The Huntress (4 page)

“More?” he asked quietly.

She was shaking her head when Mea stepped into the room.

“Hey, sugar, glad you made it. Where’s Terrik?”

Regan opened her mouth to answer and was horrified to find that she couldn’t. Mea’s lovely face disappeared behind a curtain of unstoppable tears, and sobs shook her slim body.

“Oh, hell.” Sitting down next to her, Mea held her while she cried, rocking gently and making soothing noises.

When the tears slowed down, Regan tried to explain. “He—he didn’t wa-want me.”

“He said that?”

“Yeah. He said I was l-lucky he didn’t sell my ass for transport.”

Mea was quiet for a long moment and Regan rested against her, comforted by the sound of the woman’s heart in her ear and the warmth of her arms. She’d missed this kind of closeness. She missed her sister. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks, but they were quiet tears.

“Warren, I think it’s time for plan B.”

Regan looked up to see alarm spread over the android’s face.

“You said that was hypothetical! You said you just wanted to know if it was possible!”

“I can’t believe you bought that bullshit.”

Warren rested his head in his hands with a groan.

“Trust me. Have a little faith.” Mea sounded amused.

Regan pulled back to see her face—yup, the woman was grinning. “What’s plan B?”

“Plan B is saving Terrik’s ass whether he wants me to or not.”

“At our expense!” Warren said darkly and Mea snickered.

“Don’t be so negative. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

Warren lowered his head even further to thunk it gently on the table. “We are so screwed.”

Chapter 4

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Terrik tensed but didn’t turn. He’d been waiting just outside the spaceport, watching for her ship to leave. Seems it was going to be awhile. “You here to bring me in, Hunter?”

She ignored his question as easily as he’d ignored hers. Stepping into his line of vision, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “You broke that child’s heart.”

He nearly winced but managed to stifle it in time. “What’s your point? She’s safe, isn’t she?”

“What’s my
point?”

Her eyes shot green sparks, and he was having trouble looking away. She stepped so close he could feel her heat and smell her scent, which distracted him enough not to mind her finger poking in his chest. “My point is that she did not deserve that kind of abuse after all she’s been through, especially from you.” Shaking her head, she moved away. “She worships you.”

He almost said, “She’ll get over it,” but couldn’t for some reason. Shifting in place, he tried changing the subject. “You gonna dart me, shoot me down, what?”

She sighed and ran impatient fingers through her silky hair, eyes narrowing on him. “I’m not here to bring you in. I have a new proposal for you.”

He turned to face her slowly, ready for anything.

“Be my partner.”

Except that.
“What?”
The woman was insane.

“My partner. You have the right instincts to be a hunter—hell, you are a hunter. You just don’t have sanction. Or did you have plans to resume your previous homicidal activities?” She arched a brow at him.

He walked away.

She matched his stride and walked with him for a distance without speaking. Ignoring her turned out to be impossible, so he stopped and studied her like she was some kind of new species. What the hell did he know—she probably was.

“So, how about it?”

“You’re crazy.”

She smiled up at him, damned green eyes twinkling. When was the last time a woman had looked at him like that, relaxed and without fear? Had a woman
ever
looked at him like that?

“Probably. I can see you need time to think about it. Just don’t take too long. Bragan, the other hunter, is about an hour away. He’ll be on your trail almost immediately.”

He stared down at her. “I’m an escaped convict.”

“I know. But I’m not holding it against you.” She winked and turned away, speaking over her shoulder. “If you decide in favor, don’t come directly to the ship. He’ll follow your gen trace there.”

And then she was gone. Terrik shook his head slowly. Maybe they were breeding them insane these days.

*******

Warren and Regan both jumped to their feet when Mea entered the mess, but it was Regan who asked, “You didn’t bring him in?”

Mea smiled gently at the girl, trying not to cringe at the devastation in those big, dark eyes. “He wasn’t ready.” When Warren gulped, she help up a hand before he could speak. “Don’t short circuit, old friend. It’s still possible if Bragan gets here. Just messier, that’s all.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

The girl and android looked at one another, their expressions equally anxious.

“Relax, you two. The game doesn’t really start for another hour at least, unless he contacts us before. Warren, why don’t you keep busy and make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. And Regan…eat something. You’re way too thin.”

“I just ate.”

“Well, how about dessert?”

They made chocolate chip cookies. While Regan smiled gleefully through the chocolate, Mea trimmed her hair into some semblance of order. Both tasks required silent, studious contemplation. Mea had to admit that while the actual trimming was a little frustrating—the girl’s thick hair defied order—she enjoyed the quiet contact. Besides, it helped pass the time. She hated waiting.

Regan finally broke the silence. “Why aren’t you afraid of him?”

Mea paused for a second to decipher the cookie-covered mumble. “Who?”

“Terrik.” Regan tilted her head to look up at Mea over her shoulder. “You’re not scared of him. Why not?”

With a flicker of amusement, Mea wiped cookie off the girl’s cheek. “Why should I be?”

“Everybody else is.”

“You’re not.”

Regan shrugged and picked up another cookie. “I am sometimes. And he never pulled a knife on me.”

Mea ran a thoughtful hand through the girl’s dark brown hair, considering the question seriously. “The easy answer is that I’m a hunter. I come up against people like him every day.”

“What’s the hard answer?” Nibbling on the edge of a cookie, Regan watched her with bottomless dark eyes, more shrewd than an eleven-year-old should be.

Mea turned her around so that she could continue the trim—and could answer without the girl seeing her face. “I’ve been watching you two over the past couple of days, getting to know you from a distance, so to speak. In Terrik I see so many things that are in me, good and bad. I can’t be afraid of myself. Why would I be afraid of him?”

The girl was quiet so long that Mea started to relax, thinking the conversation was over. No such luck.

“Do you like him?”

Mea froze, staring down at the top of Regan’s head. How the hell was she supposed to answer that one? And did she even want to try? Those feelings were still raw and new even to her. Expressing them out loud was as appealing as scratching fingernails across a sunburn. Before she could think of what to say, the door slid open and Warren leaned into the mess, his eyes dark and expression sober.

“Bragan is going through landing protocol right now.”

Mea tried not to look as relieved as she felt. “Well, that’s our cue. Let’s suit up. Regan, stay here and stay out of trouble.” She headed for the door, shaking an admonitory finger at the girl. “I mean it! When we get back, I’m not going to have time to go out searching for you.”

“You’ll bring him back?”

“Whether he wants to or not.” Mea paused on the threshold, waiting.

“I’ll stay here. I promise.”

Flashing her an approving smile, Mea left the room and made her way to the docking bay. Warren was already there starting up the transport. She climbed aboard and settled into the copilot seat.

“Ready?” she asked brightly.

“No.” But he was already maneuvering the transport out of the docking bay.

She put a gentle hand on his arm. “It’ll be okay.”

He didn’t look the least bit mollified. He’d been her best friend and caretaker since she was a little girl. It was a painful contradiction for him—that he needed to protect her, but to do so, he’d have to hurt others. This he couldn’t do without breaking his programming—in essence, killing himself. The strain showed more on his face this time than usual.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he said softly.

Leaning over, she kissed his cheek. “You’re a good friend.”

He smiled tightly but didn’t answer.

Mea sighed and activated the onboard genetic tracer, laying in a search pattern with Terrik’s last known location. It took about fifteen minutes to find him, longer than she’d anticipated. Frowning, she pointed to a landing location and stood to get ready, running through a mental list of the extra equipment she would need. Shock rifle, grapple, stinger, maybe more darts… After loading up, she pinched a gen tracer to the bridge of her nose and looked at Warren. “Be ready.”

“Be careful.”

She grinned and activated her transceiver. “Always.”

Stepping out into the darkness, she activated the gen tracer and the world bloomed with color and light. The night vision caused the background to light up green, the heat sensor provided a rainbow of colors, and the genetic trace was a trail of soft white footprints. Settling into a purposeful jog, Mea moved off after Terrik.

It didn’t take long to reach him. He was waiting to ambush her from between two buildings. Staying well out of range, she looked into the narrow space. His form was a reverse negative, glowing soft white.

“Okay, maybe you don’t know what a genetic tracer is.” She took the one off her wrist and tossed it to him. “Point it at the ground at your feet. You leave a trail wherever you go, no matter what.” She waited for some response.

He was still and silent.

“Bragan has landed. Since his usual pattern is to do an ever-widening search, he will be on your trail very shortly. You were just at the spaceport, if you’ll remember.”

Still no response.

Gritting her teeth, she stepped closer but stayed on the balls of her feet in readiness. “I can change your genetic trace. You can have a brand new life. Come with me!”

“Why?”

He sounded so damned calm that she wanted to knock him on his ass. Or kiss him senseless, whichever. Planting hands on hips, she took a deep breath. “I take it you don’t believe me.”

“If you’re going to hunt me, just do it. I don’t get the game.”

“There is no game!”

He didn’t respond.

“Fine, you want proof?” She turned her head away. “Warren, Bragan’s location, please.”

Warren promptly provided the info.

“Thanks. He’s already on your trail, Terrik.”

She unslung the grapple from her shoulder and aimed at the building above. A muffled thump and it winged away into the darkness, attaching to the roof. She tugged to make sure it was secure and hooked the end to her belt.

“If we cut back across the buildings, we can get a visual on Bragan without him knowing we’re there. Plus, it’ll confuse your trail a bit.” She looked at him and gestured impatiently. “Come on, time’s running short.”

“I don’t think so, lady.”

Pressing her lips together, she stared at him. “You trust me enough to give the child to me, but you won’t climb a wire with me?” She tilted her head to one side with a teasing smirk. “I won’t bite…today. Come on, Seth. Live a little.”

She was seconds away from just knocking him out when he finally moved forward. She pointed to the strap attached to the wire and he slipped his arm through it. Trying not to grin wickedly, she wrapped an arm around his waist and activated the grapple. Her grip on him and the force of the assent pressed their bodies together, but the trip was disappointingly short. They flipped themselves over the edge of the building together.

“Well,” Mea murmured, putting the grapple back together with practiced hands, “that was fun.”

She didn’t expect a response and didn’t get one. He had turned away so she couldn’t read his expression.

After securing the grapple over her shoulder, she trotted away across the flat roofs, Terrik matching her stride for stride. Perversely she sped up to a hard run. He still matched her with ease. She suppressed a pleased grin and continued on, monitoring Bragan’s location through Warren.

When they were close, she stopped and settled herself at the edge of a building on her stomach. He did the same, his breath deep but not ragged.

In low, measured tones, she offered Terrik what she knew about his adversary. “He’s large, strong, and deadly quick for such a big man. He never stops, never gives up. The good news is he has no imagination. He won’t think to look up unless you move and catch his attention. Very predictable. When he gets enraged, he’s like a bull in a crystal house—no finesse. I’m counting on that, actually. He’s a bloodhound with a one-track mind.”

Warren murmured Bragan’s location in her ear and she fell silent, resting her chin on folded hands and watching the ground below. The hunter turned a corner and came into view with long, distance-eating strides. He was wearing similar gear to what Mea had with her. A gun swung with casual disregard from one hand.

With slow careful movements, Mea reached over and tapped the gen tracer Terrik still held, pointing down at Bragan. He turned it and looked at the screen. Bragan was walking head down, directly over the top of Terrik’s genetic trail, even to the point of making the same directional changes from side to side.

When he was past them, Mea wiggled backwards and sat up. “Like I said, a bloodhound. You could probably take him on your own, but if you killed a hunter, there would be nowhere in the galaxy you could hide from the rest of us.”

He rose to a crouch and hooked the tracer around his wrist, still staring after the hunter.

“I assume you’ll want to stay free. Alive and in one piece.”

He turned his head to look at her, resting his arms on his knees. “What’d you have in mind?”

Mea didn’t trust his calm attitude. Rising to her feet, she dusted off quickly. He rose with her.