough for him to find her.

She grimaced, meeting Limburg’s feverish gaze.

Easier said than done.

The creep clearly got off on watching her being hurt.

“Fine,” she forced herself to say. “What do you need from me?”

“I should think it’s obvious,” he rasped. “I’m dying.”

God almighty. How many times did she have to explain her powers only worked on high-bloods?

“I can’t cure human diseases.”

The man moved forward, the strong scent of antiseptic not entirely disguising the slow rot beneath.

“You can’t cure me, but your powers of healing can keep me alive,” he said.

She shook her head. Not to antagonize the idiot, but to warn him that any hopes he was harboring that she could prevent his looming death were futile.

“It’s not possible,” she insisted. “My skill can’t affect a human.”

“You think not?” He regarded her with a superior expression, stroking a finger down his loose jowl. “Let me tell you a little story.”

She clenched her aching teeth. God, he was a ridiculous blowhard.

Unfortunately, for the moment she had to grin and bear it.

Please hurry, Mika
.

“Okay,” she muttered.

“There once was a Brotherhood leader who was held in awe by his people,” he grandly announced, his voice gaining strength as he became lost in the thought of his own glory. “He was destined for greatness, despite the disappointment of his son.”

Bailey shifted on the hard ground. She didn’t know which was more painful, sitting on the hard pavement or having to listen to the douchebag’s yammering.

“Fascinating,” she muttered.

He seemed impervious to her blatant lack of admiration. “Then the gods grew jealous of his splendor and they punished him with a foul illness.”

She gave a lift of one shoulder. “Cancer isn’t a punishment. It’s a common disease among humans.”

The dark eyes flared with fury at what he considered a curse by resentful deities.

“Death has invaded my body. I tried all the usual treatments.” His lips twisted with bitter anger. “I even went to a Nostrum clinic.”

Bailey blinked in surprise. Nostrum clinics were unsanctioned, backroom hospitals run by high-bloods who claimed they could heal everything from infertility to death.

Valhalla did their best to keep them from popping up, of course. Not the least of which was tossing a healer caught providing treatment to a human into prison for life. But as long as there was money to be made, there would always be unethical people willing to take advantage of the desperate.

“Then you must realize there’s nothing more to be done,” she said.

“I haven’t finished my story.”

She made a sound of impatience. God. This wasn’t
War and Peace
.

“Then finish.”

He stiffened, that unnerving fervor flaring through his eyes at her sharp tone.

“Apologize,” he snapped.

Bailey didn’t hesitate as Robert lifted his hand, clearly eager to dole out more punishment.

“I’m sorry.”

A taunting smile twisted his lips. “It’s nice to know you can be trained.” He waved off the goon. “Shall I continue?”

“Yes.”

Smoothing his hands down his robe, he began to pace the cramped space, seeming to enjoy the sound of his own voice.

“A doctor suggested that I have regular blood transfusions to stave off the inevitable,” he said. Bailey nodded. She wasn’t fully familiar with human treatments, but it seemed she’d heard there were some drugs that suppressed the formation of blood platelets. “Luckily I had a brother who could provide what I needed.”

She couldn’t hide her shock. “The brother you shunned because he was a high-blood?”

Limburg shrugged. The bastard was clearly undisturbed by the thought he’d treated his brother like he was trash, then demanded his help when he needed him.

“I’ll admit that I briefly considered my previous belief that I would rather be dead than to contaminate my body with anything that came from a freak. Thankfully, my lust for life was greater than my hatred of your people.”

Bailey blinked.

Wow. Just . . . wow.

“And your brother agreed?” she demanded.

“Not at first. He had to be convinced to do his family duty.”

“You forced him.”

Limburg waved a hand toward the goon. “Robert provided incentive for him to agree to my demands.”

Bailey grimaced. Of course he did.

“Nice.”

“It offered some relief, but I was still dying. And then one day Robert became . . .” He paused, as if searching for the proper word. “Overly enthusiastic.”

Robert gave a short, humorless laugh. “It happens.”

Bailey pressed against the wall, desperately wanting to put some distance between herself and the looming brute.

“What does that mean?” she breathed.

“While he was convincing my brother to help, he accidentally broke his neck.” He spoke as if he was discussing a shattered teacup. “We had to find a healer to keep him alive.”

Limburg’s stark lack of emotion was . . . stunning.

She shuddered. “Good God.”

Limburg smiled. “Yes, it was indeed an answer from the gods.”

“Because you nearly killed your brother?”

“He was still in the process of being healed when my private doctor performed the blood transfusion,” the man explained. “Instantly I began to feel better.”

“The transfusion—”

“It was more than that,” he interrupted, suddenly annoyed. “My vitals improved, my constant pain eased, and I was able to keep down a meal for the first time in weeks. Then, as the days passed, we realized my cancer had slowed.”

She frowned. “It must have been a coincidence,” she said, although inside she was assuming that it had to be the placebo effect.

“No.” His hand slashed through the air. “I don’t understand the medical mumbo jumbo, but so long as the blood being transfused still contains the power from the healer, it gives me a residual burst of magic.” He grimaced, glaring down at the robe that covered his frail body. “It doesn’t cure me, but it does keep me alive.”

Bailey hesitated.

Good God. Was it possible? Had the brother proved to be a conduit, allowing the healer’s magic to be transferred to a human?

She’d never heard of such a thing.

But then, had it ever been tested?

They’d recently found a healer who was able to alter actual DNA, so clearly there were still things to be discovered when it came to high-blood powers.

Giving a shake of her head, she shoved the startling possibility to the back of her mind.

Right now it didn’t matter if it truly worked or if it was a figment of Limburg’s imagination.

Her only concern was keeping the man preoccupied until Mika could get her the hell out of there.

“So if your brother was helping you, then why did you kill him?” she asked.

Limburg halted his pacing to turn and meet Bailey’s wary gaze.

“The more aggressive my cancer becomes, the more powerful magic I need. Which means the more healing my brother had to receive.” Again there was that appalling lack of concern. Did he care at all that his brother had been brutally beaten just to keep him alive? Seemingly not. “Eventually his body gave out.”

She was forced to clear her throat.

Just being in the same room with the jackass made her want to gag.

“And the healer?”

“He knew too much.”

The words were matter-of-fact.

A man was dead. An expendable casualty.

“You truly are evil.” The words burst out before she could halt them.

Robert took a step toward her, but Limburg held up a restraining hand.

“As I said, your opinion has no meaning to me,” he drawled.

She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.

“Tell me why I’m here.”

“My doctor is convinced that the transfusions worked because my blood was so similar to my brother’s,” he explained. “Which means I need a new source of blood.”

A smile curved Limburg’s lips as he watched the horrified comprehension spread over her face.

“Jacob,” she breathed.

Mika and Wolfe crouched behind the hedge that framed the small parking lot.

Ignoring the baking heat and the nearby fishermen who were unloading a shrimp boat, they studied the square, red-brick structure that was built at the edge of the water.

At a glance it looked deserted.

The windows were barred and the front door locked with a heavy chain. And if that wasn’t enough, there was a large No Trespassing sign planted in the small patch of grass next to the stairs.

“This is the place,” Mika muttered.

They were the first words he’d spoken since they’d commandeered a vehicle from the monks and taken off.

It’d taken everything he possessed to focus his Sentinel skills on locating Bailey. Any lapse in his concentration and the barely leashed panic would overwhelm him.

Now, however, the tightness that had made it nearly impossible for him to breathe was beginning to ease.

Bailey . . .

She was near.

Wolfe nodded. “I’ll scout—”

“She’s there.” Mika nodded.

“You’re certain?” Wolfe pressed.

“I can sense her,” he admitted.

It was rare, but a few Sentinels formed a bond so deep they could actually feel the presence of one another when they were near.

Wolfe lifted a surprised brow. “Where?”

He nodded toward the warehouse. “Lower floor, south side.”

“Wait,” Wolfe commanded as Mika prepared to rush forward. He pointed toward the top of the warehouse. “There’s a sniper on the roof and at least one guard on the front door.”

Mika shrugged off his leader’s hand.

He didn’t care if there was a fucking army guarding the place. He was going to get Bailey.

Now.

“Keep them occupied,” he muttered, keeping low as he headed toward the end of the hedge.

“Where are you going?” Wolfe rasped. “Mika . . . dammit.”

Ignoring Wolfe’s anger, Mika silently jogged along the edge of the parking lot, headed toward the path that led toward the boat.