Argeneau Family - The Immortal Hunter Part 9

"We aren't ev-" Decker halted his denial, and then he did something she hadn't yet seen him do and lifted his lips in a very rare-and in her opinion, totally inappropriate-grin as he asked, "You think I'm cute?"

"Earth to Major Decker," Justin said dryly. "She thinks you're a cute evil b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"Right." He frowned and shook his head as if trying to shake her words out of it, and then said, "We're not evil or vile. We aren't even vampires."

"But you have fangs, and that Lucian fellow said-"

"He said your people insisted on calling us that," Decker reminded her firmly. "But we aren't."

"Well, we kind of are," Justin corrected. "We just don't like to be called that. At least the old bloodsuckers don't. I don't know why. I think it's kind of s.e.xy myself." Taking on a bad fake accent he said, "I am a vampire, and I vant to suck your-"

"Justin," Decker said with thinly stretched patience. "You aren't helping here."

"Sorry," he muttered. "But we do have fangs and drink blood and-"

"Bricker" Decker snapped, turning to glare at him.

"Right. Sorry, I'll zip it." He met Decker's gaze in the mirror and mimed zipping his mouth shut. But the moment Decker stopped glaring at him and turned back to Dani, he piped up again. "Tell her about Atlantis."

Decker sagged, his eyes closing briefly, and then he took a deep breath and said, "Yes, Justin, I was just about to do that."

"Atlantis?" Dani echoed with bewilderment.

"Or maybe you better start with the nanos," Justin said, changing his mind. "She's a doctor. She'll understand the science part of it better."

"Yes, I know. Thank you, Justin, I can handle this" Decker said grimly, obviously on the edge of really losing it. He then turned to Dani, eyed her with a sigh, and asked, "Will you at least listen to me?"

Dani nodded. It wasn't like she really had any choice, not after having seen those fangs.

"Okay," Decker said with relief. "We're human. If you were to cut me open you'd find everything exactly the same as any other man, except that all my organs and tissue would be remarkably healthy and undamaged.""Everything is exactly the same but our blood," Justin put in.

"That's true," Decker acknowledged. "Our blood is different. It has nanos in it. At least that's as good a description as any."

When Dani simply stared at him, he explained, "You see, our scientists were trying to develop a way to repair or remove things like cancer, infection, and serious injuries without resorting to surgery and inflicting further trauma on the body. What they came up with were nanos, little bio-engineered gizmos that were programmed to travel through the bloodstream. They used the blood both to fuel and regenerate themselves, as well as to make repairs in the body, regenerate tissue, or surround and kill off any infection or illness that may be present."

Dani nodded to encourage him to continue. So far what he'd told her wasn't anywhere near crazy. She had read about recent experiments using just such technology for a similar purpose.

"They succeeded beyond their expectations," Decker continued. "The nanos did go in and perform repairs and kill off infections and cancer, and anything else that attacked the body. It was hailed as a medical breakthrough. The sick and injured lined up in droves to receive it. My mother's parents were among those first infected with them."

"Whoa, back up," Dani interrupted at once, "Your mother's parents? Your grandparents!"

Decker nodded. "My grandmother, Alexandria, had what is now called cancer and my grandfather, Ramses, was seriously injured in an accident. Both were terminal. They were subject one and two, both treated at the same time. It's how they met.

They were married three months later, and my uncle Lucian and his twin brother Jean Claude were born a little less than nine months after that. They were the first born infected."

"Oh, see now." Dani sat back, shaking her head. "You were doing really well right up until the grandparents bit. Before that you had me suckered, but there is no way they had this kind of technology fifty years ago."

"Fifty?" Justin snorted, meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror when she turned his way. "Try several thousand."

Decker took a moment to toss a glare in his direction and then turned back to Dani. "This is the part that's hard to believe." He paused and took a breath and then said, "Our ancestors came from Atlantis."

"Atlantis," she said with open disbelief. "Atlantis, Atlantis? The legendary lost land?"

"Yes. As the legends claim, Atlantis was highly advanced technologically. Unfortunately, it was also terribly insular and didn't share that technology with anyone. They didn't share anything with anyone. They lived surrounded by sea on three sides, with mountains between them and the rest of the world, and it was how they liked it. So when Atlantis fell, those who survived crossed the mountains to find themselves in a much more primitive world. They had no way to store blood or perform transfusions."

"Wait a minute" Dani interrupted. "You skipped from a miracle cure to no blood and transfusions. Why the need for bl-?"

"The nanos used a lot of blood to support themselves and make repairs. More than the human body can create. Transfusions had to be given to those who had been treated with the nanos. That was fine in Atlantis, but when Atlantis fell..."

"No more transfusions," she said, struggling now with whether to believe him or not. Some of it actually made a mad sort of sense.

"Right, and that's when the nanos began to change our people. They had been programmed to repair and regenerate and basically keep their host alive and at their peak condition physically. Without blood, our ancestors would have died, so the nanos changed them in ways that would help them stay alive and at their peak health-wise. It made them fast and strong so that they could get the blood the nanos needed."

"The eyes," she murmured with realization. "Your eyes reflect light like a cat or racc.o.o.n.""Because we are nocturnal hunters like them," Decker said quietly.

"You said this Sam is a mortal so she can canva.s.s during the day while Mortimer slept. You can't go out in sunlight?"

"We can," he admitted. "But as a doctor you know that the sun causes damage, which means the nanos have more work, which means a need for even more blood. We feed on bagged blood now, but before blood banks and bagged blood, we were forced to feed off our neighbors and friends. And we did our best to minimize how much feeding we needed to do."

"And the nanos brought on the fangs too?" she asked.

He nodded. "They gave us all the physical attributes needed to make us better hunters."

"I see," Dani murmured, glancing down to her hands and trying to take it all in. It was a lot to swallow, almost as hard to believe as the old legend about dead, soulless creatures cursed to walk the earth for some past sin. The science was one thing, but Atlantis? Thousands of years ago? True, she'd come across legends about the fabled Atlantis over the years, but those were just myth. Weren't they?

"Would it be easier for you to believe if I claimed we were the cursed undead?" Decker asked wryly. As if reading her mind, she thought, and that reminded her about Nicholas and Lucian's claim that they could read and even control her.

"You say they gave you the physical attributes needed to make you better hunters. Is that all?" she asked, eyes narrowing on him.

He hesitated and then admitted, "No. They also developed our ability to read thoughts and control minds too. It helps us to-"

"What am I thinking right now?" she interrupted abruptly.

Decker shook his head. "As Lucian said, I can't read you, Dani."

"I can," Justin said, drawing her gaze. "You're thinking of your sister."

Dani turned to frown at the man. "That was too easy. Of course I'd be thinking of her. Try again," she ordered, searching her mind until she came up with something else.

"A giraffe," Justin said.

"Again " she demanded.

"A purple elephant." This time he answered almost before she finished asking. "Shall I control you now?"

"Can you?" she asked, eyes narrowing, and then glanced down with shock as her hands rose and clapped several times.

"Enough," Decker barked, taking her hands in his.

"She asked," Justin said defensively.

Dani stared at Decker, her hands unmoving in his, and asked a little shakily, "How? Why can't you if he can?"

He met her gaze, and then glanced away without answering. It was Justin who said, "Because you're his life mate."

Dani's gaze flickered to the man, her mind recalling Lucian mentioning this earlier, but she turned to Decker when she asked, "What is a life mate?"

He let his breath out on a sigh. His gaze dropped to their hands, rose to meet hers again, and finally he said, "The nanos don't just allow us to read mortal's minds. We can read each other too if we don't keep our guard up to block others from intruding on our thoughts. It makes life somewhat..." Decker shook his head. "It can be exhausting. So much so that some immortals avoid others as much as possible just so that they don't constantly have to be on guard. But isolating oneself can lead to depression, rage, and madness, and an immortal going rogue." He paused briefly, and then explained, "A life mate is that very rare person whom we can't read and who can't read us. They can be mortal or immortal, but being with them is like an oasis of calm. We can relax and be ourselves around them without fear that they'll hear every thought we have. And, since we can't read them, we aren't bombarded with their thoughts either. They can be a true mate, someone we can't read or control and whom we can spend our long lives with, happily."

Dani stared at him, recalling exactly what Lucian had said: I'm an immortal. . . or as you people seem to insist on calling us, a vampire . . . Everyone standing here is one ... including Decker, who is the only one here who can't read or control your thoughts. That makes you a possible life mate for him, but you 'II be the one to decide.

He'd said possible life mate and that she'd have to decide. Did that mean she might not be? Or that she was Decker's life mate, but that she could reject him if she wished? Before she could ask, Justin suddenly said, "Decker?"

He turned reluctantly away from Dani to glance at Justin. "What?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm speeding and we've picked up a radar cop. I could try to handle him myself, but I don't want to take my concentration off the road."

"I'll handle it," Decker said, and glanced out the rear window.

Dani twisted in her seat to watch what could have been an instant replay of their first encounter with the other officer. The flas.h.i.+ng lights on top of the cruiser were suddenly shut off and the car slowed and dropped away. When she could no longer see it anymore, Dani turned back to Decker. "You controlled him and the other officer who was on our tail earlier."

When he nodded solemnly, she asked, "But you can't control me?"

He shook his head, and Dani's eyes narrowed. "But Justin can?"

His nod this time was almost reluctant, as if he suspected a trap.

"So it was Justin who made me sleep in the back of the van after the incident in the clearing?" Dani asked, already suspecting she knew the answer. It would explain why she couldn't recall actually getting into the van and going to sleep.

Decker winced at her sharp tone, but nodded.

"What else has he made me do?" she asked, her voice going cold.

"Nothing," he a.s.sured her solemnly.

"Why should I believe that when you've done nothing but lie to me from the minute I met you?"

"I only lied because, had I told you the truth, you would have thought us mad... and you were already shaken up after your encounter with the rogues and were hardly in the mood to trust us," he said firmly. "We are Council enforcers, Dani. Vampire cops, if you like. Our people have laws and we have to enforce them. We hunt rogue immortals that break our laws."

"What kind of laws?" Dani asked, relaxing a little. She could hardly argue that he should have told her the truth from the start.

Decker was right. She hadn't been in any condition for this little revelation then. Heck, she wasn't sure she was ready for it now, but she was beginning to accept it, and a lot of her fear was slipping away with every pa.s.sing minute.

"The first and most important one is not to feed off of, or harm, mortals."She liked that law, Dani decided. "What else?"

"Couples are allowed to have only one child every hundred years."

That one made her frown. "Why?"

"It's intended to keep our population low. We need blood to survive. Having too many of us with that need could be a problem."

She understood that, but the rule still made her uncomfortable. What did they do to immortals who had more than one child in a hundred years? What did they do with the child? Before she could ask, Justin announced, "I think our rogue has just taken the Dixon Road exit."

"Dixon?" Dani swiveled her head to peer at the screen, alarm bells going off in her head and drowning out any worry about immortal babies. "That's where the airport is."

Decker cursed and unbuckled his seat belt to s.h.i.+ft to his knees between the front seats so he could better watch the computer screen. Sure enough, the little black dot had taken the Dixon turnoff.

"He couldn't be thinking to try to catch a flight or something, could he?" Dani asked from beside him, and Decker glanced around to see that she'd unbuckled as well and was moving to join him.

"Get your seat belt back on," he growled, very aware that at the speed Justin was driving, she'd probably be killed if they were in an accident.

Dani ignored him, her eyes locked on the computer screen. "He can't be thinking to take Stephanie on a plane. She has no pa.s.sport, or-"

"I'm sure he's not," Decker a.s.sured her, even though he wasn't at all certain of that himself. Lack of a pa.s.sport wasn't an issue when you could control the minds of the people asking for it. "Now get back in your seat and put the seat belt on."

"It's hard to see this. It's too small," Dani said, ignoring him again, and glanced to Justin. "Is there a way to make the image bigger?"

"I'll do it," Decker grumbled, not wanting Justin to be distracted. He used the portable's mouse pad to zoom in on the section of map where the black dot was, and then sat back. "There."

"Oh G.o.d, he is on the off ramp," Dani said with horror as the image came into focus on a much larger scale. "He has to be going to the airport. If they leave the SUV we have no way to track them."

"Don't panic," Decker ordered, and then pointed to a brown dot that was also on the ramp. "Look, one of our guys isn't far behind him. And Nicholas is probably still on his tail. Besides, I don't think there are flights out at this hour."

"There are flights until half past midnight," Dani said tensely.

Decker glanced at his watch, frowning when he saw that it wasn't even midnight yet. He was a bit surprised it was so early. It felt like a lifetime had pa.s.sed since he'd realized he couldn't read or control Dani.

"They'll get him, Dani," Justin said. Fortunately, he kept his eyes on the road ahead as he spoke. "We're like Mounties, we get our man. His stopping just means it could all be over and you could have your sister back soon."

Dani didn't respond. Her eyes were glued to the computer screen, watching the little dot as if taking her eyes off might mean it would disappear, taking her sister with it. Decker wanted to tell her to get back in her seat and buckle up again, but knew she would fight him on it. He almost had Justin take control of her and make her do it, but Bricker was driving so fast, Decker didn't want to risk taking his attention away from the road even long enough to perform that small task. So instead he sat silent, his worried gaze s.h.i.+fting between Dani, the screen, and the road ahead to take in the other cars on the highway. It wasn't as busy as it would be during the day, but it was busy enough, and Justin was weaving in and out of traffic at a scary rate.

Decker's gaze slid back to Dani and his gut clenched at the idea of losing her to an accident if one of those cars should suddenly cut them off. It made him s.h.i.+ft a little closer to her, and raise one arm behind her back to brace it on Justin's seat. He then moved his other hand in front of his stomach, preparing to grab her and hold on if anything should happen.

Sitting so close to Dani, Decker found himself immediately enveloped in her scent. It was an aroma not dissimilar to strawberries, and rolled over him, sweet and delicious. He'd noticed it earlier while she'd tended his gunshot wound, but had been distracted at the time with both the phone call to Lucian and worry over her noticing something amiss with his wound. He was noticing now, however, and without thinking, he moved in closer, his head turning to allow him to inhale the slightly intoxicating scent more fully. It was like wine, sweet yet pungent, and for some reason, it made him hungry.

"He's turning," Dani said tensely.

Decker started to glance at the screen, but his gaze didn't make it that far. It paused on her profile as she anxiously licked her lips. He found himself watching with fascination as the pink tip of her tongue slid along a mouth that looked incredibly soft and full.

"How close are our guys?" Justin asked, glancing around.

"Keep your eyes on the road," Decker growled, his hunger adding gravel to his voice. His gaze slid reluctantly to the screen and he peered at it closely. The brown dot representing one of their SUVs was now on the ramp. A gray one was still on the 427, but only minutes behind. His gaze slid back to the first two dots and he murmured, "It looks like he's turned into the car park.

Our guy isn't far behind."

"I think he's stopped," Dani said with concern.

Decker leaned in and made the image bigger still. "No, he's just going slow."