Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (56 page)

He’d
told
her
he
liked
to
do
the
chasing,
so
she’d
backed
off,
but
the
effort
was
killing
her.
She
had
too
many
years
of
watching
life
from
a
distance.
Now,
she
was
fighting
the
urge
to
grab
hold
of
what
she
wanted.
Some
inner
sense
screamed
that
time
was
short.
She
just
wasn’t
sure
how
short.
The
Collective
could
catch
up
with
them
at
any
moment.

So,
while
she
was
letting
Jon
take
the
lead,
he
was
only
going
to
be
allowed
to
run
things
for
a
short
time.
She’d
realized
today,
when
he’d
been
so
angry
to
find
her
outside
the
cathedral,
that
he
was
scared.
Scared
of
letting
himself
care.
Scared
of
failing
to
keep
her
safe.

Something
had
happened
to
make
him
that
way,
and
she
wanted
to
wipe
away
the
bad
memories.

The
ship
shifted
beneath
her.
Normally,
it
was
hard
to
feel
their
movement;
El
Cazador
was
a
smooth
ride.
They
must
have
turned
abruptly.

Were
they
under
attack
again?
At
least
this
time
it
wasn’t
her
fault.

When
nothing
further
happened,
she
headed
for
the
bridge.
Daisy
was
in
the
pilot’s
seat;
otherwise,
the
room
was
empty.
She
peered
over
her
shoulder
as
Alex
entered
and
grinned,
white
teeth
gleaming
against
her
jade-green
lips.

“Where
is
everyone
and
where
are
we
going?”
Alex
asked.

“Everyone
is
over
in
the
conference
room
having
a
meeting,
and
we’re
going
to
Trakis
Five.”

Shock
punched
her
in
the
gut.
“Trakis
Five?
Why
would
we
go
anywhere
near
Trakis
Five?”

…

Jon
stared
at
Alex’s
mutinous
expression
as
the
shuttle
door
closed
between
them.
She’d
wanted
to
go
too
and
had
made
it
very
clear.

In
some
ways,
he
understood
her
desire
to
cram
as
much
life
as
she
could
into
every
moment.
All
the
same,
he
was
pleased
it
was
Rico
who
had
refused
to
take
her
this
time.
Rico
had
quite
rightly
pointed
out
that
this
was
not
a
sightseeing
trip.

They
were
taking
Janey.
She
would
hopefully
get
the
information
they
needed,
and
they
would
be
out
of
there
before
anyone
even
noticed
their
presence.

Of
course,
Jon
had
serious
doubts
things
would
pan
out
that
way.
They
were
number
one
on
the
Collective’s
most-wanted
list
and
were
about
to
touch
down
on
Trakis
Five,
administrative
center
of
the
Collective
and
base
for
the
Corps,
the
Collective’s
private
and
extremely
effective
army.
So
it
was
perfect
Alex
was
staying
aboard
El
Cazador
.

Skylar
was
coming
with
them.
She
was
dressed
in
the
uniform
of
the
Corps.
It
was
her
job
to
keep
watch
and
monitor
for
any
Collective
activity,
maybe
manage
to
run
a
little
interference
if
they
were
spotted.

They
would
take
Janey
to
wherever
this
computer
node
was
located.
Right
now,
she
didn’t
actually
know,
just
coordinates
of
a
location,
but
with
the
way
their
luck
was
going,
it
would
be
slap
bang
in
the
middle
of
Corps
headquarters.
But
at
least
Alex
would
be
safe—or
as
safe
as
any
of
them
were
at
this
point.

Slumping
down
in
his
seat,
he
stared
at
the
ceiling.
He
and
Alex
had
been
avoiding
each
other
for
the
last
three
days.
He’d
decided
it
was
best,
and
she
obviously
agreed.
Until
this
Collective
problem
was
sorted,
there
was
no
point
in
making
plans.
As
if
he
had
any
intention
of
ever
making
plans
again.

Darkness
was
falling
as
Rico
glided
the
shuttle
into
the
main
port
area
of
the
city,
making
no
effort
at
subterfuge.
They’d
decided
their
best
bet
for
getting
through
this
was
not
to
draw
attention
and
hope
no
one
noticed
them.

They
hired
two
speeders.
A
large
four-seater
that
held
him,
Rico,
and
Janey,
while
Skylar
followed
at
a
distance
in
the
second,
smaller
vehicle.

Janey
sat
in
the
front
beside
Rico,
with
a
handheld
tracking
device
locked
onto
the
computer
node.
They
headed
first
into
the
city,
but
once
in
the
built-up
area
she
directed
them
away
from
the
center
and
into
the
residential
district.
The
buildings
became
gradually
more
luxurious,
reminding
him
of
pictures
he
had
seen
of
old
Earth
cities.