Break Out (A Blood Hunter Novel, book 1)

by Nina Croft

  “The hunger? You mean for blood?”

  “Not only blood.”

  While he was quite capable of feeding and leaving his victim virtually unharmed, there was a dark place inside him that craved death. A place that urged him to drain the last drop of blood from his prey, until their life force belonged to him. Rico lowered his dark glasses and allowed a little of that darkness to bleed into his eyes.

  Tannis stared, mesmerized, then swallowed. “Right then. You know that ‘no whores on board’ rule. I’ve changed my mind—have as many as you like.”

  Rico grinned and pushed his glasses back in place. He settled back and sipped his drink. He could almost see the thoughts whirling in her head and the moment she decided to change the subject.

  “So, this job—can we do it?” she asked.

  “Maybe. Maybe not. As you said, no one’s done it before, but I like a challenge.”

  “Hmm. And the money’s good.”

  “There’s only one problem—”

  When he didn’t continue, she frowned. “Are you going to tell me what that is?”

  “Well, at a guess, I’d say that not one word that came out of those pretty little lips was the truth.”

  Tannis’ jaw dropped open. “What?”

  Rico shook his head. “You are so gullible.”

  “But you were drooling all over her.”

  He licked his lips, breathed in deeply, and smiled. “She smelt divine. I’m not saying I wouldn’t like a taste, but that doesn’t mean I believed a word she said.”

  He tapped the control pad on the couch’s armrest, activating the monitor on the wall to the right. Skylar Rossaria’s face filled the screen, and he changed the setting so they could see all of her. She appeared quite relaxed. Which was odd in itself. El Cazador had a reputation and not a good one—he’d made sure of that. It encouraged the rest of the bad guys to keep their distance. She also had a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

  “She looks legit to me.” Tannis sounded disgruntled—she hated to be wrong about anything.

  Skylar stood up and wandered round the room, wincing as though in pain. She slumped down in one of the chairs and slipped off her shoes, gently massaging her foot. A look of relief washed over her face. She peered down at herself, and a frown of disgust replaced the relief as she attempted to tug the silver dress over her very impressive breasts. Rico felt his cock stir in his pants and shifted in his chair, savoring the feeling.

  But he recognized there was more to Skylar than his usual attraction toward a beautiful woman. Maybe it was the mass of contradictions he sensed seething just below the surface. Whatever—he knew he wanted the chance to explore it further.

  Tannis made a low noise beside him. “Hungry or not, could you get your mind off your dick for one second and tell me if you have any proof. She’s offering good money. Better than good—brilliant, and I need that money.”

  “My guess is, she’s never worn high heels in her life. She’s not at all comfortable in that dress, and she’s got calluses on her palm from holding a laser pistol. I’d bet my right fang she’s more at home with a gun than a lipstick.”

  “Christ, I wish you were wrong. I’d love your right fang. I’d wear it on a chain around my neck.” Tannis sighed. “But much as it pains me to admit—you’re never wrong.”

  He grinned. “And don’t you hate that.”

  “Yeah. Damn, but I wanted that money.” She punched the comm unit on her wrist. “Daisy, fire up the engines, we’re out of here as soon as the power’s up.”

  Tannis listened to Daisy’s reply, a frown forming on her face. “I don’t care where. Just away from here.”

  Rico waited until she’d closed the connection. “You know, there’s no guarantee we could have done the job anyway. As you pointed out, no one has ever been broken out of Trakis One. Though it might have been fun trying.”

  He turned back to watch the woman on the screen. It was a long time since he’d felt a hunger like this. He licked his lips. “How about she gives us the money anyway.”

  Tannis’ eyes lit up at the prospect.

  “Give me an hour alone with her,” he continued, “and she’ll be begging to give you every credit she’s got.”

  Heat stirred in the pit of his belly at the thought. He didn’t kill often; he kept that particular hunger tightly leashed, but it was always present. He had his own set of morals, and he did his best to stick to them, but this woman had crossed the line. She obviously had another agenda, which no doubt involved double-crossing them in some way, and that made her fair game.

  Tannis narrowed her eyes, but he could tell he’d piqued her interest. “You’re a sick bastard, Rico.”

  Rico didn’t try to deny it, and he waited while Tannis mulled the idea. She was captain, after all. Finally, she shook her head. “No, it wouldn’t work. Not with level-one verification protocols in place. You could get her to make the transfer, I’m sure, but it would never pass the screening. The voice recognition sensors would pick up any signs of coercion.”

  She sat back, drumming her fingers on the arms of her chair, deep in thought, watching the woman on the screen while Rico watched her. He liked to watch Tannis, liked the clean lines of her face and body, the luminous skin with a hint of scales. Her cold, reptilian eyes. There were very few people he counted as friends, but once, long ago, Tannis had rescued him from a prison and certain death. She’d no doubt regretted the impulsive action a few times in the years since, but he was equally sure she’d do it again. At heart, he was a loner, but Rico found it strangely comforting to know that there was at least one person in the world who would care if he ceased to exist.

  They both sat in silence, watching the screen. Skylar still had that smug, self-satisfied smile on her face. Tannis reached across, punched the off switch, and the screen went blank.

  “Don’t look so disappointed,” she said. “If this is some sort of scam, she’s going after the wrong people, and she’s all yours. You can do what you like with her. But first I suppose we should find out exactly what she’s after.” She ran a hand through her short, spiky hair. “It’s got to be a setup. Maybe you’d better get me a list of people you’ve pissed off recently.”

  “How long have we got?”

  “Good point—probably not long enough. We should talk to her again. Soften her up a little. See if she’ll tell us what she’s after.”

  He liked the sound of that. At the thought of softening her up, his gums ached, and the bloodlust uncoiled inside him. He lowered his dark glasses and regarded her. “Let me go in there alone, and I’ll get her to spill everything she knows.”

  Tannis studied him for a moment, lips pursed. “Fine, but I’ll be watching.”

  “Pervert,” he drawled.

  “I don’t want you finishing her off until she talks. If there’s someone coming after us, I want to know exactly who it is.”

  Rico rose to his feet and rolled his shoulders, his body tight with anticipation. “She’ll talk.”

  Chapter Four

  Skylar wondered how much longer they would keep her waiting. She tapped her foot, impatient to get moving.

  Excitement fizzed in her blood. This was actually going to work. She would do it. She had to. The colonel had impressed upon her how important this mission was—she couldn’t fail. Her future depended upon it.

  The door slid open. Ricardo Sanchez―Rico, as the captain had called him―stood in the opening. He didn’t enter but lounged against the frame, watching her. He was alone this time, and Skylar forced what she hoped was a bimbo smile onto her face.

  He didn’t return the smile. He still wore the shades, so she couldn’t see his eyes, but his mouth remained a compressed line.

  She got to her feet, needing to move. Maybe the plan wasn’t going so well after all.

  “Mr. Sanchez—Rico—”

  “Sit.”

  Had she really thought his voice sounded like warm honey? That one word cut through the air like ice. She
didn’t even have to think about it. She sat right down. Her lips were suddenly dry, and she ran the tip of her tongue over them.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked and decided that the squeak in her voice was quite allowable within the parameters of her character.

  He strolled into the room, one hand resting on the laser pistol at his thigh, and came to a halt in front of her chair, far too close. He was tall. And broad. And menacing. She licked her lips again.

  “Just a small one.”

  “Well, I’m sure we can sort it out.” When Rico didn’t rush to agree with her, she decided to give the bimbo smile another try. Her dry lips stretched across her teeth in what she hoped would bring an answering smile from Rico.

  He grinned, but for some reason it didn’t make Skylar feel any better at all. “Oh, I’m sure we can.” His smile broadened and the tip of one white fang showed briefly.

  Skylar’s heart stopped. Then started again, so loudly she could hear the blood thundering in her veins.

  Holy Meridian. What the hell was this guy?

  Her mind flashed back to the rumors she’d heard about him, rumors she had ignored as too ludicrous to even consider. Just stories dredged up from the past.

  She forced herself to take a deep breath. He could be any number of things. One rather large tooth did not mean he was a….

  He reached up and slipped the shades from his eyes. His gaze locked with hers, and ice-cold prickles skittered down her spine. She’d been in some perilous situations in her time in the military, had faced off against some of the scariest bad asses in the known universe. But they’d all been human—or mostly human. Nothing had ever chilled her like the darkness she sensed lurking behind his eyes.

  “Er—I just have to pop back to my shuttle for a moment.” She stumbled to her feet. “I forgot to—”

  She closed her mouth as he continued to stare at her out of those crimson eyes. Who, or rather what, had eyes the color of blood?

  He reached out a hand, placed one finger on her shoulder, and pushed her down.

  Skylar collapsed onto the chair but decided that wasn’t so bad. She doubted her legs would have held her much longer anyway.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to remember her training. What to do if caught. What to do if facing torture. Unfortunately, nothing was coming to mind.

  Concentrate.

  She could turn off her pain receptors, but not many people were capable of that sort of neural control and it would give her away. Unless she could pretend she was feeling pain, but somewhere along the way she’d lost faith in her acting abilities.

  So, keep the pain receptors on? That didn’t seem such a good option either, but probably the higher chance of success. While she didn’t like pain, she could deal with it.

  Taking a few deep breaths, she pushed her fear to the back of her mind.

  She knew they wanted the money. She’d seen the greed in the captain’s eyes. She just had to hope that they wanted the money more than Rico wanted—

  Again, her mind refused to finish the sentence. After all, she didn’t actually know what he wanted.

  He licked his lips, ran his tongue over one sharp white fang, and stepped towards her.

  Okay. She didn’t know, but her mind was doing a good job of guessing. Or a bad job.

  She shook her head, took another deep breath, and sat up straight. She studied him quickly. His whole figure radiated tension, and a predatory hunger lurked behind his eyes. She had to find a way to diffuse the situation. What would work?

  “So,” she said and was proud of how normal her voice came out, “this problem… Are you going to tell me what it is, or are you just going to stand over me and drool?”

  Surprise flashed across his face. He grinned again, and this time some of the lethal energy eased from him. The atmosphere in the room changed instantly, and he stepped back, sank into the chair opposite, and rested his booted feet on the small table between them. He didn’t put the glasses back on but sat regarding her, head cocked to one side.

  She held herself still, running a relaxation mantra through her mind, and finally her fingers uncurled and her breathing returned to normal.

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’re a cool one.”

  “Is there any reason I shouldn’t be?”

  “Oh, plenty of reasons.”

  A shiver ran through her at the dark promise in his voice.

  “The problem?” she prompted.

  He shrugged. “I don’t believe a word of your story.”

  “Why?”

  He ignored her question. “And you’re way too cool for someone who must suspect she’s in big, big trouble.”

  Cool? She couldn’t remember being this frightened—ever. Maybe she was a good actress after all.

  “What makes you think I’m lying?”

  His eyes ran over her, lingering on the swell of her breasts. “Believe me, I’ve met a few space tramps in my time, and you do not fit the mold.”

  What’s wrong with me?

  She bit her tongue to keep from asking the question.

  He sat up and leaned toward her. “Who are you working for?”

  “I’m not working for anyone.”

  He sighed. “Look, we can make this relatively pain-free. Or—”

  He paused dramatically, and Skylar rolled her eyes. “Or what? You’ll torture me?”

  “Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of eating you.”

  Instead of fear, that thought conjured up some rather interesting possibilities, and she squirmed in the seat. “Ugh,” she said in case he’d noticed.

  He laughed and relaxed back in his chair. “Who are you working for?”

  Skylar sighed. There were some occasions when only the truth would do—but was this one of them?

  “Okay, I lied,” she said. “But not about everything.”

  She hesitated. She knew interrogators were more likely to believe you if they had to work for the information.

  “Yes—?” he prompted.

  “I do want you to extract a prisoner from Trakis One. And they have scheduled him for transfer to the mines in ten days. But he’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Who is he?”

  “My brother.”

  He frowned. “Why would you lie about that?”

  “Because I didn’t think you would take the job if I told you the truth.”

  “Honey,” he said, “boyfriend, brother, it makes no damn difference to me. And you’re making no sense but you’d better start soon.”

  “He’s not a bank robber.” She paused again.

  “Dios mio,” Rico muttered. “I think I might torture you after all. Will you get on with it?”

  She bit her lip. “He’s a member of the Rebel Coalition, and he’s being held for the assassination of Collective member Aiden Ross. You must have heard about it.”

  “Ahh.”

  She was certain, from that one word, that she had him. The Rebel Coalition usually had no fight with the Collective. Their goal was to bring down the Church of Everlasting Life. But Aiden Ross had been an advocate of the Church, and a supporter of some of its more radical activities, including the slaughter of millions of ‘abominations’, as the Church referred to anyone with less than one hundred percent human DNA. By destroying him, the rebels hoped to discourage any future collaboration. Skylar doubted they’d done any such thing. More likely, the Collective would now go all-out to exterminate the rebels, but that was beside the point. “I knew you wouldn’t go up against the Collective. Nobody will.”

  “So why don’t his rebel buddies break him out?”

  “I went to them, but they wouldn’t do it. They said that nobody had ever broken out of Trakis One, and they weren’t going to waste good credits trying.”

  “Nice friends.” He regarded her closely. “I’m suspecting there’s more.”

  She nodded. “I had to find a way to get Jonny out. He’s my baby brother, and I’ve always looked after him.” His eyes were no longer cr
imson but had darkened to the color of bitter chocolate. She was sure he believed her. “I’ve got good contacts. We’ve been part of the Rebel Coalition for years—ever since our parents were murdered during the Purge.” She wondered whether a few tears would go down well at this point, but decided against it. “We gave them our whole lives and they abandoned Jonny. I knew I couldn’t rescue him alone, that I’d have to pay somebody to help me. So I stole some money from them.”

  “How?”

  “It was easy. I’m quite high in the hierarchy—I have access to funding.”

  “That’s where the money in the account came from?”

  She nodded again. “Now the Coalition is after me, and I can’t go to anyone I know. I had to find someone who wasn’t tied to either the Collective or the rebels.”

  “What about the Church of Everlasting Life? The high priests will often go against the Collective just to piss them off.”

  She shook her head. “Not this time. Aiden Ross was their strongest supporter in the Collective. Anyway, they won’t work overtly against the Collective. The Church is powerful, but only because the Collective allows it to be—they know that. Besides, they wouldn’t help Jonny. He’s a known rebel and a GM. You know how the Church feels about the experiments. They’d put him down rather than save him.”

  Skylar held his gaze, willing her features into a pleading semblance. When his shoulders appeared to soften, she was careful not to let the corners of her mouth turn up.

  . . .

  She gazed up at him with those huge eyes, and Rico frowned. The interview hadn’t gone as expected.

  The problem was—he liked her.

  He’d expected her to fold immediately, maybe cry, but he’d been basing that presumption on her appearance. Stupid, when he’d already concluded she was not the tart she’d portrayed. She was tough, and toughness was one of the few traits he admired.

  The other problem was—he believed her.

  Her story made sense. The vast majority of people would not go against the Collective. A black mark in its books meant absolutely no chance of the Meridian treatment even if you could afford the exorbitant prices. And everyone lived in hope of somehow finding the money and gaining immortality.