Alpha Hunter (26 page)

“
The hunter teleported her out before I could stop him,” Lor admitted.

A frustrated sigh forced its way out of Blayne. “Then all the Shadow Assassins escaped?” Each victim they recovered was a victory, but as long as the hunters were on the loose they would continue to hunt. It was their nature, their reason for coming to Earth.

“Not all of them escaped.” Lor pointed to the first unconscious man. “That’s Zacharous. He’s the Team West alpha. The other two are Rodytes. No Shadow Assassin would have been that easy to floor.”

The alpha hunter was unconscious
as well as bound. “How did you accomplish all this by yourself?”

“I still had the injector in my hand when
Zacharous burst into the room. Pulse blasts took out the other two. What about Nazerel?”

Blayne shook his head. His frustration was echoed in Lor’s gaze.
“I easily followed his first leap, but his nanites scramble his signal. It’s impossible to track him.”

“I got a good look at the woman. She was definitely Sevrin Keire.” Suddenly
Lor looked off into space and his brows drew together. His worried gaze snapped back to Blayne and he said, “That was Tori. Morgan had no other way to contact us. Something is horribly wrong with Angie. Elias is on his way here. Go.”

Blayne didn’t have to be told twice. He flashed back to the Bunker, heart hammering madly in his chest.
The floor around Angie had been cleared. Even the conference table had been shoved to the side. A human medic knelt by Angie, trying to look useful.

“What happened?”
he demanded.

“You tell me,” Morgan
replied. “She screamed, her eyes went vacant and then she just collapsed.”

He
knelt on the other side from the medic and pressed his fingers to her throat. Her pulse was weak but discernable. Her breathing was shallow. After quickly scanning for physical injuries, he determined that it was safe to move her. “I’ll update you when I know more.” Without further conversation, he scooped her up in his arms and flashed to the
Sentinel
. The ship was too small to have an infirmary, so he took her to the cabin he’d been sharing with Odintar and summoned his cabin mate with an urgent telepathic pulse.

All Mystics learned how to heal their own minor wounds and many could accelerate healing in others. Unfortunately, Blayne’s healing abilities were minimal. He scanned her again, confused and frustrated by what he sensed.
He couldn’t lock on to a specific wound or locate discernable damage. All he sensed was an unnatural resonance as if all the energy in her body were subtly feeding back.

Odintar entered, lunging across the small space. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Anxiety made his tone sharper than he’d intended. “She located Nazerel. Lor and I flashed to his location. Morgan said Angie screamed, her gaze went blank, and then she just collapsed. I can’t detect a specific problem.”

Shouldering him out of the way, Odintar knelt beside the bunk and pressed his hand against Angie’s forehead. He closed his eyes and his features tensed. “Was she still linked with Nazerel when you were fighting?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was Nazerel incapacitated?”

“No. I blasted him with energy, but… Shit, did I do this to her?” The bottom dropped out of his stomach and his hands clenched into fists. If he’d hurt her, even unintentionally, he’d… Never forgive himself? He already knew what that felt like thanks to his half-brother. He could not let his happen again.

Odintar was using both hands now. He pressed his palms to her temples then slid them slowly down her throat. “There has definitely been some sort of overload.”

“Open this fucking door or I’ll blast my way in!” Tori’s voice was muffled, but Blayne believed every word.

“Do not let her in here,” Odintar insisted without opening his eyes.

Not wanting to leave Angie’s side, Blayne’s steps dragged as he crossed to the door. He positioned himself to block Tori’s entrance then triggered the door with a voice command. Before she could rush past him, he caught her upper arms and guided her away from the door.

“Odintar needs to concentrate.
We can help her best by staying out of his way.”

“How was she injured? You didn’t take her with you, did you?”

The accusation stung. “Give me a little credit. Of course, I didn’t take her into battle with me.”

“Then how was she hurt?” He’d never seen Tori so distraught. Her face was ashen, eyes wide and tear-bright.

“I think she was still linked with Nazerel when I attacked him.” Each word slashed at his soul. He was supposed to protect his life mate and it was likely his own energy had done this to her. “Nazerel must have used the link to redirect the attack.”

“He redirected a pulse that was meant to kill him into Angie?” Her lips trembled and tears escaped with the fall of her lashes.

Instinctively, Blayne pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I would never hurt her intentionally.” But all his good intentions hadn’t kept Larria alive. He shuddered. No! It was not going to happen again. He would not lose Angie. He’d just found her, for gods’ sake.

Tori had brought her arms up as he reeled her in and she remained stiff within his embrace. “If she dies
, I will never forgive you.” Fear and grief tore the words from her throat.

The familiar threat echoed through Blayne, mocking and tormenting him. “She’s not going to die.”

Despite her hurtful words, Tori wrapped her arms around his back and sobbed into his shirt.

Blayne held her, fighting his own emotions as he attempted
in vain to comfort her.

I need you both. Now!

Tori must have heard Odintar as well because she beat him to the door, but Blayne’s longer stride allowed him to reach the bed before her.

Energy
. Odintar hadn’t reacted when they arrived. He remained kneeling beside the bunk, hands hovering over Angie.
Need energy.

Unable to transfer energy without the benefit of touch, Tori placed her hand on Odintar’s arm. Blayne simply opened his mind and inundated the other Mystic with energy.

Slow down.
Odintar gasped.
Can’t soak that in and keep healing
.

It was three and a half hours later when Odintar finally
lifted his head and lowered his arms. He looked exhausted and less than confident. “I’ve done what I can.” He struggled to his feet, legs visibly wobbly. Blayne reached out and steadied him. “Her vital signs are much stronger, but…” His gaze shifted from Blayne to Tori and back, regret etched into his expression. “I won’t lie to you. Her brain took the worst of the discharge. There were numerous tiny ruptures. I repaired them all, but it’s hard to say how much she’ll be affected by the damage.”

Tori covered her mouth with one hand and sobbed.

Blayne felt tears escape the corners of his eyes though he stubbornly maintained control. “What can we do?”

“I cast her deep into sleep thrall. Her body needs time to heal.”

“Sleep thrall?” Tori’s voice hitched, so she cleared her throat before she went on. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a technique I learned on Bilarri. I suspended all of her bodily functions except regeneration.
Blayne, Lor and I will take turns infusing her with energy. As long as she’s in sleep thrall, it will allow her body to use all of that energy to repair the damage.”

“Could the healers on Ontariese do something more to help her?” Tori wiped away her tears, but her chest still shuddered.

He didn’t seem insulted by the question. “Maybe on Bilarri. Ontarian healers wouldn’t have been able to utilize my nanites.” He shrugged, his gaze still brimming with compassion. “Her life is no longer in danger. The rest will just take time.”

Tori didn’t look happy with the conclusion, but she said nothing more. Odintar warned them not to attempt to rouse her then
left the cabin.

The bunk was narrow, so Blayne pulled up a chair for Tori. “Thanks.” She sat and took Angie’s hand between hers. Angie actually looked much better. Color had returned to her face and her features were peaceful rather than twisted with pain.

“I can’t lose her,” Tori whispered. “She’s all the family I have left.”

“Lor might object to that.”

She glanced up at him and even managed a weak smile. “You’re right.” After a long pause she looked at him again and asked, “Does she know how much you love her?”

“I’ve tried to go slowly. I know how distrusting she is of men, but an attraction this powerful is hard to hide.”

“No doubt.”

There really was only room for one or the other of them, so Blayne leaned down and pressed a kiss to Angie’s forehead. “I’m going to check in with your mate and find out what happened after I left. Let me know immediately if there is any change.”

“Of course. Go on.”

He blew out a shaky breath as he left the cabin. Odintar was tenacious and stubborn. He would have done everything in his power to minimize the damage. Angie couldn’t have been in better hands. Still, worry pulsed in the back of his mind, making him restless and irritable.

Lor, Elias, Dekker and Odintar had gathered around the galley table. Rather than crowed the limited space, Blayne triggered one of the retractable seats across from the booth.

“Should I go down there?” Lor rubbed his forehead.
“Odintar told us that Angie is stabilized, but how is Tori holding up?”

Blayne shook his head.
“The cabin is tiny. I’ll send Tori out after you’ve caught me up.”

“Good luck with that. I’ll probably have to c
arry her from the room kicking and cursing. My mate can be extremely stubborn when it comes to her baby sister.”

“Morgan wants you to know that she’ll help in any way she can. All you have to do is call her,” Elias
interjected.

“There’s nothing she can do. It’s all up to Angie now.” Blayne looked at Odintar. “Thank you.
I know how hard you worked to save her life.”

“Glad I could help.
And she’s a fighter. I honestly think she’ll recover.”

Needing to think about something else, Blayne prompted, “So what happened after I left?”

“Containing the two Rodytes wasn’t a problem, so I took them to the Bunker,” Elias informed.

“Zacharous is back on Ontariese,” Lor explained, “and the two women are with Morgan. She’ll interview them
in-depth then release them to their families.”

“What about the other woman, the one in the lab coat?”

“She was the hidden treasure in the ratty hovel,” Lor continued. “Her name is Lynell Porffer and she’s no ordinary doctor. She’s a molecular biologist who specializes in genetics.”

“Damn.
” Blayne pushed his hand through his hair. “I guess we don’t have to wonder what she was doing on Earth.”

“She kept insisting she had diplomatic immunity, so I only spoke to her in Ontarian.”

“She doesn’t speak Ontarian?”

Lor shook his head.
“Just Rodyte and English. She kept asking if we had someone named Alex, but wouldn’t say anything else about him. I’m presuming he’s the blond man I saw her with initially.”

“
Or he could be one of the guards.”

After another brusque head shake, Lor explained, “Makes more sense that he was one of the hunters and flashed out at the first sign of trouble. We’ll know for sure after Zacharous has been interrogated.”

“What about her claim of immunity? Did that check out?”

“Unfortunately.
Charlotte said she’s obligated to contact the Rodymian consulate within the next forty-eight hours, so the interrogators are going to be aggressive.”

It always amused
Blayne that Lor spoke of the high queen with such familiarity. But then he was mentored by her life mate, so he really was familiar with her. “I’ve seen Porffer’s handiwork. She deserves an aggressive interrogation and a whole lot more.”

“So we’re back to square one with Nazerel and Sevrin.” Elis sighed
, obviously frustrated by the fact.

“No we’re not,” Lor objected. “We’re systematically dismantling their web. Each time we capture another one of their people we gain more information. And this is the
fourth site we’ve forced them to abandon.”

“How do you figure that?” Elias sounded less confrontational.

“Team North’s house, Sevrin’s headquarters, Team South’s house and now the motel.” He held up a finger as he listed each location, then made a fist as he went on. “We have the most important medical personnel on their staff. This project is crippled and they’ve slinked away into the shadows to lick their wounds.”

“We also recovered two of their victims, alive and…
Were they unharmed?” Blayne dreaded the answer, but he needed to know.

Lor looked at Elias, the subject obviously uncomfortable. “They didn’t seem to be physically abused.
Whether or not they’d been coerced or seduced, I don’t know.”