Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (11 page)

Chapter
Three

The
whole
ship
lurched
sideways,
hurling
Alex
out
of
her
chair.

El
Cazador
screamed
under
the
strain,
and
the
lights
flashed
and
went
out.
They
spun
out
of
control,
and
Alex
was
tossed
onto
the
floor
like
a
doll.
Someone
landed
on
top
of
her,
and
the
air
whooshed
from
her
lungs.
She
gripped
on
to
whoever
it
was
as
the
ship
rolled,
and
this
time
she
fell,
presumably
hitting
the
ceiling
only
to
be
flung
to
the
floor
again
as
El
Cazador
righted
herself.

“Shit.”
The
word
sounded
close.
Alex
thought
it
was
Jon,
but
in
the
darkness,
she
couldn’t
be
sure.

She
lay
still,
waiting
for
the
next
hit.
It
never
came.
After
a
minute,
the
lights
flickered
back
on.
Except
for
people
littering
the
floor,
the
bridge
appeared
in
good
shape.

Searching
around,
she
found
Jon
a
few
feet
to
her
left.
He
was
sitting
up,
rubbing
his
head.
Her
gaze
clung
to
him
for
a
moment,
taking
in
the
naked
chest,
then
down
the
length
of
his
arm.
The
claws
were
gone—his
hand
had
returned
to
normal.

For
one
horrible
moment
earlier,
she’d
been
sure
Rico
was
going
to
kill
him.
Or
Jon
was
going
to
kill
Rico.
Either
outcome
wouldn’t
have
been
good.
She’d
actually
jumped
to
her
feet,
unsure
what
she
could
do,
but
ready
to
launch
herself
between
them.
They’d
probably
have
torn
her
to
pieces… She
needed
a
gun.

Luckily,
Skylar
had
decided
it
was
time
to
intervene,
and
she
did
have
a
weapon.
Alex
had
slunk
back
down
into
her
seat.

Now,
Tannis
stood
up,
brushed
herself
off,
and
scowled.
“That
was
no
freaking
warning
shot.”

Alex
brightened
a
little
at
the
words.
Her
immediate
thought
had
been
that
the
Church
had
come
back
for
her.
But
as
the
captain
said—that
was
no
warning
shot.
Whoever
had
hit
them
had
meant
business.
Maybe
it
was
nothing
to
do
with
her.

Rico
picked
himself
up
off
the
floor again.
“If
that’s
the
goddamn
Church
again,
this
time
I’m
blowing
them
out
of
the
sky.”

He
flung
himself
down
in
the
pilot’s
seat,
smashed
his
fist
on
the
console
in
front
of
him,
and
the
monitor
flickered
into
life.
A
huge
star
cruiser
filled
the
screen.

“That’s
no
Church
vessel.”

Alex
scrambled
to
her
feet
and
brushed
herself
off.
She
was
bruised
but
nothing
worse.
She
edged
around
Skylar
and
peered
over
Rico’s
shoulder
at
the
ship
on
the
monitor.
It
was
huge;
she’d
never
seen
anything
like
it.

“No,
it’s
not,”
Skylar
said.
“That’s
a
Collective
Star
Cruiser,
and
I’m
betting
it’s
chock
full
of
Corps.”

“How
sweet,”
Tannis
muttered.
“Your
friends
came
to
say
hello.”

Rico
frowned.
“That
shot
sounded
more
like
good-bye
to
me.”

“They
must
want
him
bad,”
Skylar
said,
nodding
at
Jon.

“Yeah,
he’s
a
real
popular
guy,”
Rico
replied.
“How
the
hell
did
they
find
us
so
fast?”

“Maybe
he’s
bugged,”
Skylar
said.

“Jesus.
Why
the
hell
didn’t
we
think
of
that?”
Tannis
leaned
across
and
pressed
the
comm
link.
“Janey,
you
okay?
Well,
get
down
here
and
bring
a
scanner
with
you.”
She
turned
back
to
Rico.
“What’s
the
damage?”

“She’s
holding
for
the
moment,
but
another
hit
like
that,
and
we’ll
have
problems.”

“Well,
let’s
see
if
we
can
persuade
them
not
to.
Skylar,
can
you
talk
to
them?”
Tannis
asked.

Skylar
nodded
and
closed
her
eyes,
her
face
clearing
of
expression.
A
minute
later,
she
blinked.
“They’re
not
interested
in
talking.”

“That’s
not
good
news,”
Tannis
muttered.

“Well,
the
next
bit’s
even
better.
They’ve
given
me
five
minutes
to
get
off
the
ship,
then
they
plan
on
blowing
you
into
little
pieces.”

“Will
they
go
ahead
even
if
you
stay
on
board?”
Tannis
asked.

“Oh,
yeah.
They
made
that
very
clear.
But
they
did
promise
to
resurrect
me.”

“They
can
do
that?”

“As
long
as
there’s
DNA
left.”

“Maybe
you’d
better
go,”
Rico
said
quietly.

Alex’s
eyes
flashed
from
Rico
to
Skylar.
Would
she
go?

“No
way,”
Skylar
snapped.
“So
you’d
better
be
thinking
of
a
way
to
get
us
out
of
here.
And
in
the
next
five
minutes.”