Hunter (18 page)

FORTY-FOUR

Sam

           
The
night and day after the altercation passed uneventfully. With both Jason and
Hunter injured, which I knew despite the fact that Jason’s injuries were
invisible to me, neither was overly eager to face the other again. “I’m sure
he’s fine.” Hannah tried to reassure me without knowing why I was so worried.
Jason was hurting, that much was clear. Quite a bit of it was emotional, but
there was a significant portion of physical pain as well. His aggravation at
the situation was obvious, and I knew the others wouldn’t be successful much
longer in preventing him from continuing the search. “What aren’t you telling
me, Sam?”

           
Barely
sparing her a glance, I kept my focus inward to continue keeping track of both
of the men I was somehow able to sense. “Probably several things. Can you be
more specific?” It was a sarcastic response, but I was not comfortable
explaining things to her while still in captivity.

           
“I…
you’ve been so distracted since I got here. With the lack of things to do in
this room, I’m kind of curious as to what is holding so much of your
attention.”

           
Giving
her a sideways glance, I admired her perception. “Wait a few minutes, I think
Hunter is about to leave.” My voice was low, to avoid attracting attention.
Maybe I wouldn’t tell her about manipulating the thoughts and emotions of
Hunter and Jason, but it couldn’t hurt to tell her I could read their emotions.
However, there was no way I was taking the risk of telling her while Hunter was
in the house.

           
Hunter
was becoming restless from his forced inactivity. Despite it being only about
twenty-four hours since the fight, I was pretty sure he would leave the house
soon, even if it was only to spy on my brother. My assumption proved true when
a few minutes later we heard the front door slam and the car engine start.
After standing, and pulling the length of chain along so she could look out the
window, Hannah looked at me. “Okay, he’s gone. What’s going on?”

           
Taking
a deep breath, I committed to telling her the secret my brother didn’t even
know. Sensing my hesitation, she sat next to me and put her arm around my
shoulders. She used to do the same in order to comfort me while Jason was
missing, or when he was drowning in the memories of what was done to him. “Do
you think I’ll judge you for anything you tell me?” she asked gently. “After
everything we’ve been through, you’re my little brother too.”

           
For
the first time since Hunter kidnapped me, I smiled. A true smile, not my smirk
or the mocking smile I used to help fortify the changes made to Hunter’s sense
of fear. “Family first, right?” I asked, my voice sounding younger than it had
in ages.

           
With
a nod, she ruffled my hair gently and rested her head on my shoulder. “Always.
No matter where you and Jason end up, whether you choose to come home or not,
we are always your family.”

           
Without
meeting her eyes I began to explain. “I’ve never told anyone.” I stressed as my
first point. “Not even Jason knows what I’m about to tell you, and I need you
to promise you’ll let me tell him on my own terms. No dropping hints or trying
to force me to tell him. I’ll choose.”

           
Looking
very curious, she nodded her assent, so I continued to tell her about my
abilities. When I finished, her eyes were wide with surprise. “You can sense
him?” she asked quietly. “Is he okay?” Her eyes filled with tears, which made
me realize her feelings for my brother hadn’t changed in the time we’d been
gone. Based on Jason’s emotions when he saw her a couple days ago, his feelings
hadn’t either.

           
“He’s…”
Terrified, hurting, worried. Did she really need to know that all of his
emotions right now were negative? Knowing Jason as we both did, I knew we could
assume he was ready to do something stupid and dangerous to get us to safety.
She kept looking at me, waiting for me to finish my thought. “He’s determined,”
I finally chose. “Hunter was able to take two people Jason cares about, and
hurt
him
. Jase isn’t about to let
that stand. But he’s with Mark and Detective Nickels, so hopefully they’ll be
able to hold him back a little.”

           
Snorting,
she hugged me tighter. “Have you ever managed to change his mind about anything
once he makes a decision?”

           
I
had to admit that I hadn’t. “Not once. I kept trying to get him to call you,
and made it pretty obvious I wanted to go back home. There’s no way I would
leave him again. He wasn’t ready to contact you, and even I can’t figure out
what was holding him back.”

           
“Fear,”
she stated simply.

           
Moving
away from her a little bit, I decided to try for the nail in the wall again. So
far there was no sign of it loosening, but it was the only thing I could reach
that might be able to help set us free. Then Jason wouldn’t have to worry about
us anymore.

           
While
I worked, Hannah watched with the interest of someone who had nothing to do for
far too long. “I think it was more than that.” If it was as simple as fear, I
would have been able to pinpoint it. “Part of it was fear,” I agreed. “I also
think Jason was worried you wouldn’t want to talk to him, because he waited so
long to call. He became so used to seclusion, that the idea of opening up again
was a foreign concept.”

           
“Still
a kind of fear,” she argued half-heartedly.

           
Conceding
the point, I once again realized that the nail was too well embedded to take
out without a claw hammer. The weight of the manacle, despite the padding, was
stifling. I constantly fought the ache in my arm, as well as the headache that
was prevalent since my forced inactivity. “We need to move more,” I said.
“Somehow we need to get loose, but there’s nothing I can think of that will
lead to our freedom.”

           
Nothing
besides my plan—already in the works—of messing with Hunter’s few emotions
enough to distract him, and give Jason the opening he needed to win. But that
wasn’t going to be easy when both men’s heightened emotions threatened to take
over during a fight. It was hard enough for me to stay… well, me… without
having their feelings stirred up throughout the confrontation.

           
There’s
also this problem: even if Jason wins against Hunter, there is no guarantee
Hunter will tell him where we are being kept. I’m still working on somehow
using my ability to send a message to Jason, but I’m not sure it’s possible.

           
For
now, Jason is our only hope.

FORTY-FIVE

Hunter

           
The day after my confrontation with
Jason was awful. I didn’t have the energy to consider even spying on my prey,
and my entire body ached. For most of the day I lay in bed, hoping the pain
would ease enough that movement would actually be possible. My every thought
revolved around how to repay the man who injured me. He was presumably
similarly injured, but it didn’t seem like enough.

           
Through
most of the day, it was all I could do to drag myself upstairs to leave food
and water for my two captives, and make sure they hadn’t managed to escape.
Both looked at me with such loathing it was a wonder I didn’t burst into flames
from the pure malice. Their hatred didn’t bother me in the slightest. What did
bother me was that my healthy fear of a worthy adversary was quickly turning to
terror that I wouldn’t be able to win against him. Despite what I told my
prisoners, I wasn’t convinced my powers would prevail, even if I stopped
holding back.

           
Maybe
there was a lesson in our battle. Holding back wasn’t an option. If my power
wasn’t enough to kill him, perhaps, if I stopped holding back, it would make me
powerful enough to capture him. The next couple days would be the most
opportune time to go after him, since he was injured and likely not able to
protect himself quite as readily.

           
Regrettably,
I also was in no shape to guard myself adequately. By the end of the day the
bruises still throbbed, and my muscles still ached. Despite the pain, I forced
myself out of bed to stretch so they would begin to loosen. It hurt, but I felt
I should be able to go after Jason soon. In between stretching and exercising,
I once again tried to get more intel on my target. Neither Sam nor Hannah
seemed inclined to change their original story that Jason was so secretive he
never shared full knowledge of his abilities with anyone, including those he
was closest to.

           
The
way Sam stared through me also made me feel uneasy. It was like he could tell
everything about me with just a single look, and nothing about me impressed
him. Even when I threatened him, I barely got a rise out of him. All he ever
said is I didn’t stand a chance against Jason. He definitely had a hero-worship
thing going for big brother, and I wondered how distraught he would be when I
won. If I won.

           
Three
days. That was my absolute limit. Even one day of inactivity was mind-numbing,
and my boredom, most likely, would drive me to check in on Jason soon. My prey
was out there waiting for me, and I had enough of sitting around. Of course I
was capable of patiently waiting for the correct time to strike, but for any
kind of advantage against a potentially stronger opponent, the attack had to
happen before Jason fully recovered.

           
One
positive is that my injuries were certain to be less severe. When Jason threw
me, I hadn’t hit anything but the ground. When I flung Jason in retaliation, he
slammed into a tree. He had been severely dazed when I dragged myself over to
him, but I was certain he remembered the encounter.

           
The
man with him was barely worth my attention. Dropping the stranger was simple.
He had frozen with shock while Jason and I fought. It seemed to me the shock
hadn’t been purely due to the revelation of my powers, but also about the
viciousness of Jason’s attack. At least that’s how I read the look of fright he
sent Jason’s way while the other man wasn’t paying attention. So even if he
knew about Jason’s power, it seemed he never saw it in action before that
night. The only threat from him would be if he got over his panic, and managed
to draw his weapon on me before I could drop him again. Bullets still travel
faster than I can react.

           
Finally
leaving the house was like being released from prison. My muscles felt looser,
and movement came with only a small amount of discomfort. My phone rang as I
climbed into the car. Twisting to buckle the seatbelt made me wince, my back
apparently not as loose as I thought. Checking the caller ID, I saw it was one
of my friends in low places. “Hello, Doctor,” I said, slight derision in my
voice for the man’s chosen code name. Even a man such as myself could scorn
another for being even more despicable. I may kill my victims, but his victims
almost always begged to die.

           
Although,
I suppose I had little room to cast stones in this case, since he would be the
most likely buyer for Jason. “Hunter.” His voice was nasally and pretentious.
The Doctor was a man I thoroughly loathed, but he would be willing to pay my
asking price for a man with Jason’s abilities. He wanted to study Jason and
figure out why he was able to do the things he could do, and by extension, why
I could do them. If he ever found the reason, I wanted to know. However, the
Doctor couldn’t know about my abilities, or he was likely to send his
collectors after me and use me in his experiments.

           
“I
was wondering when I could expect delivery on the specimen we discussed
earlier,” he continued.

           
Since
I never promised Jason would go to him, his question seemed a bit odd. “As I
told you last time we spoke: I simply know where the specimen is, and was
wondering if there would be a market for said object if I am able to acquire
it,” I explained again, keeping my tone even, but with a slight hint of
impatience. “Now that I know there is an interest, I will keep you in mind
if
I obtain it and
if
your price is right.”

           
He
huffed a bit, but knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on when it came to trying
to threaten me into doing what he wanted. “Very well.” His haughty voice now
sounded like it was coming through clenched teeth. “I will strive to wait
patiently for news of the auction.” The call ended abruptly, and I wondered
if—by telling people about a man with strange powers—I’d woken a sleeping
beast. None of the men I contacted were patient people, and all would be eager
for a chance to study someone like Jason. None would be gentle.

           
And
if I failed to deliver after whetting their appetites, they would come after
me.