The Immortal Hunter(31)

Decker nodded silently, wondering where the rogue holding Stephanie was headed. They'd all been sure he'd try to lose himself in the city. Lucian had several immortals, including enforcers and volunteers, waiting at different spots in Toronto to converge on the vehicle when it did.

"Etobicoke?" Dani asked, leaning forward to peer at the screen. "That's not an hour from here, is it?"

"It's only half an hour from here. I caught up a bit," Justin said cheerfully.

Decker noted the wry expression on Dani's face and guessed she wasn't terribly surprised. Justin had been driving like a bat out of hell since leaving Parry Sound.

"Who are those other colored dots?" she asked now.

"Other enforcers," Justin answered. "That yellow one is my usual partner, Mortimer, and his life mate, Sam." His eyebrows drew together as he noted the position of the dot. "They're still a good hour or more behind us. I hope your pickup hasn't been giving them trouble."

"My pickup is not giving them a hard time," Decker assured him, and then, catching the curious look Dani cast his way, he explained, "The vehicle that was stolen was a company one Mortimer and Justin drove up from Toronto. Mortimer and Sam are in my personal pickup, which has a company GPS in it."

"It has a cab on the back with a bed too," Justin said, eyebrows wiggling. "And they're new life mates, kind of like newlyweds only times a thousand. They'll need the bed."

Decker rolled his eyes and told Dani, "Yes, it has a bed, and that's why I suggested they take it, but not for the reason Justin is hinting at. Sam is mortal, which means they can double-team it. Sam could show Nicholas's picture around during the day while Mortimer slept and he could do it at night while she slept."

"He spoils everything, doesn't he?" Justin complained, turning in the driver's seat to start the engine.

Decker settled on the backseat next to Dani and buckled up and then turned to peer at her as she did the same, wondering what she must be thinking. She hadn't said a word about Lucian's revelations yet.

Finished with her seat belt, Dani turned to him and asked, "Lucian is your uncle, isn't he?"

"Yes."

She nodded, her expression thoughtful, and then asked, "So insanity runs in the family then?"

Justin burst out laughing from the front seat, and Decker turned a scowl on the younger man. He took a deep breath for patience before returning his attention to Dani. It was obvious she hadn't believed a word his uncle had told her, and he briefly considered what he might say that could possibly convince her. And then he had an idea.

"What are you doing? Stop that," Dani said when Decker began to undo his shirt.

"I'm just showing you my gunshot wound," he said soothingly.

"Oh," Dani relaxed a little, but not completely. She couldn't have said for sure why she found the idea of seeing his naked chest more disturbing this time than when she'd taken out the bullet. Possibly it was because, despite everything, she found she was starting to like him, but whatever the case, she was having difficulty pulling on her professional persona this time. Instead she sat watching him undoing button after button, her eyes eating up inch after inch of pale flesh revealed until she had to force her eyes away.

"Okay," Decker said a moment later.

Dani turned back reluctantly to find he'd tugged the shirt open and off the injured shoulder. Her eyes skated over all that pale marble flesh and then froze. She leaned closer, and then snapped, "I need a light."

Justin immediately flicked on the overhead light, casting a strong, harsh glow over everything, including Decker's bullet wound. Dani peered at it closely, noting that it had shrunk in size and was knitting itself together. Were someone to ask her how old the wound was, she would have guessed several days, possibly a week. Her mind immediately began running around in circles, searching out all her medical training and trying to find an explanation for how it could possibly have healed that quickly, but nothing was presenting itself.

Dani sat back and peered at him silently for a full minute and then said quietly, "That's not humanly possible."

"It's not mortally possible," he corrected, just as quietly.

"Show her your teeth," Justin said from the front seat.

Decker opened his mouth, and she watched with sick fascination as his canine teeth slowly shifted forward and down, becoming what could only be described as fangs. When she then turned to the rearview mirror, Justin raised his head slightly and allowed his own teeth to push out of his mouth. Dani swiftly turned her head back, caught sight of Decker's teeth retracting, quickly dropped her eyes to his chest and the nearly healed bullet wound, and then turned and reached for the door handle, fully intending to make a jump for it.

Only her forgotten seat belt prevented it. She managed to get the door open before Decker could react, but the seat belt held her in place when she tried to jump.

"Dani!" Decker grabbed her with one hand as she began to try to undo her seat belt and pulled the door closed with the other, then forced her around to face him. "Look at me. I need you to listen. You're safe. I won't harm you. You must realize that. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it long ago. You're safe."

He repeated the words over and over until she stopped struggling and forced herself to be calm in his hands.