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

assassinated. If we can find out who ordered the assassination and why, it might give us some leverage. There has to be a way to track down who paid you for the job. You must know who contacted you initially.”
    Jon thought for a minute. The only way he survived in his profession was by maintaining anonymity and by keeping his contacts a closely guarded secret. But he’d had it with the assassination business. He’d already decided killing Aidan Ross was his last job, and he’d been paid enough that he could afford to retire, so really he no longer needed his contacts. And one of them had betrayed him. Set him up.
    “There is someone we can start with. The initial contact came through him.”
    “Where can we find him?”
    “Last time I heard, he was running a bar on Trakis Two.”
    “Great,” Tannis muttered. “Trakis Two—isn’t that right next door to Trakis Five, where those guys who want to kill us come from?”
    Jon shrugged. “Well, they won’t be expecting us there, will they?”
    “Do you really trust him?” Skylar asked Tannis.
    “Hell no—of course I don’t trust him. But unless you can come up with a better idea, I don’t see what choice we have.” She pointed a finger at Jon. “But you double-cross us, and I’ll deliver you to the Meridian mines myself.”
    Jon ignored the threat.
    “Hmm.” Rico switched on the console in front of him and concentrated for a moment. “Trakis Two would work. We need to head somewhere we can do some repairs. Apparently, the main thruster is damaged beyond anything the Trog can fix, and I know somewhere we can hole up on Trakis Two while we fix her up. That’s if he’s still there.”
    “A friend of yours?” Tannis asked.
    Rico sighed. “Sort of.”
    “Sort of?” Skylar frowned. “Why does that make me worry?”
    “Because you know me so well?” Rico grinned. “Let’s just say there’s a slight possibility he’ll want us dead more than the Collective.”
    “Just great,” Tannis drawled.
    Rico flipped a switch on the console, the remaining thrusters fired, and El Cazador took off for Trakis Two—the planet that never sleeps.

ChapterFour

    Christ,hewashungry.
    Jon was heading back to his cabin, but he really needed to eat. He raised his head, sniffed, and caught the faint trace of food in the air.
    The smell led him to the galley at the center of the ship. It took him a moment to figure out how to work the food dispenser, but he eventually managed to get himself a serving of something that resembled stew and tasted almost like real meat. After wolfing down the first bowl, he got another, and sat at the table to eat it more slowly.
    Things weren’t going too badly. They could be much worse. But even so, his nerves twitched. He didn’t work well with people. It was a long time since he’d even tried.
    After his pack had been killed, he’d spent the following years tracing the people responsible and making sure they paid. Afterward, he’d lost his urge for killing, but he’d continued anyway because he was good at it and he’d found there were plenty of people around who would pay him—and extraordinarily well—to use his talents. But he always worked alone.
    Long ago, he’d taken a vow never to change anyone—he didn’t want any other wolves relying on him, looking to him to save their miserable lives. He’d proven how crappy he was at the whole protection thing. And he’d never come across another werewolf either. The occasional rumor came his way, but if it sounded like his kind, he’d turned around and gone in the opposite direction as fast as he could.
    He was better off alone. He liked it that way. Women he took when the need got too strong, but always women who knew the score, who wouldn’t ask for more than he was willing to give, which wasn’t very much. Women who could look after themselves. Women who were definitely not virgins.
    The Virgin Bride of the Everlasting God .
    Who would have guessed it—a High Priestess? He