Destiny Kills (Myth and Magic 1)

I was halfway through my breakfast when a car pulled up at reception and a man got out. His clothes had seen better days and his left arm was wrapped in bandages. The driver sported a huge shiner, and even from this distance, looked a little worse for wear. There was a third man in the rear seat, but I couldn’t really see him.

&n

bsp; I didn’t need to.

These weren’t strangers.

They were our remaining hunters.

Chapter Nine

I swallowed hastily and the cereal went down the wrong way. Caught between coughing and choking, I shoved the bowl away and ran into the bathroom.

Trae was toweling himself dry, and raised his eye-brow, amusement deep in his eyes. “Want some water for that cough?”

I shook my head and somehow managed to gasp, “Hunters.”

His amusement fled and he swore. “Where?”

“Outside.”

He touched my shoulders, forcing me to one side, and left the bathroom. I followed. He grabbed his clothes off the chair as he passed it, and began dressing as he stopped near the window.

“Red car?”

“Yeah.” I peered past him. “One of them was the man I knocked out last night, and the other—the one that’s inside reception—was wearing bandages.”

“He’s probably one of the three that got singed by the car fire.”

“Maybe you should have done more than singed them.”

“I didn’t exactly know what we were dealing with then.” His glance was grim. “If they’ve found us here, then they definitely have another means of tracking you.”

“Obviously. But where would it be? You searched every inch.”

“Yeah, but nanotechnology is minute. It really could be anywhere, even internal rather than just under the skin.”

“How the hell are we supposed to get at something that’s not only tiny, but could also be internal?”

“Simple answer is, we don’t.”

The reception door opened and the man with bandages came out. He spoke briefly to the guys in the car, then the man in the backseat got out of the car and headed toward the first room.

“Get into the bathroom,” Trae said. “Don’t come out until I tell you to.”

“But won’t they recognize you from the car explosion?”

“The man approaching wasn’t there, and I have no intentions of being seen by the others. Go, Destiny.”

I spun, grabbed my coffee cup, the bowl, and the extra plate of toast he’d made—all of them giveaways that more than one person shared this room—then ran into the bathroom.

About three seconds later there was a rough knock on the door.

“Sorry to disturb you,” a strange voice said, “but we’ve had reports of an escaped felon in the area. You haven’t seen anyone resembling this woman, have you?”

“I don’t believe I’d want to see her. She’s a meanlooking one,” Trae said, with just the slightest touch of amusement in his voice. “What’s she done?”

“She’s wanted in connection to several burglaries.” The stranger hesitated. “You alone here, sir?”