The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (18 page)

“I – wait, I’m not going back. They’ll kill me.”

“No, they won’t.”

“I can’t do my job anymore, Theo. There
’
s no way around it. I just
can’t do it anymore.”

He leaned against the wall and began flicking the knife around,
catching it at its ornately carved hilt. “I already thought of that. On
those hunts, we’ll go as a team. It’ll be like multiple honeymoons.”

“Honeymooners tend to be married. An iceberg would sprout out o
f Satan’s ass before I married you.”

“You say that like I’m giving you a choice. I’m not asking, Lexi; I’m telling you.”

“Death sounds more appealing.”

“Really? That can be arranged.”

“Go ahead and do it, Theo.”

He laughed, but any joy he derived from her predicament never reached his eyes.

“You think I will make it that easy?” He shook his head. “No, Lexi.
I’m going to take you to HQ and let them deal with you. I think their
way of dealing with traitors is more inventive. I
’
ll make sure it
’
s –
how did you say it? Oh yeah – it’ll make Torin’s death look a fucking vacation.”

Alexis tried to hide her nervous swallow, to keep her heartbeat slow
and steady, but her body was stuck on hare mode, speeding toward
the end of a nightmare that she never wanted to live. She flinched from
the hatred in Theo
’
s satisfied gaze. He would actually do it, though that
knowledge shouldn
’
t surprise her. Theo wasn’t the type to take losing
easily, and losing to a Lycan was completely unacceptable.

AFTER TAKING A COUPLE
of deep breaths, Alexis hung her head. “How could you do that to me?”

“You’re my chance, and you screwed me with this shit you’re
pulling. You are supposed to be Edict material. Now you want to follow
Torin’s footsteps and be Lycan kibble? Not gonna happen.”

His words were like Kyran
’
s scalpel, sharp and able to cut deep into
her. She fought the images that bubbled past her defenses and failed.

She fought to contain the memories that broke past her defenses.
The
blood-caked
walls had added a violent splash of color to the wasteland
of furniture that decorated the room where her brother met his end.
Images of red, angry pieces of mutilated flesh came clawing back into
her consciousness followed closely by the smell that had permeated her
senses for days. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, trying to ri
d herself of the mental prison that the memories represented.

Alexis cried out when Theo jumped on top of her. He kissed her, hard, even as she fought to turn her head.

He broke the kiss and glared down at her. “Come on, Lexi. I can
’
t
be that bad. I mean, you did fuck an abomination.”

Alexis thought back to her night with Kyran. Though the night
they shared was far from romantic, not that she minded, it was special
to her despite what Kyran claimed. She met Theo
’
s green glare and
decided
that he needed know just how much she preferred Kyran to him.

“If only he had fucked me.”

Theo leaned down to her and placed a gentle kiss to her neck. “I
smelled you all over him. It kind of made stabbing the bastard more fun.”

Alexis snorted. “You misunderstood me. He was actually really
sweet. According to him, no one should get fucked for their first time.”

Theo was the type that cherished the fact that no one had been
where he wanted to be, which is why she knew the minute he kissed
her neck that he thought he still had hope that she had managed to
remain untouched. Why it was important to him that he was the first
was beyond her, but it didn
’
t matter. She
’
d never wanted him or what
he thought he represented.

Rage boiled in Theo’s eyes, drawing an involuntary shiver from
her. The bitter coldness in his eyes was something similar to what she
saw in the eyes of the rogues she hunted. Broken and nearly soulless.
This was what she wanted; his bitter fury would force his hand, and he
would kill her. Anything beat dying like Torin had.

He reached behind him and, in a swift movement, buried a blade
in her stomach. She tried to remain quiet through the pain. He leaned
down to bury his face in her neck, causing her to cry out when his
weight shifted. “I fucking hate you,” he said.

Alexis sputtered a pained breath before she smiled through her
pain. “Sore loser.”

He sat up and glared down at her, but a flicker of emotion in his eyes betrayed his true feelings. He didn’t hate her, at least not for the
thing with Kyran. He
’
d probably hated her all along. Alexis had always
wondered what he found appealing about her, but now she got it. On
the edge of death, she finally understood. Theo
’
s desire for her had
nothing to do with love or position. Lust, unadulterated lust, and he hated her for its very existence.

He reached for the blade handle, one that he had whittled himself
, which sparked another shiver of fear.

“Call it what you want, but I
’
m leaving here alive.” He smiled dow
n
at her, a villainous edge etched into the brittle curve of his hard mouth
. “I just need my knife back. It’s my best one.”

As his hand curled around the handle, Alexis closed her eyes to try and steel herself from the sight of the blade’s evacuation from her abdomen.

A spurt of blood splashed across her face, but the knife remained in place. She frowned at the sound of a thud to the right of her head, but before she could open her eyes, a familiar voice greeted her.

“AJ, what have you been doing out here?”

The
soun
d of Nigel
’
s voice brought
tears
to her eyes. The last person
she wanted to see how far she had fallen was the one who had showed
her kindness after Torin’s death. Everyone else had essentially turned
their back on the traitor’s sister, with the exception of Theo, and who wanted that attention?

Alexis took a few calming breaths before she could raise her eyes to meet his gaze. “What are you doing here?”

Nigel,
dressed for lethality
with his various weapons, stared down
at her.

“Rescuing you.” He nudged Theo
’
s headless body off of her with
one of his prized swords. “I don’t understand how he was second in
kills. He really is too cocky to have lived this long.” He smiled down at
her. “If you hadn
’
t been panicking, you would have noticed my presence
a while ago. You’re slacking, AJ.”

She breathed harder to accommodate the effort it took to smile
back at him. “Sorry, I tend to…” She dropped the sentence off, letting
its contents fall prey to her blood loss.

Nigel turned toward the rear door and smiled. “Your Lycan is here.”

Alexis looked at Nigel and frowned. He looked way too calm for someone likely to have to face down a homicidal Tala.

Nigel wiped his swords free of Theo’s blood and sheathed them in their custom made holsters crossing his back.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill him.”

She tried to find words, but the rear door splintered under the force
of Kyran
’
s fist. Alexis watched Nigel calmly face Kyran
’
s fury in awe.

“Who punches a door? Kick, sure, but punching one?
No bueno
.” Nigel smiled despite the growl he got in return.

 Alexis wondered how worried she should be for his safety. Nigel
was kind and generally a man of few words. She didn
’
t expect him to
quote a military great to a pissed off Lycan, but she hadn
’
t expected
him to use sarcasm either.

***

Kyran pushed past the ruined door and growled at a lanky male decorated like the deadliest Christmas tree around. There were so
many weapons on the Hunter that Kyran wondered how much agility
the male had sacrificed. Trusting Ronan to do what he did best, Kyran
began evaluating the gravity of Alexis
’
situation. He went to her,
noting she was teetering on the edge of consciousness, and began field
triage. Her pulse was relatively steady for the wound in her stomach
.
It appeared worse than it was, which was saying a lot considering this
was the second wound to her abdomen since he’d met her.

Kyran glanced up from the pillowcase he
’
d pressed to Alexis
’
wound
to address the Hunter. “Who are you, and why shouldn’t I kill you?”

The male nudged Theo’s dead body with the tip of his steel-toed boot. “You’re welcome. He would have killed her.”

Kyran glanced down at the head then back to the Hunter
’
s impassive
gaze. “That tells me nothing, Hunter.”

“I
’
m Edict Councilmember Nigel.” The Hunter turned his attention
to Ronan. “You must be Ronan, Tepinok and Rocky.”

Kyran spared a glance to Ronan when his brother growled.

“How do you know my name?” Ronan asked.

“You are Arik’s youngest son. You have been the Tepinok of the
Blue Ridge pack since the Ardethen of your father. You are also a
member of The Order of Rockys. Good group of warriors among the
Rockys. But you aren
’
t the interesting one. Your brother – I take it that
’
s
him – is the one who led me to you. You aren’t as careful as you like to think, Mikko Kyran.”

Though Nigel made no move to go for any of his many weapons,
Kyran tensed, readying his body to combat the veiled threat. The Hunter
dripped with a level of lethality that Theo had only pretended to be.

As if to mollify their concerns, Nigel shrugged and said, “I’m not here to kill you. I’ve already done what I came to do.”

“Meaning?” Kyran asked.

“Save AJ. That
’
s what matters now. I
’
ll contact you when I need
to, but don’t worry. I already know where you stay.”

Kyran and Ronan both growled at the implied threat, which only earned them an unfriendly smile from the Hunter.

“If I wanted your pack dead, they would be, and you would never
see me coming. Now save Alexis, and I’ll contact you when the gods dictate me to do so.”

Kyran
’
s eyebrows rose. The Hunters had long forgotten their true
history, falling into the various religions of mankind to fill their need
for faith and purpose. Nigel gave Alexis one last assessing glance before he stepped through the partially congealed blood of Theo
’
s decapitated
body and walked out of the house.

As a measure of caution, Kyran nodded to Ronan so that he could
insure that had Nigel left.

“We need a car. I can’t do much more for her here,” Kyran said
when Ronan returned to the cabin pocketing his phone.

Ronan stepped beside him and said, “Marcela will be here in five.
She
’
s bringing a couple of the guys from team four with her for clean up.
”

“Thanks.”

Kyran watched the smug smile cross his brother
’
s face. Ronan
seemed to always be caught up in one crap movie fest after another.
Kyran really couldn
’
t be blamed for forgetting that his brother earned
his title of Tepinok for things beyond his potential to be brutal when the need arose.

Kyran scooped Alexis into his arms, careful to avoid jostling the
blade too much. She
’
d lost consciousness soon after he began triage, but
her face still pinched in pain.

Marcela pulled in front of the cabin and jumped out of the car with
two agitated-looking males.

“Sorry it took so long.” She motioned to the males. “They had to get supplies.”

From the way the males regarded Marcela with barely restrained
animosity, they probably didn
’
t appreciate having to take orders from
the Tepinok’s mate.

Ronan gave his soon-to-be mate a hug and turned to the males with
their instructions.

The place was to be made spotless, and the remains should be given
a
proper burial. Honoring Theo with a proper Passing wasn’t for respect
but out of necessity to send his soul to Gardas for his Judgment.

The Kahi, known more commonly as ghosts, were very real when
it came to haunting the living. Most sought only the peace of Gardas,
but a few, especially those that felt their death was unjust, sought
revenge. Theo fit the profile of the latter, and if he was allowed to become
a Kahi, he would likely prove harder to deal with than most.