Aeromancist, The Beginning (SECOND EDITION) - Charmaine Pauls Page 0,52
were going to abduct her and sell the baby.” Anger wrapped around Lann like coils of electricity. It threatened to break free. He’d happily unleash it on the gift hunter, but as long as David was talking, Lann reined in his fury.
“How did you know?” Lann asked, measuring his opponent. “How did you track us to the clinic?”
“Tsk-tsk.” David gave a toothy grin. “You know I can’t tell you.”
“This is getting boring,” Clelia said. “I’ve had enough of Paris. I’m going home.” She smiled. “I wonder if you’ll smell like fried fish when you burn.”
David slammed a palm on his heart. “The little woman hurt my feelings.” He pointed at her, not looking away from Lann. “I didn’t expect her to be so cruel.”
He seemed so honestly insulted Lann almost broke out in sadistic laughter. When Clelia lowered her lashes like she did right before calling up flames, Lann knew no one would be laughing.
“I want to cut a deal,” David said quickly.
“Your kind don’t cut deals with my kind,” Lann said. Hunters were their eternal enemies. That would never change. “Worse, you’re a reptile. You can’t be trusted any more than a snake.”
“You forget that money rocks my world,” David said. “My sponsor was going to pay me for the babe, and I don’t kindly give up that much money.”
“What do you have to sell?” Clelia asked.
David addressed Lann. “I know you don’t believe me, but I wasn’t there to abduct your woman. I was there to save your child from you.”
“You son of a—”
“I bet you’d just love to know who sponsors me.”
“I already know,” Lann bit out. He added with sarcasm, “Didn’t you mention the name Godfrey?”
“Ouch. Yes, I’ve paid dearly for that Freudian slip of the tongue.” David touched his crotch. “So much for fantasies. I’ve always wanted to be fucked by Godfrey, only literally of course.”
Clelia turned her head away as David stroked himself. Her disgust evoked his laughter.
“Enough.” Lann had listened to as much as he could. “Let’s burn him and get out of here.”
Clelia sighed. “With pleasure.”
“I dance to the tune of the highest bidder.” David licked his lips. “You can be my Pied Piper. If you reimburse my losses, plus interest, I’ll lead you to Godfrey and all his handy little mice.”
“Tell us where he is now,” Lann said, “or there’s no deal.”
David’s pearly eyes gleamed. “Do I look stupid to you?”
“Actually…” Lann looked him up and down.
“You two hurt my feelings,” David said with a pouty lip. “This is not a nice evening for me.”
Lann crossed his arms. “Name your conditions.”
“This is how it’s going to work. I—”
Gurgling sounds drowned the rest of David’s words. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Lann with something like surprise before his knees buckled and he hit the tarmac.
“Fuck.” For Joss’s benefit, Lann said, “David’s eliminated.”
“Both of you, out,” Joss said.
“We should look for the assassin,” Clelia said.
Joss used a firmer tone. “Out, now.”
“The assassin’s not here,” Lann said to Clelia. “I’ll explain later.” He grabbed her arm and ran for their vehicle. “It’ll take the vamps ten seconds to smell his blood. When they realize their leader is dead, we’re midnight snacks.” They jumped into the SUV, Lann taking the wheel. “I’d love to stay and play, but we’re outnumbered.”
Joss told Lann to ignore the GPS and follow his instructions instead. He was checking the roads on the satellite system.
“Clelia?” Joss said.
“I’m fine.”
Lann pulled from the parking with screeching tires, maneuvering the vehicle down the narrow road. “Get Bono. Tell him to be on standby.”
Clelia nodded. After she had executed the command, she turned in her seat. “I didn’t see a weapon. If it was chemical, it would have affected us too.”
“Internal.” He turned sharply to the left.
“Someone planted something in him?”
“His sponsor, I’m guessing.” At last, they hit a double carriageway. He glanced in the rearview mirror. “Are we clear, Joss?”
“Open road,” Joss confirmed.
A different voice came tentatively through the system. “Lann?”
Hers. Inside, he stilled. “Katherine?”
“Are you all right?”
She wasn’t supposed to witness any of this. He never wanted her to experience this side of him, the part that destroyed and killed.
“What is she doing on the system, Joss?” he said in a flat tone.
There was a warning in Joss’s voice. “Tell your woman you’re fine.”
“I’m fine,” he bit out, and then made a conscious effort to soften his voice. “We’ll be home soon, sweetheart.”
“I love you,” she whispered, for everyone to hear.