The Immortal Hunter(64)

"I am actually enjoying your delightful responses to everything," he agreed, proving she was right and he was poking around in her head listening. "Although I will have to take exception to the ugly bastard bit. I am, and have always been, quite handsome. Don't you think?"

Dani's head turned without her input, her eyes remaining open when she tried to close them as he forced her to look at him.

"Now, tell the truth," he insisted chidingly. "Is this not a handsome face?"

She stared at the face, resentment and anger temporarily sinking her fear and making her silently curse his hide. He was an extraordinarily good-looking man with a charming smile, sparkling yellow-gold eyes, and a glorious mane of golden hair that was brushed back off his face and fell to almost his shoulders... and he was still an ugly bastard, Dani thought grimly.

"Oh ho!" He laughed at her thoughts and turned to start the pickup, saying, "You're going to be so much fun to play with. I can hardly wait."

Dani tried to control the fear that wanted to rise up in her at that comment. She didn't want him to have the satisfaction of knowing he'd caused it.

This was obviously the fifth man from the clearing man, the one who had gotten away. He was the one the others had called Dad in the van when she and Stephanie had been taken. Dani had thought then that it must be a nickname because surely he was too young to be the father of the others. But back then-one whole day ago, Dani realized with amazement-she hadn't known about immortals and how they didn't age. All she'd known was that he had sat in the passenger seat at the front of the van, watching his sons terrorize her and Stephanie with a small smile that suggested he approved. Since Mortimer had explained that an immortal could completely control a mortal, and that they could have taken Dani and Stephanie without their even being aware or suffering, it seemed obvious that he wanted the suffering. That being the case, she was going to do her best to keep from giving it to him.

"Oh, now, that's just being a spoilsport," he complained, turning to glance at her, and then he gave her a grin that made her skin crawl. "I guess it will be a challenge to see if I can get a response out of you, won't it? Maybe I'll make you dance naked for me when we get to the house. Or I wouldn't mind trying out some of those interesting positions you and Decker tried in the barn. Wouldn't that be fun?"

There was no way Dani could prevent the horror those words sent soaking through her mind, and she was helpless to do anything but stare, her mind writhing at the very thought.

"There we go. Now you're getting into the spirit of things," he congratulated on a laugh. "But you're far too distracting to me right now, so it's time for you to go sleepy bye. I'll wake you when we get to the house," he promised.

Dani expected him to simply put her to sleep mentally as she knew he could, but instead he punched her. She saw his fist coming and couldn't do a damned thing to escape the blow, and then pain exploded in her head and everything went dark.

"Well?" Decker stopped pacing beside Sam's car as Mortimer, Justin, and Lucian approached. A curse slipped from his lips as his uncle shook his head.

"Everyone's checked in and there's no sign of her anywhere," Mortimer announced.

Decker turned to look out over the quickly emptying parking lot. The men Lucian had called in, men who were supposed to be looking for Stephanie, had been searching the mall for the last hour. They'd spread out like a swarm to find her, and apparently come up with nothing. It was now nearly ten o'clock, the stores would all be closed soon, and then the lot would be completely empty.

"Is there anywhere she's mentioned that you think she might have run to?" Mortimer asked.

"She didn't run," he growled. "She has no reason to run from me."

"Sorry," Mortimer said, and then shrugged and added, "It's just that she didn't seem too happy with you this morning and I thought perhaps she had-"

"Things have changed," Lucian interrupted calmly. "Decker and Dani have sorted out their differences and mated."

"Get out of my head." Decker scowled at his uncle.

Lucian merely smiled at him and then turned to Mortimer to say, "Have men watch her family's home and her clinical practice just in case, but I suspect Decker's right and she hasn't run."

"What are you thinking?" Mortimer asked.

"I'm thinking that her disappearance is connected to her sister somehow," he said. The words were the very last thing Decker wanted to hear, and immediately brought an image into his head of the bodies in the ravine.

"You're not thinking the rogue and Stephanie somehow turned up here and she gave chase, are you?" Justin asked with disbelief.

"It's not impossible," Lucian murmured thoughtfully. He considered it briefly and then shook his head. "But it's just as possible that the rogue that got away in the clearing may have followed you to Toronto and taken her in the hopes of trading her for the others."

"But he didn't have a vehicle to follow us in," Decker said quickly.

"The woods were at the end of a road," Lucian pointed out. "Presumably there was something on that road to cause it to be there. There may have been cottages, or a business with a vehicle for him to steal."

"There were cottages," Justin said quietly.