by Nina Croft
“Of me?”
“Apparently your girlfriend wouldn’t let them destroy the place, because they’d have blown you up with it. And they couldn’t attack for fear that Hatcher would kill you.”
“He wouldn’t have.”
“No, I don’t think so, either, but they didn’t know that.”
“So what happens now?”
“There’s a shuttle ready for you, and your friends are waiting in orbit.”
Friends? Shit, did he have friends now? For someone who was hardly human, he felt amazingly good at that thought.
Stefan brought him clothes, and he dressed quickly. Would he be allowed to leave? But the place was strangely quiet as they made their way through the building, and they saw no one.
“Where is everyone?”
“I told you the soldiers jumped ship, and Hatcher sent just about everyone else away when it became obvious the Church was going to lose this war.”
“He stayed?”
“At first he went out to the other planets, trying to get support. But he caught the sickness. He’s a broken man.”
They were almost at the main entrance when a side door opened and Hatcher stepped out.
Fergal stopped. He’d been expecting some change, but Hatcher was almost unrecognizable. He’d always been thin, but with a wiry strength. Now he appeared frail—his skin was tinged purple and dried blood crusted at his nostrils.
“You’re leaving?” Hatcher said.
“Yes.”
“You could stay. Together we can cleanse the evil from your soul.” For a second the old religious zeal glowed in his eyes, but it quickly faded. “The Church needs good people.” His hand went to the cross at his chest. “There is darkness coming. Monsters from Hell have been seen in the skies, and a pestilence follows in their wake. Stay and do God’s work.”
“I can’t.” The old hatred rose up, mixed with the need for approval all churning inside him. He could never be what this man wanted him to be. He didn’t even desire that. He just wished… Actually, he just wished he could hate him wholeheartedly. It would make things so much easier.
Hatcher coughed, a rough wet sound that racked his frail body with tremors. And Fergal realized it no longer mattered. His father was dying. Was this God’s justice? He didn’t think so.
Raising his right arm, he sent a signal from his brain, and silver ran over his skin. “I’ll never be human. Never be what you want.”
And he turned on his heel and walked away.
“How human am I?” he asked Stefan as they left the building.
“About 40 percent.”
“And will that stay the same?”
“I don’t know. This is new technology. You’re new. We’ll have to wait and see. But I’ll be continuing my research if I can persuade any of the others to stay. I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Good.”
He thought about it on the shuttle as he headed away from the planet. It had been programmed to return to its mother ship, and he had nothing to do but sit and wait.
And think.
About forty-sixty, human-cyborg. He should fit right in with crew of The Blood Hunter.
The ship appeared as if out of nowhere, presumably as he got past the stealth device, and the docking bay doors opened smoothly. He was out of his seat as the shuttle set down.
He wiped his hands down his pants, suddenly filled with nerves.
Maybe they’d changed their minds. Had Daisy told them about Hatcher? Probably not, if they were letting him on board. But he had to tell them. He was through hiding who and what he was.
They’d probably toss him straight out the air lock.
But when the shuttle doors opened, a single figure stood framed in the doorway.
Daisy didn’t wait for him to move—she hurled herself across the space between them. Her arms twined around his neck, her legs around his waist, and she kissed him.
For a minute, he forgot everything and kissed her back, his tongue thrusting into her mouth, tasting her, breathing her in. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
“I would have been there, but that bastard Stefan wouldn’t let me come near. And Rico said he’d promised you he’d keep me safe. He’s been a total pain in the ass.”
Fergal grinned. Then the smile faded. “Do they know?”
“About you and Hatcher—yeah.”
“And I’m still here?”
She took his face between her hands and stared down into his eyes. “Hey, it’s not your fault.”
“No, but I could have killed him.”
“So could I. But his time will come. He’ll have to answer for his sins.”
He’d tell her later that was already happening, but he didn’t want to spoil the moment. “So perhaps you can tell me a few of those long stories now.”
“Hell, no. We’re going to live new ones instead. Very long stories.” She pulled back a little so she could look into his face, her expression serious. “We have forever. It’s huge and it’s scary and we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, never mind a thousand years from now. But I love you, and I want my forever to be yours as well.”
He’d never really thought about forever. Now it stretched out before him, full of adventures, excitement, new worlds to visit. All with Daisy at his side. “I love you, too. And eternity doesn’t sound so scary when we can face it together.”
“Good.” She gave him a quick kiss and jumped down, sliding her palm into his. “Come on. We have plans to make.”
“We do?”
“You’re part of the crew now.”
“I am?”
“Tannis said so.”
“She did?”
As she tugged his hand and led him to the doorway, his nerves started to twitch. He’d never been part of anything before. What if he fucked up?
Tannis stood at the bottom of the ramp, hand on the laser pistol at her waist, the rest of the crew spread out behind her. Her face was expressionless, and then she broke into a grin.
“Welcome to The Blood Hunter.”
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Acknowledgments
To everyone at Entangled Publishing for persevering with my favorite series.
To all the great women at Passionate Critters for reading my stories and letting me know what they really think.
And also a huge thank you to my long-suffering husband, Rob, who has to put up with me regularly zoning out of the real world and playing around in worlds of my own making.
About the Author
Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of nine-to-five work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.
Nina writes all types of romance, often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.
If you’d like to learn about new releases, sign up for Nina’s newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/rZ5rz
www.ninacroft.com
Discover the Dark Desires series…
Break Out
Deadly Pursuit
Death Defying
Temporal Shift
Flying Through Fire
Also by Nina Croft
The Order series
Bittersweet Blood
Bittersweet Magic
Bittersweet Darkness
Things to Do Before You Die series
His Fantasy Girl
Her Fantasy Husband
Babysitting a Billionaire series
Losing Control
Out of Control
Taking Control
Melville Sisters series
Operation Saving Daniel
Betting on Julia
The Descartes Legacy
Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire
The Spaniard’s Kiss
Love Knows No Bounds
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