Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (54 page)

Rico
yanked
the
priest
to
his
feet,
turned
him
so
he
held
him
clamped
against
his
chest,
one
arm
tight
across
his
throat.
Hezrai
managed
a
few
guttural
chokes
and
went
still.
His
eyes
bulged,
staring
straight
ahead.
Rico
leaned
in
close
to
his
ear.

“Talk,”
he
whispered.

Hezrai
whimpered,
but
the
hand
wrapped
around
his
throat
prevented
him
from
speaking.

“Oh
dear,
can’t
talk.
I
did
warn
you.”

Rico
sank
his
fangs
into
the
priest’s
throat.
Hezrai’s
legs
kicked
but
he
was
held
tight
in
the
vampire’s
embrace.
After
a
minute,
Rico
raised
his
head
and
spat.
He
pushed
the
shaking
priest
back
into
his
seat,
but
kept
one
hand
on
his
shoulder.

“Now
talk,
or
I
drain
you
dry.”
He
stepped
back
and
rested
against
the
side
of
the
desk.

“Hey,”
Jon
said.
“I
was
supposed
to
be
the
bad
one.”

“Yeah,
well,
you
need
a
bit
more
practice.”

“Like
a
thousand
years
or
so?”
Skylar
suggested.
“I
guess
you’ve
had
a
lot
of
practice.”

Rico
cast
her
a
lazy
smile.
“I’ve
had
practice
at
a
lot
of
things,
sweetheart.
And
aren’t
you
glad?”
He
turned
back
to
Hezrai.
“Now,
can
we
get
this
finished?”

Jon
stepped
forward
again.
“Okay,
priest,
why
did
you
meet
with
Ross?”

Alex
could
see
that
Hezrai
was
broken,
his
whole
body
trembling.
She
leaned
forward
to
listen.

“Ross
came
to
me,
said
he
wanted
a
meeting.
He
wouldn’t
tell
me
what
it
was
about
over
a
comm
system.
We
agreed
to
meet
on
Trakis
Twelve—it’s
relatively
close
and
almost
abandoned.”

Jon
snorted.
“Yeah,
wasn’t
the
planet
colonized
by
GMs?
And
didn’t
the
Church
go
in
and
slaughter
them
all?”

Hezrai
shot
a
quick
glance
at
Jon’s
arm,
which
had
returned
to
its
human
form.
“We
do
God’s
work,”
he
mumbled.

“Yeah,
right—of
course
you
do.
So
what
did
Ross
want?”

Hezrai
licked
his
lips.
“He
wanted
absolution.”

“What?”
Jon’s
tone
conveyed
total
disbelief.

“He
wanted
to
say
his
confession
to
a
man
of
God
and
be
given
forgiveness
for
his
sins.”

“What
sins?”

“He
wouldn’t
say.
Just
that
they’d
discovered
something
recently—about
Meridian.
Ross
seemed
shocked,
scared,
almost
panicking,
but
he
wouldn’t
give
me
any
details,
only
that
he
wanted
a
chance
of
one
day
gaining
entry
into
Heaven.”

“Bullshit,”
Jon
said.
“The
man
was
immortal.”

“Yeah,
he
was
immortal,
yet
three
months
after
this,
he
was
dead,”
Skylar
said.

“But
why?
Who
wanted
him
dead?
There’s
got
to
be
more.
This
isn’t
enough
to
have
him
killed.
Do
you
know
anything
about
this
discovery?”

“Nothing.
But
Aiden
was
a
member
of
the
inner
circle.
It’s
possible
they’re
keeping
information
from
the
rest
of
us,
but
I’ve
no
idea
what.”

Alex
pulled
free
of
Sister
Martha’s
hand
and
stood
up.
Instinct
told
her
they
were
close
to
understanding,
but
she
still
couldn’t
see
the
sense
of
it.
She
crossed
over
to
where
Hezrai
huddled
on
his
seat.

“Did
you
give
him
absolution?”
she
asked.

Hezrai’s
gaze
shifted
to
her,
and
for
a
second
the
old
hatred
shone
in
his
eyes.
“Yes.”

And
what
had
Aiden
Ross
offered
in
exchange
for
that
absolution?
Because
there
was
one
thing
Alex
was
certain
of,
and
that
was
Hezrai
never
did
anything
for
free.
“What
did
he
give
you
in
return?”
she
asked.

“He
offered
a
possibility
of
a
coalition
between
the
Church
and
the
Collective.”

Yes,
Hezrai
would
like
that.
Anything
that
might
increase
the
Church’s
power.
But
she
sensed
there
was
more.
“What
else?”
Alex
insisted.
“What
did
he
offer
you
?”

His
lips
tightened.

“Answer
her,”
Rico
said,
giving
him
a
shake.

“He
promised
me
the
Meridian
treatment.”

Alex
stared
at
him
dumbfounded.
That
had
not
occurred
to
her,
but
maybe
it
should
have.
Hezrai
was
getting
old,
and
he
must
have
a
few
doubts
of
his
own.

Behind
her,
Jon
laughed,
but
the
sound
held
no
amusement.
“Trying
to
put
off
your
own
trip
to
Heaven,
priest.
Having
a
few
doubts?
Or
no
longer
convinced
they’ll
let
a
murdering
bastard
like
you
in?”

Now
it
made
sense.
The
Church
offered
an
alternative
to
immortality.
How
would
it
look
if
their
leader
took
Meridian
instead?
It
would
hardly
give
a
good
impression.
“That’s
why
you
wanted
me
dead,
isn’t
it?”
Alex
asked.
“I
reckon
your
congregation
would
lose
a
little
faith
if
anyone
learned
you
were
getting
the
treatment.”

“And
maybe
I
just
wanted
an
excuse
to
finish
you
off,”
Hezrai
snarled.
“But
it
was
Ross
who
insisted
you
die.
He
didn’t
want
anyone
knowing
of
our
meeting,
and
he’d
seen
you
watching
us.
I
didn’t
believe
it
was
you
at
that
point,
not
until
I
got
back
and
found
you
were
missing.
You
never
could
mind
your
own
business.
Always
wanting
to
change
things,
make
things
better.”
Alex
flinched
beneath
the
wealth
of
contempt
in
his
voice.

“This
guy’s
starting
to
annoy
me
again,”
Rico
said.
“And
I
reckon
he’s
given
us
all
we’re
going
to
get
out
of
him.
And
that’s
fuck-all
really.
We
know
why
he
wanted
Alex
dead,
and
we
have
a
connection
to
the
Collective,
which
we
knew
anyway,
but
we
still
have
no
clue
who
wanted
Aiden
Ross
killed
or
why.
That’s
the
information
we
need
to
get
the
Collective
off
our
backs.”
He
sighed.
“We’ll
get
back
to
the
ship—see
if
Janey
has
had
any
success
breaking
those
codes.”
He
glanced
across
at
Alex.
“What
do
you
want
us
to
do
with
your
friend
here?”

Alex
started
in
shock
at
the
question
then
shook
her
head.
She
didn’t
know
what
to
say,
and
she
didn’t
want
the
responsibility
of
making
the
decision.
But
that
was
cowardice.
Sister
Martha
met
her
gaze,
but
as
always
the
sister
gave
nothing
of
her
feelings
away.
Still,
she
wasn’t
begging
for
mercy
for
Hezrai
either.

Alex
wouldn’t
kill
him
out
of
revenge
for
what
he
had
tried
to
do
to
her,
but
Hezrai
was
evil.
How
many
had
he
killed
in
the
name
of
the
Church?
Left
alive,
how
many
more
would
he
go
on
to
kill?
And
if
he
were
gone,
perhaps
the
Church
would
have
a
chance
to
reshape
itself
and
actually
become
a
force
for
good.