The Immortal Hunter(17)

Justin unrolled the driver's side window and leaned out to call softly, "Don't take too long. I think we should wait in town for the call."

Decker paused and glanced back. His tone was dry when he said, "Let me guess, you're getting hungry."

"I am," Justin admitted, and then added, "But you're also starting to look pale. You're going to need blood soon."

Decker shrugged that away and turned to continue after Dani. He wasn't terribly surprised to hear that he was pale. He had been shot twice, and his body had been working overtime to make repairs. It would be using up blood to do it and would soon need to replenish that blood. If Decker hadn't been distracted with everything going on, he would have long ago noticed the slight cramping in his stomach-his body's way of telling him it wanted more blood. He was certainly noticing it now that Justin had gotten him thinking about it, and it made him hope that Lucian was quick about getting another truck and blood to them.

A cool breeze against his chest brought Decker's attention to the fact that his shirt was still undone. Fortunately, Justin hadn't mentioned-and Dani hadn't gotten a look at his back to see-that he'd actually been shot twice. As he did up his shirt, Decker started to worry over what she must have thought when she tended to the one wound she had seen. It seemed obvious that she'd noticed something amiss when she'd removed the bullet. Decker's guess would be that the healing had been much further along than it would have been if he were a mortal. His kind healed much more quickly. It was why Justin had kept saying he should let her look sooner rather than later. Within twenty-four hours that bullet, along with the one in his back, would have been long pushed out of his body and Decker would have been fully healed.

As a doctor, even seeing it as quickly as she had, Dani would have noticed that the bullet was much closer to the surface than it should be. He had no idea how she'd explained that to herself, but she hadn't commented, and, he hoped, now that she'd done all she could by removing the bullet she would stop fussing over it.

Decker let that concern drop away as he reached Dani. He was about to tap her on the shoulder when she suddenly whirled in his direction. She jumped back with a startled little gasp as she saw him standing there.

"Where were you going?" he asked.

"I was just walking off some worry," she answered, and then moved past him to head in the direction of the van. "So, were they able to track the SUV? Are we ready to go?"

"They're tracking it now. They'll call when they have something," he answered, following.

She nodded. "Shouldn't we start out anyway? Head for town maybe? It might save us some time when they do call."

"Or it might add more time if we head in the wrong direction," he pointed out, and then shook his head. "We're better off waiting to hear back from Lucian."

"I suppose you're right," she said unhappily.

"It shouldn't take too long," Decker assured her gruffly, and then to distract her from her worry, said, "Tell me what happened."

When she paused and looked at him, he added, "It might help us figure out how to approach the situation when we catch up to your sister and the man who has her."

Dani was silent for so long that he thought she wasn't going to answer, but then said, "We came up for a family reunion. My uncle owns a house with several cottages on his property, and once a year has the whole family up for a weekend." She frowned and then admitted, "I'm usually too busy to come, but I managed to get some time off this year."

Decker nodded and didn't mention that he was very glad she had. He doubted very much if she was at the moment.

"We were supposed to leave tonight to avoid the weekend traffic. My idea," Dani added bitterly, no doubt thinking that if they'd left Sunday morning instead of in the evening, none of this would have happened. It was an excuse for her to take the blame for what had taken place, and Decker was searching his mind for something to say to take away that blame when she continued, "Anyway, Stephanie wanted to ride with me rather than crammed into my dad's van with our brothers and sisters."

"How many are there?" he asked curiously.

"Me, Stephanie, who's the youngest, and two brothers and two more sisters in between," Dani answered and smiled wryly as she pointed out, "The van was pretty packed with luggage and people on the way up, and I thought the company would be nice so I said sure."

Decker nodded.

"Stephanie wanted some snacks for the trip home, so I pulled into the grocery store." She let her breath out on an unhappy sigh. "I should have just stopped at the coffee shop or something. I-"

"What happened isn't your fault, Dani," he said quietly.

"Isn't it?" she asked huskily.

He shook his head. "You seem to be using every decision you made as a reason to blame yourself, but it isn't your fault."

Dani shrugged, her gaze on the ground ahead, and Decker knew she wasn't hearing him so he said, "It was your uncle's idea to have the reunion this weekend. If he hadn't, you wouldn't have been here. Do you blame him?"

"No, of course not," she said at once, and he nodded.

"Well, the fact you suggested everyone stay later to avoid traffic, or that you agreed to stop at the grocery store so your sister could get some snacks doesn't make it your fault either. If you want to lay blame, lay it where it belongs... with the men who took you."