Chapter 2

Emily Alexander stepped off the Greyhound in Biloxi, Mississippi, and looked around. This was the first time she had been to the city and was already aware of what to expect for this job.

The job of a bounty hunter never stopped. She had gotten off one job only to be thrust into another. Only this one was even juicier than the last one she had completed. The last one had been about a drug lord who was behind on his rent payment. She had cornered him with three days left on the bounty. When the news of the supernatural came in, her boss had tossed her into the mix.

As far as she knew, a man had been seen shooting fire from his hands at another man. He had caught a house on fire and fled the scene with a leg wound. She had gone back to the scene and found evidence that worked against the FBI and CIA. The fire had come from the man, not something he had been holding. There were singe marks where he had been standing to corroborate her story.

What if there was a different race of people? They would look and act just like normal humans but they were highly skilled with powers that people would assume were psychic gifts. What if they really existed? It would be an awesome story to report.

With her brain whirling with new and exciting information, Emily looked at the wanted poster in her hand once again. There was no name on the man's picture so she named him John Doe. It wouldn't matter what his name was anyway. He was a problem for American society. Let a judge and jury hear him out for his charges of arson and murder.

She looked up. Now only to find people who would know who he was. As she looked around, she spotted a little convenience store on the corner near the bus stop. A tall guy with dark hair was coming out. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt in eighty-degree weather and jeans with black sneakers. He smiled to owner as he walked out and turned her way. His hair was interesting. It was as black as his shoes but green and silver ran through his bangs. As he got closer, she noticed he had sharp green eyes.

He smiled at her as he came upon her. "Can I help you?"

Emily nodded and smiled in return. "Yes, you can. Have you by any chance seen this man? He is wanted by the FBI for arson and attempted murder. The United States government thinks he's a spy."

Her eyes bugged as she realized she had said too much. The man looked as shocked as she was but there was something about him that allowed her to spew what she was here for. If her superiors knew anything about it, they would slice and dice her then throw her out.

After the initial shock, he smiled warmly at her, his green eyes lighting up gently. "He wasn't here in Biloxi. I'm pretty sure the BPD would have cornered him if he had moseyed on through. Anyway, how much is the bounty for?"

Emily had to consult her paper. That was something she hadn't considered looking up. No doubt there would be other people, other bounty hunters, searching for this man. Her adrenaline pumped through her as she renewed her spirit by looking at the six figures that could keep her in ramen for a couple years.

"Right now it's at a quarter of a million," she replied.

The man made a face that could have passed as speculative or annoyed depending on the person watching him. "Only a quarter of a million?"

"Excuse me?"

He brushed her question away with an easy smile. "Nothing. It was just a thought. Do you have a phone number I can reach you at in case I see the man?"

Emily stuttered as a good-looking guy asked for her number. She rummaged around in her bag until she produced a work card. After taking it gently from her hand, the man looked at it.

"Emily Alexander? I'll keep that in mind should I see him."

"Thank you for your help, sir. I hope we're in touch."

Tyler watched Emily Alexander walk away from him with a glint in his eye. He turned the corner and walked into the shadows, emerging back at the safe house on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. He walked in the living room to see Rowan chatting with his bondmate. Camille was the base of Rowan's crazy pyramid of work and had proved her mettle to Tyler when he had tested Rowan for the job of Healer. They were a packaged deal so he didn't say much when they Skyped.

After putting everything away, he walked over to the couch and sank down beside Klark. The other man was doing a crossword puzzle as he kept his left leg elevated under Rowan's direct orders. Normally the twenty-eight year old would be playing with his nephew at the Sector house but since he was a couple hundred miles from him, he had to make due with a crossword puzzle.

On the screen, Camille flicked her gaze to him and smiled. He nodded in her direction and continued watching Klark. He even pointed some problems out.

"Honey, I think Tyler needs to talk to you," she said after a few moments.

Rowan glanced back and Tyler made eye contact with him. That was the universal signal for him to hurry the hell up. He nodded once and turned back to his mate.

"I'm sorry, dear. Trouble calls," he said.

She smiled at him. "Don't worry. I've got your bases covered."

Rowan smiled warmly at her. "Love you and see you soon."

"Bye, sweetheart. Tyler…"

The other man waved a hand at her. "I know, I know. Bring him back in one piece or you're going to rip me to pieces. I get the gist, Cam." He cast her a humored smile that told her he wasn't scared of her.

Camille crossed her arms over her chest. "You better. I trust you."

"And I trust you. Now please log off." After a few moments, she did so, sending the screen to the funky grey that always happened when a computer or television is turned off.

Rowan swiveled his chair around to face him. "What's up?"

"I ran into our resident bounty hunter at the store. Check out the name." Tyler tossed the card on the table.

Klark snatched it up. "Shit. Emily Alexander? Couldn't fate have dealt me a better fortune than that?"

The Healer looked confused. "Excuse me for living under a rock but who's Emily Alexander?"

"Do you remember Roger Freeman?" Tyler asked as he began to punch the number into his contacts.

"Yeah. He's the one working against His Majesty of the Golden Court."

"Well, he was. A few days ago his death certificate ended up in my files. I couldn't very well leave it there so I peeked. It turns out he was caught for the murder of that couple in Beverly Hills. So they sent a bounty hunter on him. One Miss Emily Alexander. Mikey asked me to look into it. She seduced Roger."

Klark rubbed his face with both his hands. He had a bummed leg and couldn't do anything. If he used his firepower, he would burn the place down and kill another innocent human life. He couldn't handle that.

"It wasn't your fault, K. Loren knew better than to attack you in broad view. He did it to draw you out so you would take the fall for his actions," Rowan said.

The older man looked at the Healer. "What are you talking about, Row?"

"I went back to the scene and checked the deceased. They were burned after they were dead."

Tyler made a face of interest. "What killed them?"

"Asphyxiation. Someone strangled them before Klark lit the fire. It wasn't your fault those people died."

"How do I clear my name?" Klark asked.

"We get the bounty hunter on your side."

Tyler and Klark stared at him. They turned to each other then looked back at their errant Healer. He must be losing his mind.

"Why the hell would we do that?" Tyler asked.

Rowan gave him a dead stare. "Really? If we the get the bounty hunter on your side, there's no way she can kill you. Especially if she falls in love with you."

Klark made a face then went back to his crossword puzzle. "I'm not doing it."

Tyler rubbed his head and looked at the blank television. "We may not have a choice. It's only a matter of time before she tracks us down using our own equipment. We need a backup plan."

The man on the run sighed and leaned his head back against the back of the couch. He really had no choice. He had to get this done or he would spend the rest of his life on the run when he hadn't done anything.

"Do we know where Loren is?" he asked.

"I don't personally but we can always ask your sister," the black haired man replied.

"I don't want to do that. She's got enough on her plate as it is." He sucked in his cheeks and bit them. "Call her. I want to see what she looks like up close and personal."

Tyler smiled wickedly as he pulled out his phone.

~~~

Emily was startled as her phone suddenly started ringing. She had been in the middle of looking over her file again on John Doe. There was nothing to hint at who he was or where he was from. She could only go on physical appearance. So when her phone rang she jumped.

Picking it up, she noticed the number was blocked and also that she didn't recognize it. Who could it be?

"Hello?" she said as she continued looking over the file.

"Is this Emily Alexander?" the familiar voice asked.

"Yes, who is this?"

"It doesn't matter who I am. Just come to the warehouse district on the coast. It will all be explained then." Whoever it was hung up immediately.

She looked at the phone briefly before flying through her hotel room gathering her stuff. Within minutes she was walking out the door towards the warehouse district three blocks away.

Turning the corner onto the street, it was hard to miss the renovated warehouse that was at the forefront. This had to be it. She knocked on the door and looked around nervously. She was used to going into tight spaces but this had to take the cake because she had no idea who she was hunting.

The door swung open and she peeked in cautiously. When nothing came flying out at her, she went in. The hallway was spacious and she headed towards a door with the light. When she opened the door, her first instinct was to pull out her gun.

Immediately she was incapacitated and hauled over to a chair where she was forced to sit down.

"Unhand me, you barbarian! You can go to jail for aiding and abetting a fugitive!" she wailed.

The man holding her snorted. "Seems like she knows her stuff, Ty?"

The man named Ty stood and looked at her. Her anger boiled. "You! You're the one I ran into at the bus stop!"

Tyler made a face. "Yeah, pretty much."

"You knew where he was and didn't tell me!"

"I'm not going to give away my brother."

She sobered then. "Your brother?" She looked between Tyler and the man she was hunting. "You don't look like brothers."

"We're not brothers by blood but we act like brothers. So it's all the same. But I didn't call you here so you could arrest him. I called you here because we need your help."

"My help? You want my help to get a suspect off the hook?"

"Honey, you have no idea what happened last night. All you know is there was a fire. I bet the autopsy of the bodies will show they were strangled before the fire started," Klark snapped from the couch. He had put on jeans before she had showed up but he was still shirtless and he was angry.

Emily shifted her gaze to the man on the couch. He was dark headed and broad. From her vantage point she could see he was completely ripped. His muscles bulged on his arms and she could see veins popping out everywhere. He was every bit male but there was something about him that conflicted with the image everyone had given him.

How had this man produced fire from his feet?

Klark's eyes widened as he listened to her thoughts. She knew he had produced the fire instead of lighting a match and tossing it on gasoline. He flicked his gaze to Rowan. The other man stood behind Emily and shook his head. He had heard her thoughts as well.

'Don't do it, man. We don't have time for you to explain what the hell's going on,' Tyler said through the universal telepathic bond every one of their kind had.

'It may be the only way we get her on our side,' Klark replied.

'Just make sure you know the ramifications of doing this,' Rowan replied.

Klark nodded and looked Emily squarely in the eye. The woman fidgeted as she tried to undo her bonds but Rowan was a Healer and adept it tying people down. There was no way she was getting out of those bonds at all.

He mentally snapped her to attention, forcing her to look into his eyes. When she did and didn't fight the compulsion he had implanted, her eyes widened. Light exploded in front of his eyes, white hot and furious. He had to squint to get it to go away. When it finally did, not only was his skin glowing a gentle silver, Emily's was as well.

"What do you want with me?" he vaguely heard her ask over the pounding in his ears.

Tyler took over for him when he noticed he was having issues. "We have a request to ask of you."

Emily made a face. "You want to ask me a question when you're harboring a fugitive? Classic."

"Do you want to live?" Rowan asked.

"You're threatening me?"

"No, dear, I'm not but if you don't cooperate, thousands of more people are going to die because of your incompetence."

She let that sink in. "What are you talking about?"

Rowan nodded to Tyler. The other man lifted his hand and a thin layer of ice formed over his skin. Tossing said hand out in front of him, the floor soon glistened with the ice that formed.

Klark stood on shaky legs when both men looked at him. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he tapped into his power.

Emily watched as flames erupted from around the man who'd been on the couch. He held them around him. Miraculous nothing around him burned. He looked at her warily. She had found out where the flames had come from but they weren't from a match and gasoline. No, not at all. They were from the man. He generated the flames himself.

"We want you to help us catch the man who killed those people. If you don't, we're all in danger," Tyler said as Klark reined in his power.

"What's going on?"

"People who are like us, meaning they are enhanced, are plotting something. We don't know what it is but we need to find out before someone else gets hurt. Our Queen has gone to someone we trust but we need you to help us hunt the one who killed those people."

She looked at Klark. "What about him?"

Klark looked at Rowan and Tyler then sighed. "After this is said and done, I'll go with you."