The Immortal Hunter

"Decker!" Dani rushed back into the room, her gaze sliding over her sister on her way past. Stephanie's eyes were open and she was panting heavily. Having been through the turn herself, and knowing she couldn't do a damned thing for her, Dani continued on to Decker and knelt beside him as he groaned and began to move.

She helped him roll over, gasping with horror when she saw that the hole in the front of his chest was much larger than that in the back. Leonius had hit him with a much more powerful weapon than his sons had shot Decker with that first night in the clearing. Worry clouding her eyes, she pressed on the wound trying to stanch the flow of blood.

"I'm all right," he muttered. "Look after Stephanie."

Dani shook her head, pressing both hands down on him now, but he winced and then caught her hands and moved them away. Forcing himself upright to lean against the wall, he said, "The nanos will fix me up. Look, the bleeding is slowing. The bullet missed my heart by a mile."

"More like a millimeter," she said with a frown as she noticed the bleeding was indeed slowing.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Go see to Stephanie."

She hesitated, her gaze sliding to her sister, but when the teenager moaned and started to shift, Dani straightened and moved to kneel next to Stephanie as she rolled onto her side in the doorway.

"Stephi?" she said, pressing her hand to the girl's cheek. "Are you all right?"

Stephanie blinked her eyes open. Dani saw the confusion and pain there and felt her heart ache for the girl. She knew exactly how she was suffering right now.

Movement in the corner of her eye brought her distracted gaze to the hall. Lucian had moved to stand over Leonius's slumped figure. He peered at the rogue for a moment, crossbow hanging at his side, and then swung it forward and shot the notched arrow into Leo's chest.

Definitely a heart shot, Dani thought with satisfaction as Lucian then bent to grab him by the collar to drag him toward the open door to the room. She started to turn back to her sister, intending to try to move Stephanie and Decker out of the way, but cried out as the girl suddenly lunged upward, catching Dani's hand and stuffing the fingers into her mouth. Stephanie sucked at them desperately as she knocked her backward.

It happened so fast and took her so by surprise Dani didn't even struggle at first. By the time she did, Stephanie was on top of her, her earlier weakness replaced by an incredible strength as she licked and gnawed at Dani's hand. Seeing the flecks of blood on the bit of hand sticking out of the girl's mouth, Dani realized what a stupid thing she'd done. She'd tried to stanch the flow of blood from Decker's wound and then had gone to her sister and as good as waved the bloody hand under her nose.

Dani heard a curse and glanced around to see that Decker was trying to get to her, and then a thump drew her attention to the hall as Lucian dropped Leonius and came to her aid. He lifted Stephanie as if she were weightless and then turned her in the air to peer at her.

"She's turning," he said grimly, and stepped over her to carry Stephanie into the room.

Dani scrambled to her feet to follow, telling Decker, "I'll be right back. Stay put."

"Unlock and open the door," Lucian ordered, heading for the connecting doors as the earlier knocking resumed in a much calmer fashion.

"Why doesn't he just use the hall and come around?" Dani muttered with exasperation.

"Because I ordered him and Justin to stay in the room," Lucian answered dryly as she moved to do as he asked. "Justin has to keep an eye on Leonius's son to be sure he doesn't come around and slip away, and Mortimer has to keep an eye on the mortals."

"Oh." Dani sighed as she unlocked the door and opened it.

"Everything all-?" Mortimer broke off as Lucian suddenly thrust Stephanie at him. Dani watched long enough to see he had ahold of her and then turned away as Lucian announced, "Decker's been shot and this one's turning. She needs to be taken to the house."

"And Leonius?" Mortimer asked.

Dani didn't catch Lucian's answer. She'd crossed to the entry hall, and on spotting Decker now on his feet, moving slowly up the hall, scowled and rushed to his side.

"I told you to stay put," she muttered, and started to shift under his arm, but paused as she glanced out into the hotel hallway. A woman with long blond hair was picking up Leonius as if he were a small child rather than a full-grown man. When she straightened with him in her arms, Dani opened her mouth to shout a warning to the men, but the woman's head shot around. Fangs and silver-blue eyes flashed, and Dani found herself closing her mouth and simply standing there unable to say a thing as the woman glared at her, concentration on her face.

"Dani?" Decker frowned down at what was probably her blank face, and then it was as if a switch had been thrown in her head. She felt herself falling, and the last thing she saw before darkness claimed her was the woman moving away toward the stairwell at the end of the hall.

"Dani!" Decker managed to catch her with one hand as she started to faint. He then pulled her against his chest as he slumped against the wall. The wound he'd taken to the chest was much worse than those he'd gotten from the peashooter Leonius's son's had been using in the clearing. This one was going to take a lot of blood to heal. Until he got it, Decker was going to be weak and suffering.

"What's wrong with her?" Lucian asked, crossing the room toward them.

"I don't know," he admitted. "She just stopped, looked out in the hall, and..." Decker paused as he glanced over his shoulder and saw that the hallway was empty. Leonius's body was missing.

Decker heard Lucian curse and then his uncle moved past him, rushing out of the room, heading in the direction of the elevators.

"What is it?" Mortimer asked from the connecting door when Decker cursed.

"Dani has fainted and Leonius is gone," he said grimly, and leaned heavily on the wall as he moved the last couple of steps to the end of the entry hall so that he could see the other man.

"How the hell could Leonius be gone?" Mortimer asked with dismay, seeming oblivious to the moaning and restless girl in his arms. "Lucian just finished telling me that he shot an arrow into his heart. That's as good as a stake through the heart. He shouldn't be up and about."

Decker just shook his head and glanced to the door as Lucian hurried past, headed for the door to the stairwell. When he glanced back to Mortimer the other man was holding Stephanie with one arm around her waist as he pulled out his phone to call and warn the men to keep an eye out for Leonius.

Decker was considering setting Dani down and going over to take Stephanie from Mortimer so that the other man could help Lucian search, but a sound behind him made him peer around to see Lucian reentering the room.

"Anything?" Decker asked, already reading the answer in the disgust on his face.

"No," Lucian said as he joined him and then glanced to Mortimer. "Call the-" The order died on his lips as he saw that Mortimer was already on the phone.

"How the hell did he get away?" Decker asked with frustration.

Lucian shook his head, his gaze sliding to Dani. "She might be able to tell us... or not," he added dryly after concentrating on her for a moment. "She has a blank spot in her memory."

Decker frowned and glanced down to Dani, wondering what she'd seen that someone would want to erase, then her eyes flickered.

"Dani?" he said softly.

Her eyes opened, awareness slowly sliding into them, and then she frowned as she realized she was slumped against him, her head on his chest beside his wound.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, straightening to take her own weight. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, of course," he assured her, running his hand soothingly down her arm.

"What happened?" she asked with confusion. "The last thing I remember is coming over to give you hell for getting up and moving around on your own."

"You looked past me, appeared alarmed, and then fainted."

She looked past him now, her eyes landing on the empty hall. "Leonius is gone."

"Yes. Did you see him go?"

Dani glanced to him with surprise, but shook her head. "No... At least, I don't think so."

Decker squeezed her arm as she frowned, searching her mind for a memory that just wasn't there. He said softly, "It's all right. It doesn't matter."

Dani lifted her eyes back to him and opened her mouth to speak, but then paused and glanced toward her sister when Stephanie moaned. Decker followed her gaze to see that Mortimer was off the phone, but the girl was more than restless, she was starting to thrash and the enforcer was having trouble holding her even with both hands. Decker forced himself away from the wall, relieved to find that while his legs felt a bit weak, they were no longer trembling under his weight. Placing his arm around Dani, he glanced to his uncle and said, "We need to get Stephanie back to the house and get her tied down."

Lucian nodded and glanced toward Mortimer. He raised his eyebrows. "You're in charge."

Pecker smiled faintly when Mortimer rolled his eyes at that. The only one in charge when Lucian was around was Lucian. He took control in most situations, or allowed others to take control until they made a decision he didn't agree with, then he took that control back.

"Justin," Mortimer said suddenly.

"Yeah?" the younger immortal asked from the bowels of the next room.

"You're driving these four back to the house."

Justin moved to the doorway and glanced to Lucian, Stephanie, Decker, and Dani, and then back into the room, before glancing to Mortimer to ask, "What about Leonius's son?"

"I'll take care of him and the mortals," Mortimer answered, passing the girl over to Justin.

"What if someone calls hotel security or the police about the noise up here?" Decker asked as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

"I've already taken care of them," Mortimer said calmly. "I called the boys downstairs while I was waiting for the connecting door to be opened. They were going to take care of hotel security and handle the police if they showed up."

Decker nodded, thinking that Lucian had obviously made the right decision putting Mortimer in charge. He was going to make a good chief for them.

"Here." Lucian took off his long coat and crossed to hand it to Decker. "It's hot, but will hide the mess on your chest."

Decker glanced down at his bloody shirt and the hole revealing the ugly wound beneath and released Dani to accept the coat. She immediately moved to help him don it, but it still caused him a good deal of pain.

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly, eyeing his sweating face as she did up the top four buttons for him.

Despite the pain he was suffering, Decker smiled faintly and nodded. Bullet wound or not, he was all right now that she was safely at his side... and he was going to make damned sure she stayed there.

"Let's go." Lucian headed for the door, saying, "We'll take the stairs to avoid attracting too much attention."

"The stairs?" Justin complained, scooping up Stephanie to follow. "That's fourteen floors."

"Thirteen," Dani corrected as Decker urged her to follow. "This is really the thirteenth floor. They just call it fourteen because too many superstitious people refuse to stay on the thirteenth floor."

Justin grunted as he maneuvered his way out the door, turning sideways to carry Stephanie through. "I can see why. That means Leonius's son was really in room 1313, and that wasn't really lucky for him."

Decker saw Dani smile faintly. But the smile faded as they stepped out into the hall and she asked, "What will Mortimer do with Twenty-one and his victims?"

Decker urged her up the hallway after the others. "He'll have Twenty-one removed to be taken for judgment, and then probably make an anonymous call reporting screams heard from 1413 so that the mortal authorities can find and help his victims."

Dani was silent as they reached the door to the stairwell and passed through it. Justin and Lucian were already out of sight, but they could hear their footsteps echoing from the next flight down.

"Stephanie can never go home now, can she?" Dani said as they started down the stairs. Her words were laced with sadness.

Decker considered whether he should remind her that Stephanie had only a one in three chance of surviving the turn with her mind intact, but then decided not to add to her worries. She would remember that soon enough herself. "No, she can't. There would be no way to hide what she was from your parents. She's a teenager and a new turn and will be constantly feeding for a while... and then there's the need for her to stay out of the sun, the fact that if she's injured, she'll heal more quickly than she would were she mortal..." He shook his head. "No, she can't go home."

"I hadn't thought of that," Dani admitted unhappily. "I was just thinking of Leonius."

"Leonius?" Decker asked.

"He said he wanted Stephanie and me to bear him sons to replace the ones who died this week," she told him. "And when he was forcing me into the hall he said we'd have to leave her for now, but he'd come back for Stephanie." Her mouth tightened. "My parents could never protect her from him."

"We will."

Decker paused and glanced down to see Lucian and Justin waiting on the next landing. Justin was holding a struggling Stephanie in front of him now, frowning as he tried to control her, but Decker's attention was on his uncle; Lucian had obviously heard Dani's words. His face was grim as he added, "We'll arrange security at the enforcer house. She can stay there. Sam can help look after her, and Mortimer and the boys can train her on how to survive as one of us. The two of you are welcome to stay there as well." He glanced to Justin as he grunted and cursed as Stephanie kicked him in the groin in an effort to get away, and then turned back, his mouth twitching with amusement. "Now you two kiss and tell each other you love each other so we can get moving before your sister hurts Justin."

"Before she does? If it weren't for nanos I'd be a eunuch by now," Justin muttered, scooping up Stephanie to follow the ancient immortal as he started down the next flight of stairs.

Decker smiled faintly, but then glanced to Dani when she touched his cheek.

"There's a lot to sort out yet," she said solemnly. "And I'm not sure what the future holds, but he's right. I do love you Decker."

Smiling, he caught her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "I know."

"You know?" she asked dryly. "I tell you I love you and you say I know?"

"Well, I've already told you I love you," he pointed out. "And of course I knew you would come to love me. The nanos are never wrong."

"The nanos are never wrong," Dani echoed with disbelief, then whirled on her heel and started down the stairs, muttering, "Of course he knew I'd love him. The nanos are never wrong. Why even bother telling him?"

Decker smiled as he started to follow. He loved it when she got all huffy. She was so cute when she got like that, he hadn't been able to resist teasing her.

"So much for romance," Dani continued as she reached the next landing. "Here I am giving up my practice to become some vamp ho and I get nanos are never wrong. I should just-Ack!" she cried out, grabbing for his shoulders as he suddenly scooped her up.

"What are you doing?" she asked with dismay.

"Giving you romance," he said solemnly, stepping closer to the wall to lean against it.

"You're wounded, Decker," she cried with exasperation. "Put me down before you hurt yourself. Dear God, you-"

Decker kissed her into silence, not stopping until she stopped struggling in his arms. Then he lifted his head and said, "I love you, Dani McGill, soon to be Maybe-Argeneau-Maybe-Pimms."

The anger melted out of Dani, her eyes softened, and she sighed. "I love you too, Decker."

"You are not a vamp ho, and while you might have to give up your practice, you can still practice your profession. There are many situations where your medical degree would come in handy and our boys can always use your skills."

"I somehow don't think so," she said with amusement.

"You're wrong," he assured her.

"Decker, I'm a gynecologist."

"Did you say gynecologist?" Justin asked, drawing their attention to the fact that he, Stephanie, and Lucian were waiting on the lower landing again. A big grin was stretching his face as he said, "What an awesome job! You get to spend the entire day looking at-"

"Justin!" Dani, Decker, and Lucian snapped at once.

"We'll wait for you in the van," Lucian growled, pushing Justin toward the next flight of stairs.

Decker watched them go and then turned to find Dani peering up at him. He cleared his throat and said, "Immortals have babies too."

She nodded, but said, "Stephanie's going to be upset about not being able to go home."

"We'll have to help her through it," he said quietly, and saw her eyes mist before she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"What about our parents?"

He sighed and set her down, trying not to look too relieved as he did. She wasn't heavy, but he wasn't as strong as normal, and holding her had hurt his chest though he'd never have admitted it.

Once on her own feet, she continued, "Will they think we're just missing, or-?"

"That's up to you," he said solemnly. "They can be left to wonder what happened to the two of you, or we can arrange for them to believe your bodies have been found with those in the ravine up north along with the others."

She glanced at him sharply. "The authorities haven't been sent to find the women yet?"

"No. Lucian thought it would be better if we waited to see what happened with you and Stephanie first."

"In case we had to be added to the bodies?" she realized grimly.

He didn't answer, but suspected that's what his uncle had been thinking.

"Our parents will be upset," she added.

"We can arrange to help them through it, make it less painful for them," he said, and then added carefully, "Or we might be able to arrange it so that they think everything's all right. They could continue to believe that you and Stephanie were just enjoying a couple of days in the city."

"But she can't live with them," Dani said with a frown.

"No, but we could put it into their minds that Stephanie's at a boarding school and that you've just taken a job elsewhere. That way the two of you could occasionally visit with your family."

"For another ten years only, though, right?" she asked quietly.

Decker nodded. "I'm sorry, Dani. I wish I could make this easier for you."

"You do, just by being here. I can't imagine facing all this alone." She slipped her hand into his, squeezing it. "I guess that's what love is, sharing the good and the bad, the happy and the sad."

"Yes," he murmured. As they started down the stairs again, he was wishing he could take all the bad and sad away for her.

"And family."

"Family?" he asked uncertainly.

"Well, I'll still have family with you."

Decker was worrying that she meant babies and was imagining her heartache should they have a stillborn or a child who was born mad like Leonius when she added, "Your mother and father and brothers and sisters and that aunt you are so fond of."

"Marguerite," he murmured with relief.

"Yes. Your aunt Marguerite. We'll have them, and each other. We'll be okay." She raised a smile to his face and said, "We will."

"Yes." He bent to kiss her gently and then assured her, "We will."

As they broke apart to continue down the stairs, Decker started making plans; ways to keep Dani and Stephanie safe, ways she could still see her family for now, even visits to his aunt and cousins... Anything he could think of to help her through this. He knew it wasn't always going to be easy, but he was going to work very, very hard to do his best to make Dani happy. She hadn't chosen to be turned, but she was his life mate, and the woman who had brought peace and passion to his life. He was going to make sure they were more than okay. He was going to make her-

"I'm going to be happy," she said suddenly. "And make sure you're happy too."

Decker smiled as he realized her own thoughts must have been traveling along the same lines as his. Squeezing her hand, he assured her, "I already am."