Soul of a Predator Read online

  "Don't be so quick-tempered, Shaque,” she chided softly.

  "Don't yank my chain on this, Elyse.” The tip of his dagger indented the skin beneath her chin slightly. “Don't."

  In answer, the tip of her own dagger nicked the skin over his Adams apple, a trickle of blood slipping free to slide down his throat. Her gaze remained steady.

  It was like looking at a female version of himself, and Shaque wondered briefly if that was why she brought out a side of himself that was normally so tightly controlled.

  But he couldn't think about that right now. There was something else that needed his attention. “The photo image. Where did you get it from?"

  "A child."

  "What child?"

  "A girl child."

  A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Who?"

  "I don't know.” Her expression remained bland, her voice as steady as though they weren't mere centimetres from being able to end each others life.

  "Where?"

  "Outlaw Sector."

  Outlaw Sector. His heart skipped a beat. “Whereabouts?"

  A slow smile curved her full lips faintly. “Now that would be telling, Shaque."

  "You'll tell me."

  "I will?” One fine brow arched in quiet amusement. “Now why would I do that?"

  Thunder boomed and the crash of lightning split the night sky outside. The room plunged into darkness.

  "Turn on the back-up lighting!” someone yelled.

  Intuition kicked in, and Shaque lunged forward, a dangerous move considering the dagger that had been at his throat, but somehow he knew, he just knew—

  There was no prick of a dagger, the blade was gone. Elyse was slipping away.

  "Block the door!” he roared. “Block the bloody door! Elyse!"

  There was the clatter of chairs, but it was too dark to see. Shaque tried to move forward, only to crash into several hunters. Cursing, he squinted in the darkness, trying to see.

  There was the sound of rain, the clarity of it coldly shocking, and he saw a dim greyness near where the door was, then a decisive click.

  The lights flared on seconds later, and Shaque looked around wildly. Elyse was nowhere in the room.

  Ricna and Abra ran for the door, reaching it seconds ahead of him. They piled out onto the veranda and looked around.

  Rain teemed down, the dimly lit streets pooling. There was no sign of Elyse anywhere.

  "Shit!” Shaque slammed his fist into the wall, uncaring of the pain, the frustration of years boiling over to fill him with a rage that was unlike his normal cold fury. “No!"

  * * * *

  Standing in dark alley close by, cloaked by shadows, Elyse watched Shaque. The bounty hunter was furious. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she watched him standing in silent fury while Abra directed the packs to search for her.

  He wouldn't find her, not until she chose to reveal herself.

  "Don't kill her,” Abra ordered. “The woman is Shaque's."

  The woman is Shaque's.

  She mused over the words, mentally rolling them over in her mind. Shaque. There was unfinished business between them, the fight for supremacy, for the kill. Since that moment, every bounty hunter pack had labelled her Shaque's.

  Maybe it should have annoyed her, but it didn't. After all, just about every outlaw and pirate in the Outlaw Sector knew that Shaque was hers. He just didn't know it.

  The street lights flared on, the electricity surging as the power supply returned. Standing beneath the light, illuminated from both behind and above, Shaque's features and physique were able to be studied at her leisure.

  Not abnormally tall, he stood just shy of six foot. Lean, yet she knew from her clash with him that his lean build belied the hidden power within him. He was strong, lithe, and with a cold determination that intrigued her. The flex of muscle was clearly seen in his arms and chest as the rain made his drenched shirt stick to his body.

  Yes, lean but powerful.

  As powerful as she herself? Maybe. Time would tell.

  Her gaze lifted to his face. His shoulder-length blonde hair was worn in a queue, secured with a wide ring at his nape. Wet strands had escaped the confines and blew around his face, caressing the strong cheekbones and sticking to his determined jaw. His nose was strong, if such a feature could be called that, and his lips were full, yet definitely masculine. His eyes were pale blue, like a winter sky, his gaze direct and hard. In contrast, his brows were black, which only added to the startling blue of his eyes. He had a classical, masculine beauty.

  And he was cold, contained. A predator. An expert with knives, known as The Knifer amongst some of the pirates and outlaws. Feared, respected, hated.

  Even as she watched, he lifted his head alertly, his gaze flicking around, searching the street. Tipping his head back slightly, he breathed deep, and his gaze settled on the mouth of the alley in which she stood.

  Unconcerned, she waited. To move would be a mistake.

  For several long seconds he stared at the alley, before saying something to Abra. As he did so, he bent down, drew a dagger from the top of his boot, and stepped down off the veranda and started across the wet street.

  How interesting. Elyse waited, balanced on the balls of her feet. Watching him as a predator would a prey, only she had no illusions about Shaque. He was as much a predator as she.

  Predator and predator. What happened when two predators met?

  They wiped each other out.

  The electricity fluctuated again, plunging the street into darkness, and Shaque swore softly.

  Elyse stepped back, using the darkness to her advantage. Always able to see well enough in the dark to avoid problems, she calmly walked to the hole in the fence and slipped through it. Steadily she walked away, the sound of Shaque's cursing echoing in her ears.

  Tonight was not the night to wipe each other out.

  * * * *

  Shaque had the settlement searched, the skies scanned, but Elyse was gone. He'd known it as soon as the darkness took the streets again. The woman would have used the darkness to slip away.

  Not a coward's slipping away, for Elyse was no coward, but simply a slipping away of someone who really didn't care. Someone who couldn't be bothered right now with answering his questions.

  I should have told her. I should have made her listen to me.

  But no one made Elyse do anything.

  With a sigh, Shaque stepped out of the hot shower and wiped himself down quickly with a thick towel. Pulling on a pair of bed shorts, he padded into his cabin and looked down at the photo image that lay on the desk beside the viscomm.

  Two children were in the photo image, but only one of them held his attention. A little girl with blonde hair and big, blue eyes, a winsome smile on her face.

  The dagger slit marred the side of the photo image, but it made no difference. He knew this photo image, had never forgotten it. The image was worn, with a crease mark in the middle as though once folded in half. A splotch of something rusty marred a corner.

  Blood? Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and steadied his jumbled thoughts. It could be nothing, it could simply be a photo image someone found and somehow knew belonged to him.

  No. It had been in the Outlaw Sector, and that could mean only one of several things. She was alive, or she was dead. And someone wanted him to know. A trap or a rescue mission, it had to be one of those things. But which one?

  His eyes snapped open and he stared at himself in the mirror, his eyes coldly watching him back. And did it matter?

  Sitting down at the viscomm on a small desk against the wall, he touched the screen and brought up the bounty hunters’ links. Entering the password to the data banks, he felt the ray built into the top of the viscomm scan his eyes, and seconds later the secured lines between the bounty hunter packs opened.

  Without hesitation, Shaque typed in the order.

  Information on Elyse's whereabouts to be reported to Shaque immediately.

  * * * *<
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  Sitting in the control cabin of her ship, Elyse sipped at the hot mug of una and eyed the two women in the viscomm screen.

  "So,” the big, busty blonde was saying, “There I was, in a hot embrace with this sex-driven bloke, about to get my boots burned right off, when your bloody twin walks in and announces it's time to go!"

  "Trust me, Elyse,” Donika drawled, “Illona wasn't going to go anywhere without a bit of nooky and a damned good fight. I sure wish you'd been there. She'd have moved her fat arse if you'd walked in."

  "My arse is made for grabbing, not sliding off like your skinny rump,” Illona retorted.

  "You're just a horny bitch."

  "I never denied that."

  One brow raised in silent amusement, Elyse listened as a squabble broke out between the busty blonde and Elyse's own twin.

  Watching Donika wasn't like watching an exact copy of herself. They were twins, and looked alike, but not identical twins, and there was yet a mystery about herself that Elyse hadn't bothered searching for ... until now.

  Donika just plain couldn't give a vagrat's arse, and had openly stated so when Elyse had mentioned it not long after they'd been reunited after a year away from each other.

  The past held questions and answers, some answered, some unanswered, and none of which played a part in the present as they lived it. If and when she needed answers, she'd go looking for them.

  "Oh, for pity's sake!” Brina, the fair-haired captain of the pirates, shoved her way in front of the screen. “Are you really listening to these two, Elyse?"

  Elyse smiled slightly.

  "You're a sick wench.” Brina raised one brow. “So, ready to come back and join the crew?"

  "I kind of like being able to go into the Lawful Sector."

  "We go into the Lawful Sector,” Donika announced from behind Brina.

  "Being able to walk openly amongst the law is amusing."

  "Couldn't be as much fun as running amongst them,” Illona observed.

  Elyse inclined her head in thoughtful acknowledgement. “But then again, you don't see the faces of the law when I walk in their midst."

  "We could arrange that, I'm sure,” Donika said.

  "Mmmm.” Amused, Elyse took another sip of hot liquid.

  "So, you're not coming to visit us soon?” Brina met her gaze seriously.

  "I was on my way to visit Sonja."

  Donika's face appeared over Brina's shoulder. “Oooohhh! Can we come?"

  "More the merrier."

  Brina shook her head. “No. We've something on."

  Elyse raised one brow.

  "We're hitting Aon's space shuttle system. Heard a rumour of a huge haul in a private shuttle.” Brina smiled. “We've been monitoring it, seeking a pattern. Dumb bastards. Can you believe we found a pattern?"

  Elyse had no doubt her wily friends and former shipmates had indeed done just that.

  "So we hit the shuttle in a month. Meanwhile, we need to manoeuvrer near enough, scan for bounty hunter and Peacekeeper spaceships.” Brina leaned back in her chair. “You're welcome back anytime, you know."

  "I'll keep an eye out for you.” Elyse tapped her ear where she often kept a communicator when on land, mainly to inform the pirates when the law was too near them.

  Brina's smile widened.

  "We're on Vultan,” Donika informed Elyse. “Where are you?"

  "Not far off.” Elyse idly twirled the una around in the mug. “I could call in on my way past."

  Her twin's face brightened. “Great! Shall we meet in Uncle Cy's favourite tavern?"

  "Sure. When?"

  "How far away are you?"

  "About a night's flight."

  Grinning widely, Donika gave her the thumbs up. “Can't wait."

  They chatted for a while longer, and then broke communications.

  Tilting back in the chair, Elyse contemplated the control panel and continued sipping at the cup of hot una. No, she wasn't technically a space-pirate again, but she did help her friends out. If she happened to be in an area they were raiding, she alerted them to any sign of the law hanging around, and at times, on a private and unscannable line, had been able to steer them through possible ambushes. Mentioning anything interesting she heard was also relayed to them.

  No, she didn't openly work with them, but she was their outside contact in the Lawful Sector. Did that make her their informer or scout? Amused, she smiled slightly to herself.

  Setting the coordinates for Vultan, Elyse watched the map change, the red line that linked a course between her ship and the planet in question. Picking up the mug, she realized she'd drunk the last of it, and decided to get another hot drink before retiring for the night.

  In the small but well-stocked kitchenette, she poured another drink from the urn. As she turned the tap off, she felt a trickle in her nose, and frowned. Lifting her hand, she touched it to her top lip and felt the wetness there.

  Drawing her hand back, she looked at the blood that stained her fingertip. The trickle was just that, a small, barely discernable moistness that stopped as quickly as it started.

  Drawing a small cloth from her pocket, she wiped the end of her nose and her top lip clean of blood, pocketed it again, and picked up the mug of hot una. Taking a sip, she gazed towards the space shield in the far wall.

  Outside the stars sparkled and shone, some close, some millions of miles away. Three weeks travel separated her from the Lawful Sector. Once she had visited with her sister and friends in the Outlaw Sector, she'd head for Daamen and visit her best friend, Sonja.

  Yes, it was way past time she visited those few she truly loved.

  * * * *

  The next morning her ship approached Vultan, a planet far enough into the Outlaw Sector to be considered a safe place for those on the run from the law. Too far in for the law, but not far enough that it took weeks to get there.

  Docking her ship at the big docking bay in the settlement of Shyton, Elyse stretched leisurely in the pilot's seat. The viscomm screen on the control panel showed the view outside the ship. The hidden cameras built into the metal of the ship moved, scanning the area.

  Studying the surroundings, Elyse noted the other ships docked, the people who moved around them, and the interior and exterior of the docking bay. Two planet shuttles, several private ships, a couple of pirate ships she recognized, and a couple of planet surface crafts.

  Getting up, she moved from the control cabin and down the spacious corridor to the small stairwell that led down into the bottom of the ship. Coming out into the cargo area, she checked the viscomm screen in the wall, noting the surrounding area beneath her ship. It was clear.

  The ramp lowered quickly and smoothly, and she strode down it to finally stand on the dirt. The ramp lifted back up and relocked into position, the force field with her body pattern locked into it ensuring the security of the ship until her return.

  The sun was warm, promising a hot day. There was no hint of rain in the air, the sky a harsh blue already, and dust rose up to tickle her nostrils. Glad she'd left her jacket back on the ship, Elyse rolled her sleeves up as she started to walk towards the gates of the docking bay.

  "Well, well,” a voice drawled to her left. “If it isn't my cousin's best friend."

  Elyse barely glanced at the blonde-haired pirate who was leaning against the side of his black ship.

  "Not even a greeting, sweet Elyse?” He fell into step beside her.

  Personally, Elyse couldn't be bothered even talking to him. So she didn't.

  "Tell me, how goes Sonja these days?” Fredrico ignored her silence. “Has the Daamen turned her into a docile breeding machine yet?"

  That didn't even merit an answer.

  "She is happy?"

  Why Fredrico would even care, Elyse couldn't imagine. She stepped through the gates of the docking bay.

  Fredrico stepped in front of her, forcing her to halt. She looked levelly at him, taking in the man; in his early thirties, lean, handsome face, ruthl
ess blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair that was neatly secured at his nape.

  There was something different about him, though. He'd always been ruthless, never backing down from a fight, but there was something more about him ... something dangerous. A sharper edge to his features, his walk, and the way he stood. His attitude.

  They stood and took the measure of each other.

  "Got a problem, Elyse?” Fredrico asked quietly.

  "I've heard rumours."

  "Have you now?"

  "You're playing with the dark side, Fredrico."

  A shadow briefly crossed his face, but his gaze never faltered. “Am I?"

  Elyse looked over at the menacing black lines of his ship, and his crew who stood around it in various poses of relaxation. But it was almost an illusion, for even from where she stood, she could see the same hardness of their features, the same dangerous edge.

  Almost as though they felt her gaze, every pirate looked up and directly at her, and in their eyes she saw bleakness, as though they'd seen further into a dark pit than anyone had a right to see. Seen and touched by a darkness that should never have known the light of day.

  Interesting. She turned back to Fredrico, to find him looking at her alertly, but without expression. Very interesting.

  He raised one brow at her.

  "You're in hellish company,” Elyse said quietly.

  "You don't want to know."

  She continued to study him, and whereas once before he would have got defensive, as he had when she was part of Sonja's crew, and he'd been the blustering, money-grabbing pirate he used to be, now he simply watched her with almost all-seeing eyes.

  In one year he'd changed dramatically, and whatever and whoever he'd been mixing with, it had affected his whole crew. For a second she thought she saw a faint black shadow behind him, a shadow she saw reflected around his crew when she again glanced back at them.

  As fast as it appeared, it vanished, leaving her wondering if she'd imagined it. But the chill that touched her briefly made her aware that it had been no illusion.

  Still, it wasn't her problem.

  Stepping around Fredrico, she said, “Sonja is happy. No, she's not pregnant yet. And if she heard you calling her a docile breeding machine, she'd rip your balls off and stuff them down your throat."