Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (51 page)

She
flipped
the
blond
hair
over
her
shoulder
and
smiled.
The
smile
didn’t
reach
her
eyes,
but
still,
it
was
the
first
smile
she’d
given
him
since
they’d
arrived
back
on
El
Cazador,
and
for
a
moment
his
anger
wavered,
then
returned
even
stronger.
“This
place
is
crawling
with
Church
people;
any
one
of
them
could
recognize
you
and
blow
this
whole
thing.”

“They’re
hardly
going
to
recognize
me
like
this.”

He
opened
his
mouth
to
order
her
back
as
Rico
came
up
beside
him.

“Let
her
stay,”
Rico
murmured

A
mutinous
expression
settled
on
her
face,
and
she
swung
around
to
face
Rico.
“Let?
Who
are
you
to
‘let
me’
do
anything?”

Jon
waited
to
hear
the
answer.

“The
owner
of
the
ship
you
fly
on,
sweetheart.
So
get
used
to
doing
what
you’re
told
or
find
another
berth.”

The
answer
deflated
her.
“This
has
more
to
do
with
me
than
any
of
you.”

“Hey,
I
said
stay
didn’t
I?
It’s
your
boyfriend
you
need
to
argue
with.”
He
turned
to
Jon.
“You
know,
I
think
I
liked
Al
better.
Al
did
what
he
was
told,
when
he
was
told.
Sort
this
out
now.
We
need
to
get
after
Skylar.”

“I
need
to
hear
what
Hezrai
has
to
say,”
Alex
said.
“And
I
can
be
useful.
I
know
him—I’ll
be
able
to
tell
if
he’s
lying.”

What
she
said
made
sense.
The
way
he
was
feeling
didn’t.
Well,
that
wasn’t
entirely
true.
It
made
a
weird
sort
of
sense—at
least
he
understood
what
he
was
thinking
and
why.
If
he
knew
Alex
was
somewhere
safe,
he
could
function
better.
There
would
be
no
need
to
worry
about
protecting
her;
he
could
get
on
with
the
job
he
was
here
to
do.

He
could
no
longer
tell
himself
that
he
felt
nothing.
What
he
needed
to
decide
was
whether
he
had
passed
the
point
where
he
could
walk
away.

Alex
wasn’t
the
sort
of
woman
who
would
be
happy
to
play
it
safe.
In
fact,
he
was
finding
it
hard
to
understand
how
she
had
lived
within
the
confines
of
the
Church
for
so
long
without
exploding,
but
she
obviously
also
had
an
amazing
amount
of
willpower
when
she
took
the
time
to
apply
it.
Unfortunately,
she
more
often
acted
first
and
thought
about
it
afterward.

She’d
make
a
crap
werewolf.
So
it
was
just
as
well
he’d
sworn
never
to
change
another
person.
He
wouldn’t
risk
it
anyway.
Only
about
half
of
those
attacked
survived
a
werewolf
bite.
Many
died
or
went
insane
and
had
to
be
destroyed.
That’s
what
had
happened
to
Sarah,
his
wife.
The
wolves
who
attacked
them
hadn’t
intended
her
to
die,
but
she
had
reacted
badly,
and
in
the
end,
they’d
had
to
kill
her.

His
chest
tightened
at
the
memory.
He
never
wanted
to
feel
that
overwhelming
loss
for
another
woman
again.

He
couldn’t
believe
he
was
even
thinking
about
this.

“Come
then,”
he
said.
“But
keep
out
of
the
way.”

Not
waiting
for
her
to
answer,
he
whirled
around
and
stalked
off
down
the
street,
only
stopping
when
he
realized
he
had
no
clue
where
he
was
going.
When
he
turned
back,
they
were
both
watching
him.
Rico
appeared
amused.
Alex
had
a
puzzled
frown
on
her
face.
Yeah,
he
wasn’t
making
a
lot
of
sense
these
days.

“Follow
me,”
she
said.

They
headed
back
toward
the
cathedral.
The
service
was
over,
and
people
were
spilling
out
of
the
open
doorway.
A
waft
of
hot
air
buffeted
him
as
they
passed.
Alex
led
them
straight
past
the
doorway,
around
the
side,
and
down
a
narrow
alley
that
ran
between
the
cathedral
and
the
next
building.
She
appeared
to
know
where
she
was
going,
which
was
hardly
surprising;
Trakis
Four
was
where
the
main
headquarters
of
the
Church
was
situated
and
where
Alex
had
grown
up.
Finally,
she
halted
in
front
of
a
small
door
set
into
the
wall
and
pressed
her
hand
to
the
palm
pad.
The
door
slid
open
revealing
a
narrow,
dimly
lit
corridor.
Alex
didn’t
hesitate.
Jon
stared
after
her
then
stepped
inside,
forcing
down
the
unease
that
roiled
in
his
stomach.
The
thick
scent
of
incense
permeated
the
air.