Stalking the Others Read Online Free Page A

He reached into his shirt pocket and plucked out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. I shook my head when he offered me one. He didn’t speak again until after he’d plucked out a cig with his thin lips and lit up, taking a deep drag.
    “I’m dying.”
    Though I wanted to be sorry for him, knew it was the right thing to be feeling, I couldn’t find it in me to react. Maybe I was out of emotional room for surprise with all my own baggage taking up the space in my mind. He took another drag before continuing, meeting my gaze frankly and without any sign of fear or self-pity I could detect.
    He was brave. I’d give him that.
    “Cancer. Both lungs.” He held up the cigarette. “Always knew these would be the death of me, if hunting didn’t take me first.”
    “Don’t say that, you asshole,” Nikki said quietly, her voice hitching. I didn’t dare look at her. She didn’t need me to see her tears. “You won’t die, damn it. Don’t say it again.”
    Jack glanced at her, then back at me. His lips quirked in a sardonic smile. Gallows humor. “I’ve known for a long time it was coming. Nobody here was smart enough or ruthless enough to take my place. We tried to groove Devon in, but he just wasn’t a fit. Nobody here could stomach the idea of it. Then I heard about a P.I. Some new girl who hated vampires, but was working with them anyway. Someone trying to save a kid from a leech.”
    I stared at him blankly. Though I knew he was talking about me, David Borowsky had been anything but a victim of the vampires. Instead, he’d forced Alec Royce under his thumb. In the end, I’d saved the vamp—and destroyed the kid.
    Jack knew that. So why had he pursued me?
    “That’s not how it really played out, I know. But I was grasping at straws. And I was being told to recruit you by someone I couldn’t say no to.” He grinned, again without humor, just a baring of gleaming white teeth. He must be religious about brushing, considering his smoking habit. “I do hope Tiny and I didn’t scare you too badly. At first I was just trying to fuck up recruiting you to our cause. It was necessary at the time. I thought you were a pawn—and you were, no mistake—but not in the way I’d feared. It took me a while to realize that you could be useful.”
    Now that was surprising. As far as I knew, White Hats didn’t answer to anyone but their own, and I’d thought Jack was the leader of this branch. “Who was telling you to recruit me? I’m afraid I can see where this is going, but I can’t say I understand it yet.”
    “I’d thought you might have guessed by now. Alec Royce told me to do it.”
    I stared. Jack stared back.
    I tried not to. I really did. But despite my best efforts, I unleashed an explosive laugh right in Jack’s face.
    He frowned at me.
    “Sorry,” I said, once I got the worst of my giggles under control. “Really, sorry.”
    His frown deepened, and some of the red crept back into his cheeks. His discomfiture was due to his connection to the vampire then, not on my account. I should have known.
    “I’m not joking, Shiarra. I made a deal when I was first diagnosed. His blood is all that’s kept me alive this long. I’m bound to him, just like you were.”
    A loud noise from behind startled me. Nikki had kicked a nearby box into a wall and stalked into the back rooms. I turned back to Jack, wiping any lingering mirth off my face. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
    “Neither do most of the other White Hats,” Jack confessed. “It would tear the organization apart. Only a select few know. Once I told Devon, he didn’t want to take over. Nikki is too hot-tempered to lead, even if she wanted to, and Royce won’t abide Tiny’s taking my place. He wanted someone he could control to take over for me. It’s why he thought you might be a good fit. I’m running out of time, and we need someone sympathetic to his cause who will still hunt vampires or other dangerous Others under his direction.”
    I