Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) by Nina Croft

though he sensed Jon watching him, he glanced up, but Jon ignored the implied question in the vampire’s eyes.

His butt hurt where the redhead had sliced him open to get at the tracking device, and he stood up, ran his hands through his hair. The fact he was alive, and for the moment at least free, was beginning to sink in.
    The snake lady was pacing the floor, presumably waiting for an answer as to why the Collective wanted them dead. He was curious as well. He had a few ideas, but he’d wait and see how this developed before he decided whether to share them or not. She came to a halt in front of him, a scowl on her face. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was definitely intriguing. If he looked closely, her skin glowed with a pearly iridescence. Her tongue wasn’t forked, which was a pity. He liked the unusual.
    “I’m Tannis, captain of El Cazador . Rico is owner and pilot. Skylar’s in charge of security. Janey, who just went to fetch you a much-needed shirt, keeps the systems going. Daisy”—she waved in the direction of the green girl—“is copilot and Al, or Lady Alexia, you’ve already met.”
    “Al’s fine,” the girl muttered.
    Tannis raised an eyebrow. “Well?”
    “Well, what?” Jon replied.
    “Are you going to introduce yourself?”
    “No.”
    “Charming, isn’t he?” Rico murmured. “You’d think he didn’t like us. How’s that for gratitude when we went to all that trouble to get him out of prison?”
    “If I’m not a prisoner, I’d appreciate if you would drop me off at the first habitable planet. I have things to do.”
    “Well, there’s a problem with that,” Tannis said. “Since we freed your ungrateful ass, we seem to have become a little unpopular in certain quarters. Very powerful quarters. And we need to know why.”
    He shrugged. “Lady, you’re mistaking me for someone who gives a fuck.”
    She stepped up close and poked him in the chest with one finger. “Well, give a fuck about this, dog-boy—you’re not leaving this ship until we find a way out of this pile of crap. And I’ll shove you back into cryo if I have to.”
    “You could try.”
    “Yeah, and I’d succeed. Because you know what—I’ve got one of these.” She drew the laser pistol from her belt and shoved it in his belly. “And you don’t.”
    For a moment, Jon considered taking the pistol from her. He was sure he could do it, but he wasn’t positive he could take the rest of them. So he kept quiet and waited for her to finish. His time would come.
    “If I thought for one moment getting rid of you would get the Collective off our backs, I probably wouldn’t even wait for the nearest landfall. You’d be out the airlock. But Skylar doesn’t seem to think that would do any good—which means we need to understand why they want you dead. So shall we try again?”
    The redhead Janey came back at that moment and tossed him a black, sleeveless T-shirt. He took a moment to pull it on to give himself time to think. It was a tight fit, stretched across his chest, but at least this one wouldn’t rip down the back if he took a deep breath.
    Jon considered his next move. He might have to work with these people for a while. At least until he could get away. And there was always the chance they might have information that would help him.
    “So why did you get me out of prison? Tell me what happened.”
    Tannis nodded as if recognizing his acceptance of the situation. “Ten days ago, Skylar approached us with a job. She told us she was part of the Rebel Coalition who are hell-bent on destroying the Church and the Collective and wanted to employ us to rescue her ‘little’ brother, Jonny, from the high-security prison on Trakis One.”
    Jon swung around to face the blonde and studied her. She had short, military-cut hair, high cheekbones, and a wide mouth. Dressed in a black jumpsuit, boots, and a laser pistol once again holstered at her waist, she was beautiful in a tough sort of way, but those eyes sent