Read Hunter for Free Online

and boxes. Most of them had had their lids forced open
and their contents spread across the floor.
    Pools of
dried blood stained some of the sand red. Spatters and droplets
spread out from the warehouse door, creating morose patterns on the
ground.
    She peered up
into the rafters. Metal beams held the roof in place, rusted and
dented. Deep shadows filled the crevices where the roof met the
walls. She shone her light into the recesses, but there was still
no sign of any lecheons.
    Nova lowered
her weapon. The lecheons had definitely been here at some time but
there was no sign of them now. She scoured the building for some
clue as to where they'd gone. They couldn't have gone hunting
during the day, they would be asleep somewhere, and all evidence
pointed to this warehouse.
    Nova marched
across the warehouse, her eyes scanning every surface and every
spec of sand. She didn't find any bodies but the blood was proof
enough that the lecheons had been there at some point.
    "Grishnak,"
Nova swore, kicking the sand as she headed for the door, she was no
closer to finding the coven.
    "Such dirty
language for such a pretty girl," Corvus said, jumping from the
rafters and landing in front of Nova.
    Nova's hand
went straight to her gun but she was too slow. Corvus moved forward
and caught her wrist in a vice-like grip.
    "Oh I don't
think so," he said.
    "I have
people with me, they'll shoot you down," Nova said.
    "Really? You
seem like a lone kind of hunter," Corvus said, stroking Nova's
cheek with his spare hand.
    "Let me go
and I won't kill you."
    Nova's heart
ramped up. It felt like it was beating a hundred times a second.
Her breath quickened and sweat burst out of her forehead. Her knees
felt weak, as if she'd been running for miles.
    "Sensing
distress. Sending backup." Cal's alarmed voice sounded in her head
but she barely heard it over the noise of her own
breathing.
    Agony coursed
through her wrist from Corvus's powerful grip, but she kept her
face immobile; she wouldn't let him see the fear which surged
underneath.
    "I like a
girl with spirit," Corvus said and then began to laugh. It was a
hysterical chuckle which echoed around the empty
warehouse.
    Somewhere in
the distance was the growing roar of an engine. Nova would
recognise it anywhere; it had to be Crusader. Hope surged in her
chest.
    "So my dear,
what's your name?" Corvus asked.
    Nova wanted
to give a hot reply but there was something wrong with her face, it
refused to do what she wanted. It was like there was something
getting between her brain and her body.
    "What are
you—"
    "Ah, the
magic of pheromones, amazing isn't it? I guess your experts didn't
tell you about that? I'm not surprised; we generally keep it as our
own little secret. If it hadn't been for all that damn wood I could
have made it out of the prison in five days instead of five years
with this little trick."
    "You're so
handsome," Nova said. Her eyes went wide at her own words. Why had
she said that? But then her gaze was caught back on the lecheon and
it was as if nothing else existed. The pain of his hand clasped
about her wrist was gone, as was the fear she had felt. It was all
replaced with a soft doe-eyed infatuation.
    "I never get
tired of hearing that." Corvus laughed. He let go of Nova's wrist
but kept his eyes firmly locked with hers.
    Nova stood
staring back at him. She didn't attempt to run away or escape;
instead, her gun fell out of her loose hand. A tiny voice at the
bottom of her skull tried to yell a warning but it was shushed by
the rest of her.
    "Did you tell
anyone where you were going?" Corvus asked.
    "Only Cal,"
Nova replied.
    "Who is
Cal?"
    "My
labourbot."
    "Ha-ha a
labourbot, how quaint. Will you be missed if you don't return
straight away?"
    "No, no one
will notice."
    "Good. Then
how about you and I go for a walk?"
    Nova nodded.
She had barely blinked since Corvus took hold of her wrist. Her
entire mind was focused on the angles of his face and his dark
hair. Her heart was still