Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (61 page)

“Through
there,
ma’am.”
He
gestured
toward
an
open
doorway.

Alex
peered
in,
but
she
couldn’t
see
past
the
small
knot
of
men.
She
followed
Skylar
as
she
strode
across
the
hallway,
her
boots
echoing
on
the
tiled
floor.
The
group
parted,
and
she
caught
her
first
sight
of
the
man
strapped
to
the
chair.

Oh
God.

…

The
world
had
been
reduced
to
nothing
more
than
pain.
Pain
that
burned,
pain
that
froze,
other
indescribable
pain.

There
was
a
second
of
respite
while
his
tormentor
fiddled
with
his
case
of
goodies
and
decided
what
to
try
next.
They
were
obviously
having
fun.
At
least
he
was
going
to
die
making
someone
happy.

He
hadn’t
told
them
anything;
though
he
wasn’t
sure
they
cared
either
way.

Shit,
the
sergeant
had
made
his
decision.
The
syringe
held
a
lurid
pink
liquid,
and
Jon
winced.
He
opened
his
mouth
to
make
a
comment,
to
prove
he
wasn’t
beaten
yet,
but
at
that
moment,
there
was
a
commotion
in
the
doorway,
and
they
all
turned
to
look.

At
first,
he
couldn’t
see
anything
as
men
stood
in
the
way.
They
parted
slightly,
and
the
first
thing
he
saw
was
a
black
uniform.
The
Collective
had
arrived.

He
wasn’t
sure
whether
that
was
a
good
thing
or
bad.
At
least
they
were
likely
to
finish
him
off
quicker.
No
dwindling
away
in
the
Meridian
mines
this
time.

His
gaze
was
drawn
to
a
figure
standing
beside
the
Corps
officer.
She
was
small
but
hard
to
miss
in
a
bright
pink
jumpsuit.
His
vision
blurred,
and
he
shook
his
head.

He
must
be
hallucinating,
because
he
could
swear
Alex
stood
in
the
doorway,
a
medical
kit
clasped
tight
against
her
chest.
Blinking,
he
shook
his
head
again
to
clear
the
sweat
from
his
eyes.
Yes,
it
was
Alex,
and
he
must
look
even
worse
than
he
felt
because
an
expression
of
total
horror
was
stamped
across
her
face.

He
looked
again
at
the
Corps
officer.
Last
time
his
gaze
hadn’t
risen
above
the
violet
insignia
on
her
chest.
Now
he
looked
into
her
face.

Skylar.

She
frowned
at
him,
and
he
realized
something
must
be
showing
on
his
face.
He
hoped
it
wasn’t
what
he
was
feeling
right
now,
because
that
would
be
plain
embarrassing.

They’d
come
for
him
after
all.

They
hadn’t
flown
away
and
left
him
to
rot.

He
was
actually
feeling
all
warm
and
fuzzy.
It
must
be
the
drugs.

He
forced
his
brain
to
concentrate.
They
weren’t
out
of
here
yet.
Skylar
must
have
convinced
them
she
was
from
the
Collective,
but
that
would
only
last
as
long
as
it
took
the
real
Corps
to
turn
up.

Alex
had
managed
to
get
her
expression
under
control,
though
he
could
still
see
the
shock
reflected
in
her
huge
eyes.

The
sergeant
didn’t
appear
suspicious,
just
pissed
off
that
he’d
lost
his
chance
to
finish
Jon
off.

“Release
the
prisoner,
Sergeant.”
Skylar’s
tone
gave
nothing
away.

“He’s
dangerous,
ma’am,
best
keep
him
tied
up
until
your
people
get
here.”

Skylar
stepped
closer.
“Do
you
think
I
need
‘my
people’,
Sergeant?
I
said
release
him.”

“Give
us
a
few
more
minutes,
and
he’ll
tell
us
everything
he
knows.”

The
guy
was
persistent.
Or
an
idiot.
It
took
balls
to
go
up
against
a
Corps
officer.

“But
we
don’t
want
him
to
tell
you
anything.
Which
is
why
you
were
specifically
ordered
not
to
interrogate
him.”

Her
tone
was
still
blank,
but
even
so,
she
radiated
a
sense
of
menace.
The
sergeant
must
have
finally
noticed
as
well;
he
was
slow
but
not
entirely
stupid.
He
took
a
step
back
and
nodded
once.

Skylar
moved
toward
Jon
and
stopped.
Her
eyes
narrowed,
and
she
turned
to
Alex.
“Backup
is
here
in
thirty.”

Panic
flared
in
Alex’s
eyes,
and
she
clutched
the
box
tighter
but
nodded.
Jon
could
see
her
muttering
to
herself,
and
he
realized
she
was
counting
and
suddenly
knew
what
was
going
down.

There
wasn’t
a
lot
he
could
do
trussed
up
like
he
was.
But
he
could
get
out
of
the
line
of
fire.
He
readied
himself.