Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (7 page)

“Sorry,
kid.
You’re
Alexia,
High
Priestess
of
the
Church
of
Everlasting
Life.”

The
glimmer
evaporated.

“It
came
to
me
tonight,”
Skylar
continued.
“I
knew
you
looked
familiar.
I’d
seen
the
comms—they’re
all
over
the
waves.”

“The
comms?”

“Apparently
you
went
missing,
and
they
want
you
back.
The
comms
hinted
that
you’d
been
kidnapped
though.
Anyway,
there’s
a
picture—which
doesn’t
look
a
lot
like
you—and
they’re
offering
a
big
reward.
Tonight,
it
clicked.
Rico
said
something
about
your
reasons
for
hiding
being
your
own—”

Shock
tightened
her
gut,
and
her
gaze
flew
to
Skylar’s
face.
“Rico
knows?”

“Not
who
you
are,
but
what
you
are.”

“Has
he
known
all
along?”

“No.
You
might
be
a
good
actor,
but
you
slip
occasionally—he
got
interested.”

“Oh.”

It
was
over.
Skylar
was
her
friend.
She
might
have
been
willing
to
keep
her
secret,
but
not
the
vampire.
“Are
you
going
to
tell
him?”

“Look,
kid—”

Annoyance
flicked
her
nerve
endings.
“I’m
not
a
kid.
I
don’t
think
I’ve
ever
been
a
kid.”

Skylar
ran
her
gaze
over
Alex,
who
managed
to
hold
herself
from
squirming
under
the
intense
scrutiny.
When
she
reached
Alex’s
eyes,
her
brows
drew
together.
“No.
I
can
see
that
when
I
look—you
have
old
eyes.
Just
how
old
are
you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Holy
Meridian.
Really?
I
placed
you
no
more
than
fourteen—maybe
fifteen.”

She
gritted
her
teeth.
“Yes,
really.”

Skylar
was
still
staring
as
though
she
didn’t
believe
her.

“I’m
little,
okay.
It
makes
me
look
younger.”

“It
certainly
does.
You
must
be
a
very
good
actor.”

“I’ve
had
to
be.”
Alex
didn’t
try
to
hide
the
bitterness
in
her
voice.
All
her
life
she’d
been
acting,
pretending
to
be
the
dutiful
priestess
while
everything
screamed
in
denial.
Now
she
was
heading
back,
and
it
was
the
end
of
her
dreams.

It
wasn’t
fair.

She
bit
the
words
back,
kept
them
inside—that
was
a
child’s
view
of
life,
and
she
wasn’t
a
child.

“Don’t
worry—I
was
always
planning
to
go
back.
Now
you
can
take
me
and
get
the
reward.
At
least
the
captain
will
be
happy.”
Everyone
knew
Tannis
was
obsessed
with
getting
enough
credits
together
to
pay
for
the
Meridian
treatment.
Alex
attempted
a
mirthless
grin.
It
was
nice
to
know
she
would
be
of
some
use.
Not.

“Do
you
want
to
go
back?”
Skylar
asked.

She
shrugged.
“I
told
you,
I’d
always
planned
to.
I
just
wanted
a
little
more
time.”

“So
what
happened?
I
take
it
you
ran
away—but
why?”

Alex
leaped
to
her
feet
and
paced
the
room.
“One
day,
it
all
got
to
be
too
much.
I
couldn’t
stand
it
anymore.
The
predictable
routines,
the
endless
rituals,
the
people.
They
were
all
so
pompous
and
good
and
boring.
And
I’d
never
seen
anything
of
the
world,
and
I
never
would.”
She
halted
in
front
of
Skylar.
“Have
you
ever
felt
like
you’d
explode
if
you
didn’t
do
something…anything?”

Skylar
nodded
slowly.
“Yeah,
I’ve
felt
like
that.”
They
were
silent
for
a
minute.
“You
know,
we’re
not
so
different—I’ve
run
away
as
well.”

Alex
realized
she
meant
from
the
Collective.
Maybe
Skylar
did
understand.
“So
what
are
you
going
to
do?”

“It’s
not
up
to
me.
I
won’t
make
you
go
back—it’s
your
decision.
You
want
more
time—take
as
much
as
you
like.”

Hope
blossomed
inside
her,
and
her
lips
tugged
up
at
the
corners.

“But—”

Alex’s
smile
faded.
“But?”

“Chances
are,
your
friends
will
come
after
us
again.
They
must
want
you
back
badly.”

Alex
chewed
on
her
fingernail.
“I
don’t
understand
that
bit.
Honestly.”

“Perhaps
because
you’re
their
High
Priestess,”
Skylar
said
gently.
“They
love
you.”

“Some
of
them
maybe.
Sister
Martha.
But
Hezrai
hates
me.”

“The
High
Priest
we
spoke
to?”

“Yeah,
he’s
a
pompous
old
goat.”

“Well,
he
cares
enough
to
come
after
you.
All
I’m
saying
is
you
need
to
come
clean.
Tell
Tannis
and
Rico
who
you
are,
so
they
can
keep
away
from
the
Church.”

“They’ll
send
me
back.”

“They
won’t.”

“The
captain
will
want
the
reward.”

“Tannis
likes
money,
but
once
you’re
crew
she
won’t
give
you
up.
You
know
she’d
die
keeping
her
crew
safe.”

“Maybe.”
Alex
felt
a
small
resurgence
of
hope.
Skylar
was
right—the
captain
took
care
of
her
people.
But
while
Tannis
might
be
the
captain,
Rico
actually
owned
El
Cazador
.
“What
about
the
vampire?”