Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (68 page)

Skylar
turned
away
and
paced
the
confines
of
the
room,
deep
in
thought.
She
was
obviously
struggling
with
a
decision,
and
he
forced
himself
to
stay
silent
while
she
battled
it
out
herself.

Rico
was
not
so
restrained.
“What
are
you
thinking?”

“That
there
might
be
a
way.”

“If
there’s
a
way—why
haven’t
you
mentioned
it
before?”

“Because
it
would
never
work
without
Jon
giving
himself
up,
and
I
believed
that
wasn’t
an
option.”
She
studied
Jon
for
a
moment.
“Are
you
sure
you
want
to
go
through
with
this.
They
will
kill
you.
I
can’t
stop
that.”

“I
know.
But
hey,
when
I
was
captured
last
time,
I
expected
to
spend
two
years
dying
in
the
mines.
At
least
I
won’t
have
to
go
through
that.”

“Yeah,
you’re
a
real
lucky
bastard,”
Rico
said.
“But
I
still
don’t
see
how
Jon
giving
himself
up
will
stop
them
coming
after
the
rest
of
us.”

“They
might—if
I
go
with
him.”

“You’re
not
giving
yourself
up
with
him,”
Rico
said.

Skylar
rolled
her
eyes.
“Shit,
Rico,
you’ve
spent
the
last
half
hour
persuading
me
to
go
back.
As
you
said,
they
won’t
hurt
me—I’m
one
of
them.
I
always
will
be.”

Jon
frowned.
He
hadn’t
planned
on
taking
anyone
with
him.
“You
don’t
need
to
come.
Just
set
this
up.”

“Won’t
work.
The
reason
they
want
the
whole
crew
dead
is
they
believe
you
might
have
passed
on
anything
you
know,
including
how
to
destroy
us.
But
the
truth
is
we
don’t
know
anything,
and
you
haven’t
told
us.”

“So
tell
them
that.”

She
smiled
condescendingly.
“Would
you
believe
me?
I’m
one
of
them,
but
they
don’t
exactly
trust
me
right
now.”

“So
how
will
going
with
me
make
them
believe
you?”

For
a
minute,
she
seemed
undecided,
then
she
shrugged.
“You
know
there’s
a
telepathic
link
between
members
of
the
Collective,
right?”

Jon
nodded,
and
she
continued.
“Well,
the
link
is
made
up
of
certain
layers.
The
top
layer
is
usually
open—we
use
it
as
a
way
to
communicate.
The
next
layer
down
shows
some
of
our
thoughts
and
feelings,
but
we
can
still
keep
certain
information
to
ourselves.
Right
down
at
the
bottom,
there’s
a
level
where
all
my
thoughts
are
open
to
them.”

“How
inconvenient,”
Rico
drawled.

“Exactly,
and
we
normally
keep
this
level
shut
down
tight.
If
I
open
that
level
to
them,
they’ll
know
I
speak
the
truth.
I
won’t
be
able
to
hide
anything.”

“Interesting,”
Rico
murmured.

“I
tell
you
my
innermost
thoughts
anyway.”

“Of
course
you
do.”

“So
call
them
up
and
open
it,”
Jon
said.

“No
can
do.
It
can
only
be
accessed
when
physically
present.
I
have
to
go
with
you.”

It
was
Rico’s
turn
to
pace.
“Tannis
isn’t
going
to
let
him
go.
You
know
how
she
is
about
protecting
the
crew.”

There
was
that
warm
fuzzy
feeling
again.
Jesus,
what
a
time
to
turn
sentimental.
“So
we
don’t
tell
Tannis,”
he
said.

“She’ll
be
pissed.”

“Well,
that’s
hardly
going
to
be
my
problem,
now
is
it?”

A
smile
flickered
across
Rico’s
face
then
was
gone.
“I
might
not
let
you
go.”

Jon
laughed,
but
the
sound
held
no
humor.
“You’ll
let
me
go
because
you
know
we’ll
all
be
dead
otherwise.
There’s
no
way
you’ve
survived
this
long
without
being
a
realist.
They’ll
keep
coming
after
us.
One
day
soon,
you’ll
make
a
mistake,
and
they’ll
finish
us
off.
I
die
either
way.”

“I
still
don’t
like
it.”

Jon
stepped
up
close.
“You
don’t
have
to
like
it.
This
is
my
choice.
And
besides—this
way
I
get
to
die
a
hero.”

Rico
shook
his
head.
“
Dios
,
I
always
said
you
had
a
death
wish.”

“Maybe
once.
Not
anymore.
It’s
ironic
really,
but
strangely
I
don’t
want
to
die.”
So
many
times,
he
had
faced
death
and
survived,
not
really
caring
whether
he
lived
or
died.
Now
that
he
did
care…he
wanted
to
live.
Christ,
life
sucked
big-time.

“Well,
that’s
a
real
tragedy,
considering.”
Rico
glanced
across
at
Skylar.
“This
will
work?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe’s
not
good
enough.”

“It
will
have
to
be,
Rico.
But
I
think
I
can
make
it
work.”

He
studied
her
for
a
moment
before
nodding.
“Okay,
go
ahead.”

Jon
watched,
fascinated,
as
Skylar
closed
her
purple
eyes.
She
stood
relaxed,
but
behind
her
lids,
he
could
see
the
flutter
of
movement.
A
minute
later,
she
blinked.

“It’s
done.
They’ve
agreed
in
principle,
but
they
want
El
Cazador
to
head
back
to
Trakis
Five
as
a
sign
of
good
faith.
Once
we’ve
done
the
deep
link,
you’ll
be
free
to
go.”

Jon
didn’t
like
that
idea.
The
whole
reason
behind
doing
this
was
to
get
the
rest
of
them
way
beyond
the
reach
of
the
Collective.
He’d
be
much
happier
with
El
Cazador
heading
as
fast
as
she
could
go
in
the
opposite
direction.