Hunter Of The Dead (19 page)

“Armstead, bring her,” Christopher called, his gaze resting on something behind her.

The man whose nose she’d broken came around the side of her chair, carrying Jordan. Eden couldn’t help the gasp that passed her lips when she saw the condition her sister was in. Both of Jordan’s eyes were blackened and her bottom lip was split. She huddled over, unable to sit up when Armstead set her on the ground.

“Jordan,” Eden whispered.

Her sister’s head came up. “Eden?”

Christopher cut in, kneeling next to Jordan, still holding the knife in his right hand. “Yes, yes, you’re both alive and relatively well. For now.”

“Don’t touch her,” Eden screamed, fear making her voice break.

“You know what to say, darling.” He met Eden’s gaze and drew the knife gently over her sister’s left cheek, leaving a trail of red behind. For her part, Jordan didn’t so much as whimper. “Just one little word, and all this will stop.”

“I’ll kill you, you heartless bastard. I’ll fucking tear your heart out with my bare hands.” Helpless tears poured from Eden’s eyes as she strained against her bonds.

Armstead casually slapped her across the face. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

“Armstead,” Christopher said sharply.

Eden blinked her sight back into focus, but the world still had a hazy edge. “Stop, just stop.”

He moved the knife down. “Say the words, darling. You have to say them and mean them.”

The red line continued down Jordan’s cheek and over her jaw, following the trail of the knife to her neck. Eden bit back a scream and swallowed hard. “Yes! Yes, I’ll work for you.”

Instantly, Christopher took the knife from Jordan’s skin and stood. “Good. Glad we got that unpleasant business out of the way. Armstead.”

The other man scooped up her sister and strode from the tent. “Wait,” Eden said, desperately trying to see where he took her. “Stop. You said you’d let her live.”

“I did and I will.” He cleaned the knife off on his pants. “But that doesn’t mean she’ll live with you. Your sister will be sent back to your cozy little home in Arizona with no further harm.”

Eden struggled against her bonds, exhausted almost as soon as she’d started. “I have no way of knowing if you’re lying. You’ll kill her.”

“Now, now.” He waved the knife at her. “I’ll do no such thing. I’ll keep my word as long as you keep yours.”

Meaning as long as she kept in line and played at being a good little soldier. Eden took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “Fine. Untie me.” She’d kill him as soon as he turned his back.

As if sensing her thoughts, he laughed. “Not so fast, darling. We have other business to attend to first.” Christopher picked up the syringe. Before Eden could flinch, he stabbed the needle into her thigh and pushed the plunger down. “This may hurt a bit.”

For half a second, blessed coolness traveled down her leg, but as soon as it reached the bite, it turned into frozen teeth that ripped and clawed. Eden’s entire body went rigid as she fought not to scream. She would not give this bastard the pleasure of hearing her pain.

The ropes around her suddenly slackened and she tried to focus. Now would be the time to attack, to escape, but her body went limp as Christopher picked her up and carried her over to the cot near the crate. He set her down and crouched there, staring at her with something like tenderness in his eyes. Or maybe that was just the drugs making her see things. Probably. Hopefully.

“Rest, sweet. Tomorrow’s a big day. We have some witnesses to remove, and then you and I are going to spend some quality time alone.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Eden was pulled off the cot and manhandled out of the tent before she was completely awake. Her muscles locked and she went to her knees, dizzy with pain.

A very familiar voice laughed as the hand yanked her back to her feet. Eden finally looked at the man who had her. It was the one from before, the one whose nose she’d broken, who’d slapped her. Armstead. And he looked happy, which didn’t bode well for her. Her mind finally cleared enough to remember where she was. In the soldiers’ camp. She looked down at her leg and nearly cried at the sight of unmarred skin. He really had cured her.

Armstead half-dragged her into an open space surrounded by the tents and forced her to her knees. “Stay, bitch. If you make trouble, I have permission to put a bullet in you sister’s head.”

She spun around and glared, letting her gaze skate over his body, taking in the knife he had tucked into a sheath on his belt. “Fuck off.” Okay, it wasn’t the wittiest of come-backs, but her head wasn’t on straight right now. Eden looked over in time to see Taro come out of one of the many tents. He was hobbled, his wrists and ankles bound and attached by a too-short rope. The result made it nearly impossible for him to walk, let alone fight. And he had been beaten, his formerly beautiful skin now blackened and bloodied, much like Jordan’s. The guard behind Taro forced him to his knees across from Eden.

The adjacent tent opened and the twenty survivors stumbled into the light, blinking. They weren’t bound, but over half of them were children and the others didn’t look like they were aware enough to put up much trouble. Eden watched, her heart in her throat, as they were led over to kneel in a line next to Taro.

Christopher was really going to do it. He was going to kill Taro and all these people.

She surged to her feet as the man in question strolled into view, a rifle slung over his shoulder. “Ah, darling, you’re up. Good.”

Words flowed out of her mouth, one tripping over the next in their effort to be free before he did this. “Stop. You don’t have to do this.”

He rolled his eyes and stopped walking, just out of reach. “There you go, being melodramatic again. We already talked about this.”

Eden swayed, her body not cooperating fully yet. The very last thing she wanted was to beg this man for anything, but there were no limits to what she would do to save them. “Please. Please don’t do this.”

He stepped closer, his eyes lighting up. Almost within reach. “Fascinating. You truly care so much.” For half a second she thought he would see reason, but then Christopher grinned. “We’ll have to cure you of such a glaring weakness. Watching them die will be a good start.”

Eden lunged as he turned away from her. She would claw out his eyes, would steal his gun, would do something other than stand here and watch him murder people she cared about.

She never made it.

Strong arms banded across her chest, halting her motion almost before it’d begun. She slammed her elbow back into Armstead’s stomach and his breath hissed out, but he didn’t let go. If anything, his hold tightened.

Christopher glanced over his shoulder and laughed. “You really are rather priceless, Eden. Breaking you will be such fun.”

She stomped on Armstead’s instep and slammed her head back into his already-broken nose, taking advantage of his surprise to grab the knife. He let go of her with a muffled shriek and she stumbled forward, trying to get the world to stop spinning. By the time her vision cleared, she was staring down the barrel of a rifle.

“Now, now, play nice.”

Instead of listening, she moved forward, pressing the barrel into her throat. It was a calculated risk, one she wouldn’t live through if she was wrong. “I don’t like games.”

Christopher’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t pull the trigger. He really didn’t want to kill her. Interesting. She’d store away that knowledge for later use if she got out of this alive.

“You know, sweet, you’re beginning to try my patience. Drop the knife.” He didn’t sound amused anymore. In fact, he sounded downright pissed. She could understand. She’d just disobeyed him in front of his entire team. If he backed down, they would lose respect for him. If he didn’t, Eden would be dead. She wasn’t crazy about her odds.

She pasted a smile on her face. “You have all my information and you’ve been watching me for the last week. Did you honestly expect me to sit here like a good little dog and watch you do this?”

“I had my hopes.”

Eden eyed the gun, wondering at her chances of disarming him. They weren’t good.

A whumping sound broke through the breathless silence of the camp and Christopher’s head jerked up. “Shit.”

A commotion started behind them, men yelling and the sound of gunfire. Eden wanted so badly to turn and see what was going on, but she couldn’t risk letting Christopher get the jump on her. His eyes flicked to the side, widening slightly. “Now that is amusing.” Then the bastard laughed. “It seems your white knight has come to save the day.”

There was only one person he could be talking about, only one person left living who was crazy enough to attack this freaking camp. Alejandro. Happiness and worry twined through her, the mixture making her sick to her stomach. “He’s going to kill you.”

Christopher’s grin didn’t diminish. “He’s going to try. Always wondered when he’d snap. Working for Mr. Lauren is rather stressful, don’t you think?”

Eden frowned, momentarily sidetracked. “What?”

“Oh, come now. You can’t seriously mean to say you don’t know who you work for?” His smile widened. “Or is it that your beloved Columbian asked for a team transfer that is so shocking? I suppose it would be distressing, his asking not even two hours after you had sex.”

So that was where Alejandro had been this last year. If Christopher was to be believed, which Eden had her doubts about. No, she was more interested in the name of their employer. The man she was going to kill if she got out of this alive. “Mr. Lauren, is it?”

He shrugged, still smiling. There was seriously something wrong with this man. “I doubt you’d recognize the name. He likes to keep from the public side of the business.” She’d just bet.

The sounds of fighting got closer. “And what is the public face of the business?” He would probably lie, but Christopher was just cocky enough to tell the truth.

“Dentaglow.”

Eden forgot about the fighting, forgot about Alejandro, forgot about her sister. “You’re shitting me. We work for a teeth whitening company?”

Christopher opened his mouth to reply, but it was Alejandro’s voice she heard. “
Mi amor
! Back away from him slowly.”

She took a step back, still hoping Christopher wanted her alive. She forgot about Alejandro. As soon as she was three feet back, Christopher swung his rifle around and pointed it just behind her. Eden didn’t think, didn’t pause to worry about killing a human. She threw her knife.

It hit him in the stomach and he staggered, going to his knees. Eden didn’t waste any time crossing the distance between them and ripping the rifle out of his hands. She brought the butt of it down on his temple and turned away before he hit the ground. It might have been more prudent to kill him now, but she had bigger problems on her hands. And she liked the idea of him being left to slowly bleed out from a gut wound.

Alejandro fought with Armstead. Eden started to go to him. but she couldn’t leave Taro and the hostages helpless with the soldiers going nuts, trying to remove all evidence before the choppers landed. The kids were smart, each of them laying flat on the ground. One of the adults was missing half their head, victim of a stray bullet, and the others had followed the kids’ lead. She hurried to Taro and set about getting his knots undone. It would have a hell of a lot easier if she’d kept hold of the knife, but it was too late to go back now.

A cry sounded behind her, choked off. She turned as if in slow motion as Alejandro fell to the ground, one of his own machetes imbedded in his stomach. Armstead had a hold of the hilt, a malicious grin on his face. She could tell from the way he held the blade that he meant to twist it, maybe to cut through Alejandro’s stomach, causing irreparable damage. He would bleed out in minutes.

“No.” She’d already lost Kaede, Eden would be damned before she lost him, too. She brought up the rifle, not even bothering to aim, and sent a spray of bullets in Armstead’s direction. If anyone was stupid enough to get in her way, they could die too.

A shot hit him in the shoulder, spinning him around. God must have been smiling on them yet again, because he let go of the machete instead of dragging it with him. Eden rose, ready to finish anyone who got between her and Alejandro, but the whumping sound got louder, too loud to ignore any longer.

She looked up. There was nothing to see but clear, blue sky. It seemed wrong, somehow, that she could be feeling such despair on such a beautiful day. Eden was struck by the desire to paint the world red to match the ugliness inside her. Foolish thought, but there nonetheless.

The whumping got louder and relief broke through her. The reporters were coming. They could get Alejandro to a hospital.

Three helicopters rose above the trees to the north, bearing down on the camp. The soldiers seemed to realize what kind of trouble they were in and scattered, taking their dead with them. Eden dropped the rifle and ran to Alejandro. He was still conscious, his hands clutching the blade in his stomach.

“Don’t you dare die on me.” She ripped off her shirt and pressed it against his stomach. Should she take out the machete or leave it in? Damn it, she didn’t know. If she took it out, there was a chance it could do more damage.

“
Yo no sonaria de ello
.” His eyes cleared briefly. “Are you well,
querida
?”

Eden’s laugh came out more like a sob. “No, you ass, I am not well. I have something to tell you.” She loved him. She’d tried living without him and she’d never do it again if she had a choice.

Alejandro’s laugh rattled in his chest. “No,
mi amor
. Tell me later.”

But Eden wasn’t sure there would be a later. She started to say so, but he pressed two blood-stained fingers to her lips and said, “
Te quiero
. I always will.”

Hands pulled her away from him and she fought them. “No. Let go. Stop!”

A man got in her way, redheaded and pudgy. “Relax. We have a medic here. We’ll take care of him.”

But she wasn’t listening. Alejandro was going to die and she owed it to him to be there when he did. Eden punched the redhead in the face and shoved him out of the way. There were surprised yells as she ran back to Alejandro, but she ignored them. His eyes were closed, his face slack. “What did you do? What did you do to him!” she screamed.

Something pricked her arm. Eden looked down at the syringe, her vision already going fuzzy. “Stop. Don’t touch him.”

A woman’s hand was attached to the syringe. She leaned forward and looked into Eden’s face. “He will be okay. I just gave him a mild sedative. It will all be okay.”

Eden fell sideways and hands caught her before she hit the ground. The woman was lying. Nothing would be okay again.