His gaze flicked behind me and he narrowed his eyes, his posture warning me to prepare. A voice shouted far too close to my ear. “I hear this young lady is our employer? That’s some fucking bullshit.”
I stifled a sigh. My three mates had stiffened, but didn’t step in. They knew to let me handle my own idiots.
If Shan were here, he would have stepped in. I found myself missing his overstepping, which I’d never thought I would say.
Turning to face the man, I found him leaning down over me, his face inches away from mine. His breath smelled foul and was heavy with alcohol. This position reminded me of the multitude of times I’d had to fight off Alphas. It gave me a thrill of adrenaline that I shouldn’t enjoy as much as I did.
“I am your employer. If you don’t like it, you’re free to go,” I said, raising my voice to be heard across the bar.
A hush had come over the merriment as soon as this man challenged me.
“Go? No fucking way. You’ve got barely any men here with you. We should kill you lot and take the money.”
Seriously?
How drunk did a man have to be?
“You’ve got one chance to piss off,” I said. “If you move again and it isn’t in the opposite direction from me, you’re going to die.”
He sneered. “I’m a demon, I’m not going to die. But you… you smell like a witch. Such delicate bones.”
His hand moved to grab me with the slowness that came from being intoxicated. I was faster. Snagging my dagger from beneath my cloak, I slashed the blade across his stomach and stepped out of the way of his falling body. He choked, spewing blood all over Altair’s friends, and his guts spilled to the ground. Because he was, in fact, a demon, he wasn’t dead.
It didn’t take much, though.
While he was recovering from the shock of injury, I stepped behind him and plunged my knife into his back to pierce his heart.
He toppled the rest of the way to the ground.
There had been a brief uproar when he reached for me, but with his demise everyone hushed again. I turned to face the room, less blood on me than I’d expected considering the spray.
“Would anyone else like to try and take my money, or are you all happy to do the fucking job I’m paying you for?” I asked, the dagger still in my hand.
My hood had half-fallen off my face, my features no longer in shadow. My scent had heightened with the adrenaline, the Omega side hidden by the dampener but the witch side prominent now. No one said a word.
One by one, everyone turned back to their tables and their buddies, drinking their beers. The server hadn’t paused once, despite the bleeding dead body on the floor. Silence lifted and chatter began, more subdued. I turned back to Altair. “Have fun cleaning that one up.”
“This isn’t the kind of gift I wanted from you,” he said with a roll of his eyes, wiping blood from his cheek. “My poor friends will be sticky with blood until they can get to a proper bathhouse.”
Ward had taken most of the hit, being in the seat closest to me. Vaughn and Calloway, neither of whom had said a single word, had slick wet blood dripping down their leathers too. “I’m sure they’ve been through worse,” I said. “Deliver the letter, make sure Sky is on Earth when he needs to be for part one, and I’ll send you a signal for part two.”
Altair nodded and I turned on my heel.
In less than twenty-four hours, we’d either all be safe, or we’d all be dead.
And as much as I hoped for the first option, it could honestly go either way.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Freya
We received no word on whether or not Grey was going to come and ‘ambush’ us at our ill-advised exchange.
Word hadn’t been expected — we’d given him no way to contact us — but we’d hoped Julian or Nolan’s contacts would be able to give us insight on how many men Grey was arriving with. Would there be too many for Amabella and Sky to cast an illusion over?
I paced the room at Club Chaos, running my hands continuously through my hair. Over the past hours I’d slept, fucked Ozzy, slept some more, and eaten a hearty meal, but now the clock was ticking down the minutes until we had to leave. The timing was important.
If we got there before they’d set up their ambush, they would have to improvise.
