“I don’t think I can move.”
Neri chuckled, which soon turned into a full-blown laugh and he watched her. Her face lit up with so much happiness he found he wanted her to be that happy all the time. And to do that, they had to eliminate Zahava, her crew, and every other threat to his mate and their family.
“You are beautiful, angel. I’m glad I found you and you’re in my life.”
“I love you, Hunter. You gave me a family; my new one and my old one where before I had loneliness and isolation.”
Hunter opened his mouth to tell her they had responsibilities, but she beat him to it.
“And I know, I know, we have to protect our family. Shower, then we’ll get dressed and head out.”
Neri’s bathroom flashed in Hunter’s mind and when he blinked, he held Neri against his body, but they were standing in the shower.
“Did… did you do that?” He asked.
Neri laughed and shook her head. Her hand slapped over her mouth, but her eyes lit up with humor as she searched his face.
“Nope, you did,” she answered.
“Well, that’s new.”
Which made Neri laugh harder. Whatever happened to him had given him the same ability as Neri and that meant Liv would prod him.
“Fuck.”
Neri sobered, and he shook his head.
“Liv will stick me with a needle and draw blood. I fucking hate needles.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
NERI
Liv snarled at Hunter the third time he jerked away from her, trying to draw a sample of his blood to compare to Neri’s. Instead of gritting his teeth through the procedure, he refused to let Liv near him.
“For fuck’s sake, Hunter. I haven’t even pulled out the needle yet. I’m checking for a viable vein to draw from. So, stop moving before I strap you down and take if from you.”
It took a while for Neri to agree to go downstairs with Liv and Hunter in what she considered a glass dungeon, but the look of fear on Hunter’s face when she offered to stay with the other assassins in the living room had her changing her mind.
But now she was here, there was no claustrophobic feeling, only amusement as Hunter balked at getting his blood drawn. She should have been a supportive mate, but Neri giggled with every flinch Hunter made, although Liv was nowhere near him with anything sharp.
The back and forth had been going on for about twenty minutes until Liv growled at him. But at Liv’s words, he got a determined look in his eye. He was about to use his new teleportation powers, delaying the inevitable, so she shook her head to get his attention.
“I’ll come after you and hold you down for Liv. It’s not that bad, love. And if you concentrate on me instead of Liv, then it’ll be over and you won’t feel a thing.”
Hunter frowned. “A fucking sharp metal object will pierce my skin. How is it not going to hurt?”
Neri cupped his face and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. Have you ever had someone draw blood from you before?”
Somehow, he crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his bottom lip out in a pout, looking both ferocious and cute. Although she didn’t mention the last part of that thought aloud.
“No, but I’ve seen medical shows…”
“Which is nothing like the real thing. Ara, who had her veins collapse on her because she had so much blood drawn from her never complained, even when she was human. Now, hold out your arm before I make you,” Liv ended in a growl.
Neri leaned in and whispered in Hunter’s ear. “If you do this for me, the next time we’re naked in the shower, I’ll drop on my knees and suck your cock until you explode down my throat. I’ll be so wet and ready for you I’ll beg you to fuck me against the wall.”
He shivered at her words and dropped his arms at his sides in shock. A blush exploded on his cheeks as he swallowed. It took a few moments to form words, and when he managed, they were gruff and choked. “You’d… do that for me, anyway.”
She shrugged and gave him a beaming smile. “Yeah, that’s true. But Liv finished drawing your blood, and you never noticed.”
His spine stiffened, and he glanced down to find his arm half-bent and Liv holding a cotton ball against his skin. When he moved his gaze to Liv, she held up two vials of his blood and shook them with a smirk.
“Works every time.”
Her smile turned into a frown when Hunter huffed. Neri turned back to her mate in time to see his eyes roll in the back of his head and his huge six-foot-two frame swayed from side-to-side, preparing to topple over. Her hands clamped down on his shoulders as his body sagged forward, loving the fact she had the strength to hold him upright with ease.
“I wouldn’t have gone with shaking the blood in his face, but he was looking green long before that so I can’t fault you for bragging. I thought you sampled all the immortals’ blood to use with the antidote?” Neri asked.
Liv shook her head. “I asked Kai first but… well, we had a falling out. That’s why I never tested vampire blood against the bioweapon before. I asked Hunter, but he refused. Jade and Reaper volunteered, so I used their blood. I focused on eliminating the bioweapon I didn’t stop to think about the variants.”
Neri kept one hand on Hunter’s back, who groaned and buried his face against her neck not conscious yet, and reached her other hand out to squeeze Liv’s.
“It’s not your fault Liv. From what I gathered from the others, even if you had surmised a reason immortals exist, you still have to research each one of us and answer why we have the abilities and strengths we do. Which sounds near impossible.
“And from what Hunter told me, you are a brilliant immunologist but answers can be scarce. Such as Ara’s healing abilities and telekinesis, why Noah is a tiger instead of a fox, or the reason Frost can get pregnant, and why Silas has such powers. Like in life, some things are impossible to answer, although we try to find reasons for them. I’m sure answers will come in time, but don’t beat yourself up. You would do anything to protect your family.”
Liv surged forward, but when Hunter’s large form didn’t move from where he settled against Neri, she wrapped her arm around Neri’s waist and squeezed.
“Thank you, Neri. Now, let’s see what his blood shows.”
Hunter groaned at the word blood and slumped against her again. Neri ran her fingers through Hunter’s hair, comforting him as he recovered from his shock.
Neri’s gaze took in Liv’s lab for the first time. There were many machines; some creme colored and small, some black with numerous buttons, so she stood back touching nothing. But there was a steady hum of sound coming from them that was soothing to her. She watched in awe as Liv turned on a machine which churned Hunter’s blood before she put a drop on a slide and slid it under a microscope.
Across the room, a machine made a whirring sound and beeped every so often, but Liv paid it no attention as she studied the sample in front of her.
By this time, Hunter’s breathing had deepened. She scoffed when she realized he fell asleep. She nudged his face up and shook him until he opened his eyes.
“Did… you fall asleep on me?”
“Well, someone woke me early in this morning after four days of little to no sleep. I took advantage of the situation yes because you’re warm and comfortable. Can you blame me?”
Hunter blinked several times before he stepped off the chair and stretched his arms above his head. After a minute, he looked awake. He leaned down and kissed Neri.
“No, I can’t,” she agreed.
Xander chose that moment to interrupt before she suggested they pop home for an hour.
“What did you find?”
Both turned to Xander, who brought his laptop and set it on a free table near the door, taking a seat and letting his fingers fly over the keyboard.
Silas bounced in a moment later and when he leapt into her arms, she was ready for him. She cuddled him close and took a deep breath, loving the baby smell.
I’ve missed you.
I missed you too, little man. Have you grown?
Silas laughed. I get that question all the time. I don’t think so.
Neri caught Xander nodding his head at her question while continuing to type away.
“Oh, Xander? Can you check out the address 1212 Treetop Drive and see who owns the red brick building and what it’s used for? We lost Zahava’s scent around there, but there’s something about the building I can’t put my finger on. It gives me the creeps and I don’t want to go in there unless I have to.”
“Sure thing.”
The rest of the assassins trailed into Liv’s lab, some taking a seat on two couches set in the back. Axel hopped up on a free table and messed with his cell while Ghost sat on a stool in front of Neri with a frown on his face.
“She doesn’t exist. I checked if there was any movement at the Crested Butte ranch and the sheriff reported the place burned down soon after we left.”
“No one adopted Zahava. She moved foster homes often for a range of excuses. She refused to listen to rules and did whatever she wanted until the foster families refused to take her. Because of this, the state emancipated her at seventeen,” Xander said.
He glanced at Neri and then at Ghost.
“And?” Ghost asked.
“After Anzû’s death in October of last year, Zahava applied and received a business license for the company Nightfall, specializing in security.”
Ghost rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess, specializing in surveillance and intelligence. Which means they get illegal information and sell it to the highest bidder.”
“But they also sell information to the government. They are on NSA and CIA’s payroll.”
“She has someone skilled in hacking and programming working for her or forced to work for her,” Gunnar said.
“Dr. Ames, the man Ara killed, Anzû, Dr. Stevens. Now we have confirmation of a connection,” Reaper growled.
“And Zahava has controlled everything from behind the scenes, until now. We must assume she’s after Neri for a reason we have yet to figure out and it’s tied to her plans on taking over Dark Company. If an intelligence agency contracts Nightfall, we might be in more trouble than we thought,” Ghost sounded disgusted.
As the group mumbled, Neri sensed a jolt up her spine and a woman’s scream echoed in her ears. She stiffened trying to match the sound to someone she knew.
Help! Moró, help me!
“Fuck, Thalia’s in trouble.”
Reaper moved, reaching behind his back before he thrust his hand toward her, holding out a familiar nylon rectangle. She reached for it, shoving it in the back of her jeans, before she nodded her thanks.
“Call us if you need us,” Axel said.
She reached for Hunter at the same time he clamped his hand down on her forearm and she teleported them to Thalia’s front door. The moment they popped in, a chair scuffed against the wooden floor in the kitchen and murmurs sounded around the house.
What’s the plan, angel?
Fuck a plan, Hunter. That fucking bitch has my mother. I’m going to fucking kill her.
Neri ripped open the front door and noticed two shifters lounging on her mother’s couch as if they owned the place. They leapt up, not hearing Neri and Hunter drop on the front stoop or moving to open the door. She pulled the knife out. By the time the shifters advanced, she was ready.
She killed the first with ease. A little surprised how his head detached from his shoulders with little force, she blinked, searching for a trap. But when she found nothing, she then glanced down at the head in her hand. She threw it through the open front door and onto the lawn before she back flipped off the now dead shifter and onto the shoulders of the second.
Hunter’s hand surrounded the second man’s neck. Neri’s weight provided leverage for Hunter to rip the shifter’s head clean off his body before he threw it in the same direction the first one had taken.
“Kitchen.”
They walked side-by-side into her favorite room and Neri’s heart dropped. Zahava held a knife up to Thalia’s neck. She also thought Thalia was a threat because Zahava wrapped a rope around her torso and the chair tying her arms at her sides and trapping her.
“What do you want, Zahava?”
Instead of answering Neri’s question, Zahava’s eyes kept flicking toward Hunter, accessing him in a way Neri didn’t understand. Not sexual, because of the hardness in her brown eyes, but a puzzle piece she couldn’t fit until that moment.
“Who is this?”
“None of your fucking business.”
Zahava pressed the knife harder against Thalia’s neck and this time, Neri spotted a speck of blood that welled from the tip of her knife digging in. Rage rushed through her and for a moment, and she wanted to kill. But knowing Thalia’s life was in danger, she knew she couldn’t be rash, although her panther brain fought against reason.
“This will get you nowhere. Why are you here?”
The question triggered Zahava’s anger, and she directed it back toward Neri.
“You left me,” she screamed.
Neri blinked at the accusation. She was twelve when she met Thalia and before that, none of the foster homes she stayed in made her feel safe. The families who had taken her in didn’t hide the fact they saw her stay in their home as a paycheck. As long as she stayed out of the way and didn’t eat much, they ignored her. But they and many others grew tired of her and within weeks, she moved on to the next home. Neri had been lucky Thalia decided she wanted Neri for good.
“I didn’t leave you. The orphanage shut down, and we were all sent to different foster homes. I had no control over where I went, much less where you went. Why would you think I left you?”
Zahava twitched before she shook her head, refusing to believe what she was saying. She paced, which allowed Neri to teleport to Thalia and cut the ropes holding her mother. “When I signal you, inch out the back door.”
Thalia nodded and Neri teleported back to Hunter’s side.
“No, no, I told you I wanted to go with you.”
“Yes, but I remember the director of the orphanage explained to you we couldn’t go to the same home because there’s no relation between us.”
“You should have fought for me?”
Neri noticed the more Zahava spoke, the more she edged toward the door to the living room. Neri knew this wouldn’t end well for her old roommate and she would kill her before she made it through the doorway.
“How, I was eleven? The administrator scared the shit out of me and every time I spoke, she told me to shut up.”
Neri glanced at Thalia and noticed her eyes focused on her. As Zahava glanced at Hunter again, Neri jerked her head to the left, indicating to her mother she should leave. With silent steps, Thalia pushed open the back screen door and stepped out, closing it behind her. Once she was outside, Neri managed not to sigh aloud.
The hardness in Zahava’s eyes returned as she pinned Neri with a withering look. “Do you have any idea what happened in those homes. They used me and threw me away and yet you were nowhere. You weren’t there to protect me from those older boys who raped me while the foster parents ignored everything going on in their house.”
Her words stunned Neri. Her body stood still in shock as tears pricked her eyes for the woman in front of her, for the innocent child who hurt in the worst ways possible.
A large part of her knew something must have happened to Zahava to make her hate them. But no matter what she said to placate Zahava, her anger overruled rational thought. And knowing what happened to her in the foster homes they sent her to, her heart ached for the child she had been. But she had chosen this life; where she killed and wanted power and revenge for some perceived slight.
The longer she stayed silent, the angrier Zahava became. But as fast as it built, the anger disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“But I can’t blame you for
everything. I learned over the years how to manipulate people to get what I want. If you hadn’t left me alone, then I never would have learned to go after what I want in life without consequences.”
Neri ignored her blame. “Then you met your husband, and you fell in love—”
“No, I didn’t love him. He was a means to an end. He was my first introduction to immortals, and I realized the power I could have by controlling him and the shifters who do my bidding. I succeeded because of my hard work and brilliant plans. But that asshole obsessed over the dark-haired woman and got himself killed. I had control over Nightfall by that time, manipulating the rest of the shifters, and they followed me.”
“So you want to kill me…”
Hunter growled at her words but didn’t move from his position on her right side, his hand brushing against hers now and then.
“… And then what?”
“I’ll kill every one of your new friends until Ghost remains, and then I will force him to give me control of Dark Company.”
“The contract will end with Ghost’s death. He can’t transfer it to anyone, human or immortal, so the contract between the government and Dark Company will be severed,” Hunter said.
Neri said, “And you’re not a shifter or an immortal. How are you going to kill the assassins with a group of subpar shifters who have no enhanced abilities including speed and hearing? We took out your two shifters in the living room.”
Zahava glared. Instead of answering, she tilted her head to the side and listened.
Neri heard running footsteps outside. Only when they arrived in the yard did Zahava hear them, too.
“Damian!” Zahava shouted.
In a flash, a huge black haired shifter close to seven foot tall, appeared behind Zahava and wrapped his arms around her.
“And now I know all I need to. Thanks, Neri. Be seeing you soon.”
And with that threat, they disappeared.
Shit, Thalia is outside and in sight of those assholes. Let’s go!
Hunter (A Dark Assassins Novel Book Five) Page 15