Hunter's Hope

by M. J. O'Shea

  Alo leveled him with a long look. “Do you?”

  “No,” Brad mumbled.

  Jack went to pick up the necklace.

  “Careful,” Alo said. “Let’s not break the oldest thing that any of us will ever touch. Please?”

  “I think we’d better get back to the hotel too,” Kendra said.

  Alo nodded. He hadn’t forgotten the falling stone, Dr. Perry, or any of the rest of it.

  “I agree. Let’s take a different route back. We wouldn’t want to bring any guests to the room with us.”

  Alo felt a lot safer locked back into their hotel room. It was probably an illusion, but with the door bolted and Jack right there... he felt like he could breathe. Alo pulled the necklace box out of his pack and opened it gingerly. The necklace shone bright in the faint lamplight of the room. Alo understood perfectly how people thought it might be magic.

  “Look at it, Jack. I still can’t believe it’s real.”

  “Can you put a date on it?” Jack asked.

  Alo grinned. “Really, really old.”

  “That’s descriptive.”

  “I know. I’m more of a medieval and Renaissance student. I never spent much time with antiquities. I love it, though. I wish I’d been able to choose to study everything.” Alo stared at the necklace. It shone dully in the lights of their hotel room.

  “Alo?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Why don’t you put the necklace away and come to bed?”

  Alo looked up. He realized Jack was half-naked and very close to being the rest of the way there.

  “Uh, um, yeah. I think I can do that.”

  He scrambled to put the amulet back into its box, then pulled his shirt and sweater off. Then, as Jack started to strip the rest of the way, Alo did too. They watched each other intently. Alo’s face warmed. He knew where it was headed, and he wanted that. He wanted it a lot.

  Alo hadn’t expected it to feel so good to be in bed. With a man. Completely naked. Even with the other night, it was still a novelty for him. It was even more of a novelty when Jack kissed him, pressed their naked bodies together, rutted against Alo, and groaned into his ear.

  Jack’s touch felt like fire all over Alo’s body. His skin was warm and silky and a tiny bit damp under Alo’s own fingers. When he went to wrap his hand around Alo’s cock, Alo stopped him. He wanted that, he did, but he wanted more. If Jack touched him there, it would be all over again. Alo wasn’t sure how much more time they’d have alone. He was ready.

  “Jack. Stop. Not like that. I want you.”

  “Are you sure?” Jack froze with his hand on Alo’s lower belly. He had to feel it flutter.

  “Yeah. I’m definitely sure.” He knew Jack was the right one for it. Even if it hadn’t been very long, he felt things that he’d never felt before. He wanted to feel more.

  “I want it too,” Jack said. “I just don’t want you to feel like you rushed it.”

  “I won’t. I can’t think of a better way.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Jack tripped out of bed and over to his bag. Alo watched him, tanned and muscled in the glow of the lamplight. He returned with a bottle and a condom. After that they spent a long time kissing, getting back into it. By the time Jack slipped his fingers between Alo’s cheeks, Alo was nearly begging for it. Jack opened Alo up slowly, and even though he was gentle, it was still weird at first. Alo felt like every cell in his body was changing around Jack’s touch. It was the only thing he could concentrate on.

  “Is that okay?” Jack asked.

  “Yes. It’s... different.”

  “Hold on.” Jack kissed Alo’s thigh and moved his fingers around,

  probing until— “Holy....”

  “Is it better now?”

  “Yes. Shit. Better.”

  Alo wanted more. Waves of sensation shimmered over him.

  “I’m ready, Jack.”

  “O-okay.” Jack sounded a little nervous, which made Alo like him more. “Let me just—” He went to grab the condom from the bedside table. “I went out and got a few things the other day. Just in case.”

  Alo grinned at him. “Yeah?”

  “Aren’t you glad I did?”

  Alo nodded. Glad. Scared. Turned on as hell.

  Jack bent over him and kissed him slow and deep. “You sure you want it to be me?”

  “Definitely sure.” Alo had a life of being sure. But Jack, that he was the most sure of. He couldn’t imagine it being anyone else.

  “Okay.” Jack uncapped the lid and spread more lube on his fingers. He dipped them into Alo and slicked him up. Then he ripped open the condom and rolled it on. Alo gulped. It was really happening. He was about to.... With Jack.

  Jack fit his hips inside Alo’s thighs. Then he slowly started to push in.

  “Ow,” Alo whispered. It burned a lot more than a couple of fingers. Jack wasn’t exactly small.

  “You want me to stop?” Jack said.

  “No. Keep going. I’ll get used to it.”

  And he did. It went from tight and a little painful to feeling really damn good. Stroke after stroke, stretching and thick and the weirdest hottest fullness Alo had ever felt. Alo hitched his thigh and tried to get closer. Jack moved his hips until he hit Alo’s spot again and again.

  “Fuck. I didn’t think... I’m....” Alo couldn’t complete a sentence to save his life. All he could concentrate on was Jack. Jack above him, Jack inside him. Jack. He arched his back and moaned.

  “Babe. You feel amazing,” Jack leaned over and whispered in Alo’s ear. Then he sucked at Alo’s earlobe and bit gently. Alo groaned and leaned into the touch. “You want a little more? Harder?”

  “Yeah.” Alo was ready for it.

  His body was like constant waves of pleasure rolling over him. He wanted more. Jack pushed his hips harder until their skin slapped together and Alo grasped at Jack and the sheets and the headboard. He didn’t know what to do with his hands.

  “Touch yourself,” Jack ground out.

  “I’ll come.”

  “That’s okay. I want you to come.”

  Alo reached between them and wrapped his hand around his own cock. He only stroked one, two times, and then he was losing it. His body erupted in an orgasm stronger than anything he’d ever felt. It shot down his spine like lightning and made black spots erupt in his vision.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” he said.

  Jack froze above Alo, face contorted. He let out a long groan. They collapsed into the sheets. Alo grinned. I did it. And it had felt momentous, he supposed, but it also felt... right.

  Chapter Nine

  Montmartre, like Venice, had been the stuff of Alo’s dreams. The cafés, the basilica, the winding streets. He’d been waiting to see it for years—under different circumstances would’ve been nice, but still. He was there with Jack. And Jack, even with everything else, was exactly what Alo wanted. Exactly who Alo wanted to be with.

  Jack and Paris.

  Alo thought of waking up in the morning light, chilly and watery from winter rain. He thought about kissing in bed and buying brie and baguettes from a market, strolling around the city, taking in the sights. Obviously none of that was going to happen, but it did make for a nice fantasy.

  Alo wished he could go back and relive their night in Venice. Or maybe live it again. Over and over and over. In Paris, New York... anywhere really.

  Their hotel was small and more on the quaint side. Not exactly luxurious. It was up a large set of stairs and had a tiny lobby that looked like it hadn’t changed since the fifties. Alo spoke the best French, or was the only one who spoke any French at all, so he took care of checking them in. Kendra and Brad had their own rooms, since they were small. Kendra raised an eyebrow when Jack and Alo didn’t get their own, but she didn’t say anything. She had to know by then.

  “You think Goering stayed here?” Jack joked when they’d rolled their way into their tiny room.

  Alo laughed. “Nah, he stayed at the
Ritz. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t his scene.”

  Montmartre was too bohemian for the likes of Goering. He’d been more about high style and five-star accommodations—even in the midst of war. Alo had to wonder what his great-grandfather had been doing so far from his boss.

  “Well I kinda dig it. It’s cozy. Romantic.”

  Alo looked out the window to the small weed-strewn courtyard below. “It has its charms.”

  Jack laughed, hooked an arm around Alo and pulled him to the bed. “You’re adorable.”

  “Was I adorable last night?” Alo grumbled. He didn’t want to be Alo the kid. He wanted Jack again, out of his mind and panting on top of him.

  “No. That’s not what I’d call that,” Jack said.

  “Good.”

  Sacré-Coeur. Their final site. Alo could barely believe it. They’d been so many places and done some incredible and scary things. It seemed nearly impossible that it was almost over at the first cipher Alo had unraveled.

  Everything had gone so quickly he almost felt like it had been a dream.

  Their little group gathered in front of the enormous church, breathless after a long hike up Rue Foyatier aka the longest set of stairs Alo had ever been on. The lights of Montmartre and Paris below glittered in the chill night air.

  “What are we looking for this time?” Kendra asked.

  “Joan. We’re looking for Joan of Arc.”

  Alo had long since figured out his grandfather’s methods. What he didn’t know was where Joan of Arc would be located. He could only hope she really was somewhere on the basilica grounds. He didn’t want their final search to be a bust.

  “Let’s do a lap of the outside before we look inside.”

  Alo found Joan of Arc fairly easily. He was almost let down by just how easy it had been. He might have wanted to draw out their final find, their last stop before they slipped out of France and headed home.

  “Guys, here she is,” Alo said.

  The statue was enormous, impossible to miss, made from copper and green with age. She was on a horse, brandishing her sword on top of a portico. Somehow Joan looked victorious. Alo found it fitting.

  “We need to get up there.”

  They slipped into the basilica. It was unlocked but empty, creepy and cold in the dim lights that barely kept it from blackness. The ceiling rose high and vaulted above them. It was covered in ornate paintings that were barely visible in the night.

  “We’ve gotta get to the second floor gallery,” Kendra said.

  They found a staircase tucked into a corner and trailed up it. Alo kept waiting to be caught by a priest or a guard. Someone who would take serious issue with them crawling around in the church. Jack quietly pointed the way when they got to the second floor gallery. Alo was turned around a little bit so he followed silently.

  It wasn’t until they’d crept out a small service door onto the roof of the portico that he breathed.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s find this thing.”

  Alo’s heart raced as he searched the stones on the support structure. He doubted Ira would’ve had time to hide anything in the metal statue itself. He ran his hands over the pieces one by one until he saw his great-grandfather’s initials, worn with time, in the corner of one of them.

  “This is it,” Kendra said. “You guys ready?” she asked.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Alo said.

  He looked around, but the grounds were deserted in the bitter cold. He stepped aside and let Jack get closer to the base with his tools. They all stood and watched. Alo was strangely calm. He almost felt like they had crossed the finish line. Things had been scary and tentative, but they were nearly done. And it was almost time to go home.

  Surprisingly, the stone pried open rather smoothly and out slid a diadem, byzantine in design and heavy with gold and jewels. They pushed the stone back into its place and stood. Alo could tell the others didn’t quite know what to say either. That was okay, because none of them had the chance to say anything. A voice rang out through the crisp air.

  “Hello Alo.”

  Alo looked up, and his pulse just about stopped right then and there. “Dr. Perry. Hi. Hello.” He smiled shakily. “What are you doing here?” Alo said.

  “Some sightseeing. I didn’t know you were coming to Europe over break,” Perry said.

  “Yeah. I thought it would be nice to see Paris in the holiday season,” Alo said.

  How long are we both going to pretend this is some social call?

  They were on the roof of a church at night. Alo had a heavy gold headpiece in his bag. Perry was not there to take in the Christmas lights. He remembered that moment in Piazza San Marco where he’d been so sure he’d seen his professor in the crowd. Alo wished he’d known what to do at that point. Because he had no idea what to do now.

  “Are you here alone?” he asked.

  Dr. Perry got a little bit closer. Alo already felt like they were awfully close to the edge, but he wanted to back up even more.

  “Not exactly.” And right then, the woman, the one he’d seen all over Europe, came out from inside the darkened church.

  “Oh, shit,” Kendra breathed.

  “Dr. Perry. I don’t understand.”

  They were fucked. Alo didn’t know what the hell these two wanted, other than his assumption it was the amulet he no longer had, but they were so screwed it wasn’t even funny. He tried to play it casual.

  Alo tried to think of a million ways to run. They couldn’t jump; it was too far. But maybe if they startled the woman, they could get around her, back into the church. Alo gripped the straps of his backpack, ready to swing.

  “I see you’ve been following your great-grandfather’s trail,” Perry said.

  “Yes. I have.”

  “And it led you right back here,” Perry said. “To 35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre.”

  Alo remembered the conversation he’d had with Dr. Perry back in the fall. Of course he’d remembered. Perry was a genius. And apparently his reasons for not wanting Alo to publish the paper weren’t quite what they’d seemed at the time.

  “Yes. It led me right back here.”

  “I’d like to see what you have there in your backpack,” Perry said. Alo had no idea how he’d missed that Perry was involved. He’d probably been working for Watson all along. Watson had lit up his creep meter right away. The woman too, whoever she was. Perry? He hadn’t gotten anything. Alo started backing away.

  “We didn’t find anything,” he said. “There was nothing here.”

  “We both know that’s not true.”

  “I think I’d like to see it too,” the woman said.

  Her voice was low and throaty. It sent chills down Alo’s spine. He wondered if he handed over the diadem, whether that would be enough. It wouldn’t be for Watson, that was for sure. What Watson wanted had come out of a bridge in Venice and was hopefully far, far away already. If the woman worked for him, she wouldn’t be satisfied with anything but the necklace either.

  “Who are you?” Alo asked.

  “What does it matter?”

  “Curiosity?”

  She drew out a gun. “Still curious?”

  Alo decided some things were better left unsolved. He shook his head.

  “Kitty, put the gun down. Let’s be civilized here.”

  Kitty. Not the name Alo would’ve picked for the clearly dangerous woman he’d felt breathing down his neck the entire trip. It was then that Alo noticed Perry had a gun as well.

  “You first, Dr. Perry.”

  Neither one of them moved a muscle.

  “You’re not going to shoot me,” Alo said. “I’m one of your students.”

  “One of my students.” Perry snorted. “Why do you think I accepted you as an advisee? It wasn’t because of your stellar interviewing skills. Twenty other candidates were as qualified as you, or more. But you had something I wanted. You still do.”

  Alo felt sick. Perry and Watson had worked together to get
him right to the place he was. He was just a pawn to get them what they wanted.

  Screw that shit.

  “I don’t have your amulet,” Alo said. “We didn’t find it.”

  “That’s not true,” Kitty said. “I saw you pull the damn thing out of the Rialto Bridge just last night.”

  Fuck.

  “Well it’s gone. I mailed it off. It’s on its way home to New York.” Which was a lie. At least the New York part.

  Perry’s face went ashen. “You put it in the mail?”

  “You weren’t getting it either way, so I suggest you two back off.” It was the first time Jack spoke. He angled his body so he was partway in front of Alo.

  “Alo,” Jack murmured.

  Alo looked to the side. He saw Kendra had quietly pulled out her phone, presumably to call the police. They just had to stall. Stall and hopefully not piss Perry or the woman off too much.

  “What do you want from me?” Alo asked.

  “Simple.” Dr. Perry shrugged. “I want the treasure. All of it.”

  “Why?”

  “Do I need a reason to want hundreds of millions of dollars of treasure?” Perry asked. “Oh, wait. No. I forgot I don’t need it because I love spending hours of my day reading shit moronic teenagers wrote on the same subjects I’ve been reading about for years.”

  Greed. That’s all it was. Alo frowned. It almost seemed anticlimactic. He’d been willing to accept a fanatic nutball who thought some necklace had magical powers. But greed? It was so... ordinary. Anticlimactic.

  “Richard, that’s not what we agreed to,” Kitty spoke. “My employer was only interested in the amulet. You got a generous—”

  The bullet rang out in an instant and hit her chest with a sickening thud. She stumbled backward toward the edge of the portico. Jack went to lunge for her, but Perry whipped his gun around until it was trained on Jack.

  “Don’t move,” he growled.

  The woman crumpled in place and hit the ground with a second sickening thud. She didn’t move. Alo couldn’t tell whether she was dead, but it didn’t look good. He covered his mouth to keep from retching. Dr. Perry turned toward them and raised the weapon. “Now are you going to give me what I want, or will I need to shoot you too?”