The Immortal Hunter

by Lynsay Sands

Chapter Five

 

  Outdoor World was long closed and the parking lot virtually empty as they pulled in. Decker eyed V the lone silver SUV there, noting the three people inside. He could make out the distinctive shape of Eshe in the driver's seat, but there were also the bigger, bulkier forms of two men-one in the front passenger seat and one on the back bench seat. It brought a frown to Decker's lips. Lucian hadn't mentioned the woman would have company.

  "Eshe's not alone," Justin commented as he turned the steering wheel to park two spots away on the driver's side of the other vehicle.

  "Who are the men with her?" Dani asked curiously.

  Decker glanced her way to see she was squinting out her window at the neighboring vehicle.

  "I don't know," Justin admitted. "I've never seen them before. "

  When he and Dani then turned to peer back at Decker in question, he merely shook his head. He'd never seen the pair before either.

  "Probably just more enforcers," Justin decided aloud, and Decker turned sharply on him for the slip, but neither he nor Dani appeared to have caught it. Shaking his head, he eased closer to the van's side door and opened it. He got out, grateful not to be on his knees anymore, and then turned to open the door for Dani, noting that Eshe and the men were getting out of the other vehicle as well.

  "Thank you," Dani murmured, dropping to the ground in front of him.

  Decker nodded and closed the door, then took her arm to lead her toward the approaching trio.

  "Jeez," Dani breathed as they neared, and he smiled wryly to himself at the impression she must be getting. Eshe, by herself, was pretty amazing. She was six feet tall as Justin had said, and presently wearing a tight, black leather bodysuit that showed just what he'd meant by lean and mean, but that's not where Decker's attention was. Eshe often sported interesting and unusual hairstyles, always short and often fitting her mood of the moment. Judging by her hair tonight, she'd had a rough week. The tight black curls that usually lay close to her head were standing up in short, kinky waves that had been dyed intermittently blond and red so that it looked almost like fire. Her large, intelligent eyes were flashing gold and black, and the smile of greeting she offered was hard and sharklike, revealing pearly white teeth that contrasted sharply with her lovely mahogany skin. The woman was beautiful and-Decker had noticed-intimidating as hell to most people who met her, both mortal and immortal alike. It seemed Dani was no different.

  Either that or it was the men who had her eyes going so wide, he thought, his gaze now moving to the mirror images on either side of Eshe. Paler-skinned and obviously twins, the men too were dressed in leather, but tall as Eshe was, they had a good four to six inches on her. They both had long dark hair; one wore it pulled back in a ponytail, while the other was wearing it loose around his face. However, it was their build that was most startling; the men were a pair of powerhouses, wide and bulky with muscle.

  Individually, each of the three people approaching would attract attention; together it was impossible not to gawk, Decker thought, and then noted that each man carried a small black case by its strap. He eyed them curiously, suspecting they held computers, though he wasn't sure for what purpose.

  "Did you run into any trouble on the way?" Eshe greeted them when they reached each other.

  Decker left Justin to answer the question, sorry he had when the younger immortal seemed to forget Dani's presence and said, "Nah. We had a cop jump on our tail at one point, but Decker did the mind-control thing and sent him on his way. "

  Eshe nodded and then gestured a bit irritably to the two mountains on either side of her. "This is Dante and Tomasso. They were in the office when Bastien called me, and they insisted on accompanying me. "

  The one with the ponytail that Eshe had introduced as Tomasso shrugged. "We were bored. "

  The other, Dante, nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Christian is always off with Marguerite and Julius, and we've had nothing to do but hang around the office bugging Bastien. "

  Decker's eyebrows rose at the mention of his aunt Marguerite, her husband, Julius, and their son Christian. It suddenly clicked in his mind who these men were.

  "You're Nottes," Justin said with realization even as he thought it. "You're Christian's cousins from Italy. The twins. "

  The two men nodded, and Dante said, "And you're Justin Bricker and"-his gaze shifted to Decker-"Martine's son, Decker. You weren't at the family gathering. "

  "I was on a job when Marguerite got everyone together," Decker said quietly.

  "She said as much," Tomasso assured him, offering his hand. Decker accepted it, and as they shook in greeting, Tomasso admitted, "That's part of the reason we came out with Eshe. To meet you. "

  "Yeah," Dante said as he next shook hands with him, and then, sparkling eyes darting to Eshe, he added, "Besides, we couldn't allow the little lady to drive all the way out here by herself in the middle of the night. "

  He received an elbow in the stomach from Eshe for his effort. It was no playful jab, but a blow that made him double over in surprised pain. She glared at Tomasso when he started laughing, and snapped, "If the two of you boys don't stop talking like that, I'm going to show you what this little lady can do. "

  This didn't seem to curb their amusement any. Decker had worked with Eshe several times and knew the woman well. He could have warned the men that they were playing with fire, but then decided to let them learn the hard way. It wouldn't be a lesson soon forgotten and would make for one hell of a show.

  "What's in the cases?" Justin asked Dante and Tomasso curiously.

  "Portable computers set up to track the stolen SUV," Eshe explained. "One is for Lucian and one is for Mortimer. We're to wait for both men here to hand them over. There's a third one in the SUV for you guys. "

  "Nice," Justin commented.

  "Better than hunting blind," Eshe said with a shrug. "Though, if you two hadn't let your ride get stolen-"

  "Their eyes," Dani said suddenly, distracting Decker from the irritation that Eshe had managed to stir with the start of her comment. Turning, he peered down at her as she swiveled to frown at him with confusion. "Their eyes shine like a cat's in this darkness. They. . . " She paused, eyes widening, and then said with amazement, "So do yours. They look all silver-blue. "

  Decker caught the way Eshe's eyebrows rose, but muttered, "It must be a trick of the light. "

  "This is the woman we're supposed to take back, then?" Eshe asked. "Why aren't one of you controlling her?"

  "I would, but Decker won't let me," Justin announced, and then added significantly, "And he can 7. "

  "No one controls me," Dani said grimly. "And I'm not going anywhere. "

  Catching the way Eshe's eyes flashed a deep gold with black flecks, Decker caught Dani's arm and hurried her away from the group, managing to get her a good distance past the SUV before she began to struggle. Deciding it was far enough, he turned her to face him.

  "It might be better if you waited here and let me handle this," he suggested quietly before she could get out the words that were trembling on her tongue.

  Dani hesitated, her eyes sliding back to the group by the vehicles. Decker glanced back as well to find that everyone was watching them with curiosity as Justin said something. Suspecting he didn't want to know what that was, Decker sighed and turned back to Dani, reclaiming her attention by saying, "I'll talk to them. I won't leave you behind. "

  Dani eyes narrowed rebelliously, and he wasn't terribly surprised when she said, "You'd better not. I know you've been lying to me and aren't with CSIS, and the only reason I'm not at a police station right now screaming bloody murder is because you can track the SUV. You're my only link with my sister at present, Decker, but if you leave without me, I'll go straight to the police and tell them everything I know. "

  "I understand," he said with a solemn nod, not bothering to mention that she wouldn't get the chance to call anyone. Eshe would take control of her
mind and see to that if he didn't convince the woman to leave Dani with him. He was hoping that wouldn't come to pass, however. He really didn't have any intention of leaving her behind or letting anyone else sift through her thoughts and control her actions, so he added, "But please stay here and let me handle it. All right?"

  Dani crossed her arms angrily, but gave a stiff nod.

  Just as he turned away, she pleaded, "Just hurry. The more time we waste here, the further away Stephanie gets. "

  Decker merely nodded as he made his way across the parking lot to the group.

  "You've found your life mate," Dante said quietly as he rejoined them. "Congratulations. "

  "Thanks," Decker muttered, and then glanced to Eshe.

  "My orders were to bring her in," the woman said, voice hard.

  Decker shook his head. "She stays with me. "

  "Then you'd better call Lucian, because I do what I'm told and I was told to bring her in. "

  Decker snorted. He was about to point out that she only did what she was told when she felt like it when Dante said, "No need to call him. Lucian is here. "

  Turning, Decker glanced in the direction Dante was looking and watched a second SUV park, this one on the other side of the van.

  Decker scowled. He would have fought Eshe if necessary to keep Dani with him, but you just didn't argue with Lucian. Or, at least, you did your best to avoid it. Decker feared in this case he was going to have to argue the point. No one, not even Lucian, was getting between him and Dani.

  "Lucian's found his own life mate now," Eshe commented as they watched him get out and walk around the vehicle. As Lucian opened the passenger door for Leigh, she added, "He may understand and let you keep her with you. "

  Decker frowned at the comment. He'd heard a few say the man had softened since finding Leigh. But he hadn't seen anything to suggest that was true. His uncle was still a hard-boiled rock as far as he could tell.

  "Why is everyone standing around?" Lucian growled as he reached them. His eyes skated over the group before coming to rest sharply on Decker. "Where are the rogues?"

  "In the van," he said at once, following when his uncle abruptly turned and ushered Leigh to the back of the vehicle. Once there, Lucian grasped the door and then paused and turned to glare at Decker. "It isn't closed. "

  "What?" Decker moved up beside him and saw that it was true, the door wasn't shut tight.

  "Sloppy," Lucian snapped. "You're lucky it didn't fly open and spill bodies out on the highway. Wouldn't that have been fun to explain?"

  Decker held his tongue. It had been sloppy, he acknowledged as he watched Lucian pull on the door, but while it wasn't quite closed, it had caught enough that it didn't pop open until he pushed the button to release the catch. He swung the door wide and then opened the second door as well, and everyone crowded around as he grabbed one corner of the tarp and threw it back. They were all silent as he peered over the bodies. "How long have they been staked?"

  "Since we left the clearing," Decker said. "I didn't want them recovering and causing trouble. "

  Lucian nodded and murmured, "The stakes will have to be removed soon so they can survive for their trial. "

  Decker just nodded, knowing the Council would insist on their thoughts being read to find out just how much trouble they'd caused before they would pass sentence. The enforcers usually had a good deal of information on a rogue and what they'd been up to before going after them. If they had enough information, sometimes they could exterminate the rogue on the spot and start cleanup right away as had been done in the most recent case in Kansas, but they knew nothing about these men and the damage they might have done. That would have to be found out before anything else could be done.

  "Who are they?" Leigh asked, slipping her hand into Lucian's as she peered at the bodies.

  "They bear a striking resemblance to Leonius," he murmured, a troubled expression claiming his face.

  "Leonius?" Decker asked, not recognizing the name.

  "Leonius Livius," Lucian clarified. "He was one of the few original Atlanteans who escaped when it fell. "

  "Edentata," Eshe breathed, apparently recognizing the name.

  "What is edentata?" Leigh asked with confusion.

  Lucian shifted and then said, "Edentate is Latin for no teeth. Edentata are immortals who have no fangs to help them get what they need to survive. The ones who are sane are called edentates. However, the ones who are plagued with insanity and go rogue are usually called no-fangers to differentiate the two. Leonius Livius was a no-fanger. " Lucian paused before adding, "But he fell in battle a couple millennia ago. "

  "Maybe he had children before he died," Decker suggested.

  "He did, but they all fell in the same battle with him. We made sure," Lucian muttered, and then leaned in to examine one of the men more closely. He peered at his face, then opened his mouth to peer inside, and reached in to push on the palate behind the canine teeth. After a moment he straightened and shook his head. "No fangs. "

  "How can you tell?" Justin asked curiously, making it obvious he'd never dealt with an edentata before.

  Decker wasn't surprised. They had been killed off over time and were pretty rare these days. Decker had only ever run into one himself in his two hundred and fifty-nine years. He explained, "If you push on the roof of your mouth behind the canines, they'll slide out on us whether you want them to or not, but with the edentata there are no fangs to come out. "

  Justin reached into his own mouth. He must have pushed on the palate behind his right fang, because that's the one that slid forward and down.

  "Cool," he said, removing his finger and allowing the tooth to slide back into place. "I never knew we could do that. "

  "Why didn't they develop fangs?" Leigh asked. "And how did they survive?"

  "I'll explain later," Lucian assured her, and then turned to Decker. "Where's the girl?"

  Decker turned and gestured to where Dani was pacing under a lamppost and casting glares their way. She was impatient to be off, he knew.

  "What is she doing over there?" Lucian asked with dismay. "And why isn't someone controlling her?"

  "She's Decker's life mate," Justin said quickly, no doubt trying to head off Lucian's mounting temper, but all it did was make Lucian turn on Decker and start to shuffle through his thoughts. Decker could feel it happening, but didn't try to block him, if he even could.

  "CSIS?" Lucian asked with disbelief, bringing curious glances from everyone but Justin. Decker squirmed inwardly as his uncle continued to sift through his thoughts, and then Lucian shook his head with disgust. "And you haven't explained to her about us? First Mortimer, and now you. . . Am I the only one who made it through this life mate business with my brains still intact?"

  From what Decker had heard, Lucian had been a bit befuddled too, but he kept that thought to himself and merely said, "I was waiting for the right moment. "

  "Right. Well, that's now," Lucian announced, and glanced in Dani's direction to bark, "Girl!"

  Dani was in the process of pacing away and didn't turn at the shout. She probably had no idea it was she he was shouting at, Decker thought.

  "What's her name?" Lucian asked impatiently, and then shook his head. "Never mind. "

  His eyes narrowed with concentration on Dani. She came to an abrupt halt, and then turned and walked over to stand in front of Lucian.

  Decker waited, aware that his uncle was no doubt now controlling and reading Dani. He knew exactly when his uncle released her by the confusion that immediately clouded her face as she peered around at them.

  "What-?" Dani said uncertainly and then paused, concern crossing her face.

  "Your mind isn't faulty and you're not losing time,"

  Lucian said, apparently reading that concern in her mind. "The reason you don't remember walking over here is because I took control of your mind to bring you here. . . And I can do that because I'm an immo
rtal. . . or as you people seem to insist on calling us, a vampire," he said with disdain. "Everyone standing here is one. . . including Decker, who is the only one here who can't read or control your thoughts. That makes you a possible life mate for him, but you'll be the one to decide. "

  Now that he had Dani standing there with her mouth open, Lucian held out his hand in front of Eshe. When she placed the keys to the SUV in his palm, he turned to hand them to Decker saying, "Right! Now that I've got the hard part out of the way, get her in the SUV and get your asses moving. You can explain the rest on the way. "

  "Just a minute," Dani protested when Decker took her arm to lead her to the vehicle. "I-"

  "There is no just a minute," Lucian said coldly. "We still have a pair of rogues and a young girl in peril out there. Your sister, I believe. Either get moving now, or you will be going with Eshe. "

  Decker suspected threatening her with Eshe hadn't been necessary; Dani had stopped trying to make him drop her arm the minute her sister was mentioned. He led a much subdued Dani to the new vehicle, opened the side door and ushered her in, then turned and handed the keys to Justin. "You drive. "

  Justin accepted the keys without question and turned away to walk back around to the driver's side. Decker was about to climb into the back with Dani when Lucian called out his name. Pausing, he walked back around the vehicle to find his uncle walking to meet him halfway.

  "Is there something else?" he asked stiffly, annoyed with him for his treatment of Dani.

  Lucian nodded. "I gather you and Justin had some plan to trap Nicholas using the bug and tracker from the van?"

  Decker's eyebrows flew up. They'd planned to talk to the others and tell them about their idea when they got here, but had forgotten. "How did you know?"

  "I read it from her mind. "

  Decker glanced back toward the SUV when Lucian gestured toward it. "From Dani? But she doesn't know-"

  "She eavesdropped on your conversation with Justin, and then proceeded to speak into the bug and give Nicholas her number to call. He did, and she told him all about your plan. "

  "Why would she-?"

  "Because she doesn't trust you," Lucian interrupted. "She knows Nicholas was tracking these men and is the reason she and her sister were saved. She also knows he is even now chasing after her sister, trying to save her. Everything she knows about you, though, is confused by lies. You've made such a shambles of trying to keep what you are a secret, she doesn't trust you as much as she trusted Nicholas who she hadn't even talked to. " He let that sink in, and then added, "You need to explain things and gain her trust if you want her as your life mate. "

  Decker nodded solemnly.

  "Now, get going. We have work to do. "

  Decker turned away and jogged back to the SUV.

  Justin had the computer up and running and was talking on his cell phone when Decker stepped up into the back of the vehicle and pulled the door closed.

  "Thanks, Bastien. I think I've got it now. " Justin ended the call and slid his cell phone into his pocket. He then smiled at Decker and said, "Look at this stuff. Talk about cool. I guess Bastien hired some techno geeks after all the rigmarole they had to go through to get Marguerite's cell phone tracked in Europe. They came up with this. Look. " He pointed to the screen. "That blue dot there is us, the green one beside it is Lucian's vehicle, and the black one is the stolen SUV. " Justin frowned. "It's on Highway 427 nearly to Etobicoke rather than heading into downtown Toronto like we expected. "

  Decker nodded silently, wondering where the rogue holding Stephanie was headed. They'd all been sure he'd try to lose himself in the city. Lucian had several immortals, including enforcers and volunteers, waiting at different spots in Toronto to converge on the vehicle when it did.

  "Etobicoke?" Dani asked, leaning forward to peer at the screen. "That's not an hour from here, is it?"

  "It's only half an hour from here. I caught up a bit," Justin said cheerfully.

  Decker noted the wry expression on Dani's face and guessed she wasn't terribly surprised. Justin had been driving like a bat out of hell since leaving Parry Sound.

  "Who are those other colored dots?" she asked now.

  "Other enforcers," Justin answered. "That yellow one is my usual partner, Mortimer, and his life mate, Sam. " His eyebrows drew together as he noted the position of the dot. "They're still a good hour or more behind us. I hope your pickup hasn't been giving them trouble. "

  "My pickup is not giving them a hard time," Decker assured him, and then, catching the curious look Dani cast his way, he explained, "The vehicle that was stolen was a company one Mortimer and Justin drove up from Toronto. Mortimer and Sam are in my personal pickup, which has a company GPS in it. "

  "It has a cab on the back with a bed too," Justin said, eyebrows wiggling. "And they're new life mates, kind of like newlyweds only times a thousand. They'll need the bed. "

  Decker rolled his eyes and told Dani, "Yes, it has a bed, and that's why I suggested they take it, but not for the reason Justin is hinting at. Sam is mortal, which means they can double-team it. Sam could show Nicholas's picture around during the day while Mortimer slept and he could do it at night while she slept. "

  "He spoils everything, doesn't he?" Justin complained, turning in the driver's seat to start the engine.

  Decker settled on the backseat next to Dani and buckled up and then turned to peer at her as she did the same, wondering what she must be thinking. She hadn't said a word about Lucian's revelations yet.

  Finished with her seat belt, Dani turned to him and asked, "Lucian is your uncle, isn't he?"

  "Yes. "

  She nodded, her expression thoughtful, and then asked, "So insanity runs in the family then?"

  Justin burst out laughing from the front seat, and Decker turned a scowl on the younger man. He took a deep breath for patience before returning his attention to Dani. It was obvious she hadn't believed a word his uncle had told her, and he briefly considered what he might say that could possibly convince her. And then he had an idea.

  "What are you doing? Stop that," Dani said when Decker began to undo his shirt.

  "I'm just showing you my gunshot wound," he said soothingly.

  "Oh," Dani relaxed a little, but not completely. She couldn't have said for sure why she found the idea of seeing his naked chest more disturbing this time than when she'd taken out the bullet. Possibly it was because, despite everything, she found she was starting to like him, but whatever the case, she was having difficulty pulling on her professional persona this time. Instead she sat watching him undoing button after button, her eyes eating up inch after inch of pale flesh revealed until she had to force her eyes away.

  "Okay," Decker said a moment later.

  Dani turned back reluctantly to find he'd tugged the shirt open and off the injured shoulder. Her eyes skated over all that pale marble flesh and then froze. She leaned closer, and then snapped, "I need a light. "

  Justin immediately flicked on the overhead light, casting a strong, harsh glow over everything, including Decker's bullet wound. Dani peered at it closely, noting that it had shrunk in size and was knitting itself together. Were someone to ask her how old the wound was, she would have guessed several days, possibly a week. Her mind immediately began running around in circles, searching out all her medical training and trying to find an explanation for how it could possibly have healed that quickly, but nothing was presenting itself.

  Dani sat back and peered at him silently for a full minute and then said quietly, "That's not humanly possible. "

  "It's not mortally possible," he corrected, just as quietly.

  "Show her your teeth," Justin said from the front seat.

  Decker opened his mouth, and she watched with sick fascination as his canine teeth slowly shifted forward and down, becoming what could only be described as fangs. When she then turned to the rearview mirror, Justin raised his head slightly and allowe
d his own teeth to push out of his mouth. Dani swiftly turned her head back, caught sight of Decker's teeth retracting, quickly dropped her eyes to his chest and the nearly healed bullet wound, and then turned and reached for the door handle, fully intending to make a jump for it.

  Only her forgotten seat belt prevented it. She managed to get the door open before Decker could react, but the seat belt held her in place when she tried to jump.

  "Dani!" Decker grabbed her with one hand as she began to try to undo her seat belt and pulled the door closed with the other, then forced her around to face him. "Look at me. I need you to listen. You're safe. I won't harm you. You must realize that. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it long ago. You're safe. "

  He repeated the words over and over until she stopped struggling and forced herself to be calm in his hands.

  "It's okay," he said then. "I know this is hard to accept, and scary for you, but you have to let me explain. You owe me that much at least, don't you think?"

  "Owe you?" she asked with surprise, finally raising her face to peer at him again.

  It was Justin who pointed out judiciously, "Well, he did take a couple of bullets back there when we saved you. Surely you should at least let him explain?"