Someone got off a shot. It flashed by and, behind her, the vampire cursed. Then the men were down.
Tannis stared at the weapon in her hand, absolutely no clue what to do with it. The monster grabbed her hand and rearranged her finger to rest on what she presumed was the trigger.
“Just press that. Now let’s get out of here.
A wave of weakness washed over her when she took a step. She swayed and the vampire swept her into his arms and headed for the ship.
He grinned down at her. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Well it’s not ‘sweetheart.’ I’m Tannis.”
“Tannis—it’s a good name for a snake-girl. So, Tannis”—he nodded toward his ship—“you want to be captain?”
She almost smiled at the idea. “Aren’t you the captain?”
“Dios, no—I’m the pilot—the captain has way too much responsibility.”
“So what happened to your last captain?”
“I guess he didn’t make it.” His grip tightened on her. “Crap. More incoming.” He leaped for the cover of a pillar and whirled around so his shoulders pressed the metal.
“Where will we go?” she asked.
“That depends on what you want to do. What do you want, Tannis?”
She didn’t have to think. “I want to be one of the Collective—I want to be immortal, and then I want to come back and I want to destroy this place and everyone in it.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The first shot rang out. He swore and the scent of scorched flesh filled her nostrils.
“You shoot. I’ll run.” Still holding her, he raced toward the ship.
Tannis peered over his shoulder. The doorway was crammed full of guards all drawing their weapons. Stretching out her arm, she screwed up her eyes, then pressed her finger to the trigger. And kept it pressed.
“Good shooting,” the vampire said. “But you can stop now.”
She peeked through her lashes. Bodies littered the ground.
He was running up the ramp.
Almost there.
They came to a halt at the top, where he shifted her in his arms and pressed his palm to the panel. The double doors slid open just as a movement behind her caught her gaze.
“More coming.”
“How the hell many more are there?” He almost hurled her into the ship so she crashed to the floor, then he dove in after her as a blast of laser shots slammed into the ramp where they’d been seconds ago. Her heart thundering, Tannis lay on her side as he crawled across the floor, shooting with one hand. The guards were close, already running onto the ramp.
They were going to die, and she’d never felt more alive in her entire life.
Then the vampire slammed his fist on the panel and the doors closed with a hiss.
Beneath her, the floor rumbled and the engines fired up. Swiping the blood from his face, he caught her gaze and cast her a wicked grin.
“Welcome to El Cazador, Captain.”
At his words, a burst of laughter escaped her. The sound was strange, and she realized she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed. But she was alive, and she was a captain. For a second she lay on her back and giggled, probably hysterics, but she didn’t care.
Finally, she rolled to her side and watched the vampire pull himself to his feet and brush himself down.
She took a deep breath. “So who are you?”
“Ricardo Sanchez—Rico to my friends.”
“And what do you want, Rico?”
“Hell, I just want to have fun.” His lips curled into a smile. “You ready to have some fun with me, snake-girl?”
He was certainly beautiful, but she’d had her first kiss that day and as far as she was concerned, it was her last. “Hell no,” she said. “But you keep your fangs and your hands to yourself and I’ll be your captain and maybe I’ll even be your friend.”
Head cocked to one side, he considered her for a moment, then gave a brisk nod. “Friends it is then.”
Chapter One
El Cazador, year: 3049
“You do know that this is probably a huge mistake?”
Tannis slammed her spoon down and glared at the crew seated around the dining table, her gaze finally settling on Skylar. “Yeah, I know. And you know how I know, because you’ve told me like a gazillion times.”
Skylar, as usual, didn’t seem in the least intimidated by the fierce look. Her inhuman violet eyes studied Tannis for a moment, and then she shrugged. “Well, even you have to admit that there’s something extremely odd about the most powerful man in the known universe asking for our help.”
“Maybe he’s heard that we’re the best,” Rico drawled from beside her.
Skylar grinned. “Yeah, but the best at what? And why would he hear that?”