Like always, Boris Chernov stood at the door, guarding the entrance like a pit-bull promised of a nice, juicy bone. Two other enforcers, Viktor Galdin and Alexei Vazov sat at the bar, sipping vodka, looking for all intents and purposes like regular customers, their bored expressions broken only by their sharp-eyed gazes.
One snap of a finger and they’d jump to do Sergei’s bidding. To Tabby’s horror, she’d found out a month ago that Viktor and Alexei were known in law enforcement circles for their love of wet work. Given their cold, shark-like intensity, it wasn’t hard to imagine them covered in blood.
Boris held his hand out to stop her from proceeding any farther. Tabby’s heart jumped into her throat, making it hard to swallow, impossible to breathe.
He looked her up and down slowly. “That will be twenty dollars,” he said in a thick Russian accent that seemed oddly out of place in this part of Philadelphia.
Tabby pulled out a wallet she’d gotten from a secondhand store and grabbed two tens. Her hands trembled as she waited for him to take the money.
“Have fun, son.” He slapped her on the back. The force sent her forward a few steps.
A bark of laughter came out of the darkness. Tabby’s head shot up. She’d recognize that ‘snort’ anywhere. Taylor was here. She took a hurried step in the direction of the laugh, but was stopped short by a heavy hand on her shoulder.
“One moment.” Boris tipped her chin up and his eyes narrowed. He reached out and snatched the moustache off.
“Ouch!”
“You should not be here,” he said.
* * * * *
Linx and the two dancers were halfway across the room, when a commotion started at the front entrance. He ignored it and kept walking, tugging the women along with him. In his mind, Linx was already undressing them and laying them on a bed. He couldn’t wait to bury himself in their welcoming sheaths.
The man seated against the wall slowly rose to his feet. His gaze hardened as he stared across the room.
“Sergei, please don’t.” The woman at his side grabbed his arm.
Sergei didn’t look at her. He simply shrugged her off as he faced down the new threat.
Something made Linx want to see what had captured the human male’s attention. It must be a formidable threat if he was willing to discard his lovely companion so easily. Linx turned to see what was happening.
“You’re not allowed.” The beefy bouncer working the door crossed his arms over his wall of a chest. His frame blocked out the person he was talking to. “We warned you that there would be trouble if you came around again.” A heated argument ensued, drowning out the thumping beat.
The bouncer moved, revealing a small man wearing sensible shoes and an oversized suit. Linx frowned. This was the threat?
The man had sunglasses on and a hat pulled down so low over his face that Linx could barely make out his features. His hair had been tucked beneath the brim. If it weren’t for the lone dark red wisp that had fallen out, Linx would have thought the man was hairless.
“Let me see my sister and I’ll leave,” he shrieked, high and shrill.
Linx cringed as the horrific sound grated his sensitive ears. What kind of man sounded like that?
The bouncer stood over him, his broken nose nearly touching the man’s upturned one. “You know that’s not going to happen. Taylor doesn’t want to talk to you.” He pointed to the door. “Now get out of here while you still can.”
“Sergei can go to hell.” The man grabbed onto the bar. “I’m not leaving until I see my twin.”
The bouncer sighed. “Have it your way.” He pried the man’s fingers off the bar and lifted him into the air as if he weighed nothing.
Linx frowned. The man yelped as his hat fell off, revealing strikingly beautiful burgundy hair. Not a man…a woman. The long tresses easily hung past her waist. As a cat-shifter, Linx had always had a thing for nice hair.
The woman struck the bouncer in the back. “Boris, put me down!”
“Stop hitting me, Tabitha and I’ll think about it,” the bouncer said.
She struggled in his arms. The man’s grip tightened and his massive biceps flexed.
“You’re hurting me.” She gasped. “I can’t breathe.”
“Maybe I teach you lesson,” he said in a thick guttural accent. “That way next time you listen.”
Linx released the women he’d been escorting and moved across the room. He was standing at the front door before he realized what he’d done. “Put her down,” he said, his voice low and exceedingly calm.
Boris squinted at him. “You should stay out of this, friend.” He glanced over Linx’s head at the strippers waiting by the exit. “Get back to your dates. This doesn’t concern you.”
“I said, put her down,” Linx repeated. This time he allowed the threat to hang in the air.
Boris unceremoniously dropped the woman he’d called Tabitha. She landed on her hands and knees with a thud. “You should’ve left it alone. Now I’m going to have to ask you to leave, too.” The bouncer reached out to grab Linx, but he was no longer standing where he’d been only seconds before. “What the?” The bouncer jerked his head around to find him.
Linx leaned against the bar, waiting for the big man to locate him. He felt more than saw the two men at the bar rise from their stools. The gun oil clinging to their skin tickled his nose. He glanced over his shoulder and gave them a warning glare. The men tensed, then looked over at the man who’d been sitting against the wall. Fighting with humans was almost too easy to bother with. Linx knew he could have all of them disarmed in seconds.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Tabitha slowly stand and brush off her hands. She truly did have glorious hair. His fingers itched to touch it, to see if it was as soft as it looked, though he didn’t know why.
Other than her long locks, the woman was utterly unremarkable. He glanced at her, then at Nadia and Eva, whom he’d left standing by the back door. The dancers were definitely more his type, but for some reason he couldn’t abandon her. She needed him.
Boris’s eyes narrowed, when his gaze landed on Linx. “How did you get over there?”
Linx’s lips quirked. “Given your lack of speed, it wasn’t hard.”
The bouncer’s face flushed with blood and he glanced toward Sergei. He must’ve gotten some kind of cue because the bouncer nodded, then took a swing at Linx’s head.
Linx caught his arm, stopping the motion with one hand. “You really don’t want to fight me.” He could feel the shift burning through him and fought hard to tamp it down. Linx had no doubt his eyes were glowing as his beast peered out at his would be opponent.
“What are you?” Boris strained to break his hold.
“A man,” Linx said.
“You are no man. Release me, Tchort.” Boris spat. Sweat broke out across his brow and he trembled. The rank odor of fear reached Linx’s nostrils. The beast inside of him perked up even more. Instead of giving in to the fear, the bouncer blustered on. “Do you have any idea who owns this bar? You’re bringing a whole lot of trouble down on your head, and for what? Some chick that you don’t even know?”
Linx stilled. He was right. Why was he fighting for a woman he cared nothing about? Perplexed, Linx released him and turned to walk away.
“Watch out!” Tabitha cried, but it was too late.
Boris’s meaty fist caught him upside his temple and spun him around. Linx shook his head and a growl rumbled from his chest. He took a step toward the bouncer, intending to show him how a Phantom Warrior fights, but the woman with the glorious hair stopped him.
“Are you insane? Let’s go!” Tabitha yanked him by the arm. Her warm touch sank into Linx’s muscles and sent an odd shock zinging down his spine.
She looked over his shoulder, fear widening her dark brown eyes. Linx followed her gaze. Sergei now held the weapon he’d smelled earlier and was marching toward them.
Linx wasn’t concerned, but it was more than obvious that Tabitha was, si
nce her scent soured. He wrinkled his nose and let her lead him away. Linx stopped at the door and glanced back wistfully. The two dancers he’d planned to bed didn’t follow. He watched the women hurry out the backdoor as Sergei approached, their names already fading from his memory.
* * * * *
Chapter Two
Tabitha Shelley released the stranger she’d dragged out of the bar, then kept walking. She didn’t check to see if he would follow. Now that he was safe, she didn’t care.
What was he thinking? He could’ve been killed.
She covered two more blocks, listening to the sound of her labored breathing and pounding heart. Tabby turned back to make sure that she wasn’t being followed and was surprised to see the man right behind her. He was so quiet that she’d thought he’d bailed on her.
In the dark, he’d been handsome, but in the fading sunlight the man was positively stunning. His denim blue eyes practically glittered, when they narrowed on her.
“Sorry about that whole mess.” Tabby wasn’t sure what else to say. She’d really botched this one. And she’d been so sure that her ruse would work.
If she hadn’t heard her sister laugh, then she might’ve made it. The sound of Taylor had caused her to raise her head, giving sharp-eyed, dimwitted Boris Chernov enough time to recognize her. All she’d been able to do was catch a glimpse of Taylor sitting next to Sergei Belovich, a brigadier in the Russian mob, before Boris stopped her.
It hadn’t helped that she’d also been distracted by the sudden appearance of the stranger. She stared at him. He had a face worthy of distraction and a body to match. And from that swoon-inducing smile he was giving her, there was no doubt that he knew it.
Yet, he had to be more than a pretty face. Truly shallow people only looked out for themselves. They didn’t jump in to rescue complete strangers. And they certainly couldn’t make it seem like it was something they did every day. Which meant he was either too stupid to live or he had ties to the mob.
Was it possible that he was a Pakhan? He didn’t look like a typical mob boss. She glanced at his forearms. He didn’t appear to have any tattoos. Maybe he was a Brigadier like Sergei and worked as an intermediary controlling the criminal cells for the boss? But that didn’t seem likely either, since Sergei preferred to take care of business himself. He wouldn’t ask someone to step in for him, would he? Was he a new enforcer?
Tabby felt the blood drain from her face as she took a step back to really look at her rescuer.
His black T-shirt hugged plentiful muscles, leaving little to the imagination. The top had been paired with matching jeans and military grade combat boots. Unless he’d shoved a gun into his snug pants, he wasn’t armed.
Tabby glanced at the front of his pants and suddenly wished that she hadn’t. Her mind flashed to the two strippers he’d been with. That explained his current condition. Or maybe he just got off on fighting. Either way, her gut told her that he was trouble. The sooner she dumped him, the better off she’d be. But before she did that, she needed to know a few things.
“What were you thinking back there?” she asked.
His dark brow arched. “I could ask you the same thing. From what I could tell, you have had zero combat training.” His voice had no discernable accent as he chided her.
Definitely not from around here or Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where the Russian mob made their US home base. Could be that he’d come in from California, but his skin didn’t have the color of someone who’d spent a lot of time in the sun.
Tabby’s face flushed. “I know plenty about fighting.” She’d been fighting to get her twin sister back from Sergei for over six months now. But of course, that wasn’t what he’d meant.
He stepped closer. “Then why didn’t you fight, when he picked you up? There were plenty of moves that could’ve incapacitated him.”
Her hands settled on her hips. “Not sure if you noticed, but Boris is huge. Hulk huge.” Besides whatever maneuver he was referring to hadn’t been covered in the hand-to-hand combat books that she’d read. Of course, Tabby couldn’t exactly tell him that. He could be working for Sergei or one of the other bosses in the area. So she said the first thing that popped into her head. “He caught me off guard.”
The man snorted in disbelief.
“It’s true. I’ll prove it,” she said. “Try to choke me.” Tabby braced herself, then motioned to her throat.
He blinked slowly. “What?”
“I said try to choke me.” She made the universal sign for choking.
His brow furrowed. “I will do no such thing. You are a woman.”
Tabby rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised you noticed given the acute case of silicon boob blindness you seemed to be suffering from when I came into the club.”
* * * * *
Linx didn’t know exactly what she meant, but he could tell from her tone that she’d just insulted him. So this was the thanks he got for saving her. It wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t known she was a woman until her hat fell off. He glared at her. She dressed like a man and screeched like a Harpy.
Until now, he hadn’t encountered any women on Earth like her. And for that he was eternally grateful. Since one of her on the planet was enough.
He allowed his gaze to wander. From what he could tell, she didn’t have large, perfect breasts like the others. Hers were smaller. More compact. A mouthful at most. Her thick waist led to hips that were definitely fuller than the dancers.
Yet, standing here before him with her burgundy hair glistening in the sunset and fire burning in her dark brown eyes, he’d never seen a woman look quite so feminine. How had he missed the fact that she was a woman? Maybe he was right about his temporary blindness.
“Why were you fighting a man three times your size?” he asked.
“I wasn’t fighting. I was trying to sneak into the club.” She looked at him, her gaze far too assessing for his comfort.
“Why?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Linx tilted his head. “You made it my business, when you cried out and I had to step in to save you.”
Her jaw clenched. “I could’ve handled Boris. I just needed more time,” she said. “I never asked for your help. You took it upon yourself to intervene.”
He shook his head in amazement. “I suppose that’s true. But the fact that you didn’t ask for my help either makes you insane or stupid.”
Her nostrils flared. “I am not stupid.”
“So you’re insane.” That made the most sense given what he’d witnessed of her behavior thus far.
“Guess that makes two of us, since you just pissed off an under boss in the Russian mob,” she said, as if that should mean something to him.
Linx couldn’t quite figure her out. Tabitha was full of bluff and bluster, yet he could smell the fear clinging to her pale skin. Like a good soldier, she didn’t allow it to stop her from her mission. He just couldn’t figure out what kind of mission a woman like her could be on.
“What were you doing in there?” he asked, this time using a gentler tone.
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. For several seconds, she didn’t speak.
“The sooner you tell me, the sooner I’ll leave you alone,” Linx said.
That seemed to brighten her mood, which in turn soured his. “I was looking for my sister.”
He stiffened. “Was she one of the women I was with?” The idea left him feeling oddly uncomfortable.
“No.” Tabitha shook her head, sending her hair into her face. She quickly scooped it out of the way. “Taylor is Sergei’s girlfriend. At least that’s what he calls her. She’s more like his sex slave.”
“And you know this how?” His discomfort grew.
“Because she won’t return my phone calls. Won’t answer her email,” she said in frustration.
Linx frowned at her. “That doesn’t mean that he’s holding her against her will. It just means that she doesn’t want to speak to you.�
��
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No.”
Tabitha sighed. “Then you wouldn’t understand. Taylor and I are close. We’re twins. We aren’t identical, but I can sense when something is wrong. And something is definitely wrong.”
Her distress bothered Linx. “What is your name?” he asked, though he’d already knew the answer.
“Sorry.” She blushed. “My name is Tabitha. Tabitha Shelley. My friends call me Tabby.”
“Tabitha.” He let her name slide across his tongue. “Tabby…like the cat?”
She rolled her eyes again. “Yes.”
He grinned to himself. “I am called Linx.”
“Like the cat?” she asked teasingly.
His smile widened. “Very much so.”
She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Linx took it, but instead of shaking her outstretched hand, he brought it to his lips and placed a chaste kiss on the back of her knuckles.
“What are you doing?” Tabby snatched her hand back.
His brows rose in surprise. Linx had never had that kind of reaction from a woman before.
Tabby rubbed the back of her hand on her pants’ leg, then scowled at him. “Don’t do that again,” she hissed like an angry kitten. “I’m not one of those bimbos you hooked up with in the club.”
“I--” was all he managed to get out before she backed away.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from the Molotov Club. Sergei won’t forget what you’ve done,” she said. “He’s a vindictive bastard that gets off on hurting people. Kind of comes with the job description.” Tabitha turned to leave, but stopped short. “Why did Boris call you, Tchort?”
Linx frowned in confusion. “I know not what that means.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It means ‘Dark God’ or devil. Though I think in this context, Boris was calling you a demon.”
Phantom Warriors Volume 1 Page 18
