by Juniper Hart
In the dream, it didn’t hurt.
It just…stuck there. She ended up staring at it. Unlike in the actual event, she’d clawed at it to no avail.
She finally awoke in a cold sweat, yelping and looking out for danger, but she was pleasantly surprised to find herself healed and protected by Reuben, her werewolf lover who had claimed her as his mate.
The whole situation sounded ridiculous, but this had become her life.
Much to Cara’s surprise, Adrianna, the assassin, was still tied up with the magic ties and gag that Eddy had fixed her up with. Waking from her dream, the two men were telling Cara they had to leave.
Reuben and Eddy were in the process of trying to get Adrianna out the window of the hotel room so they could get back into Eddy’s car. It made sense. If they ungagged the assassin right then, she’d just start yelling and someone at the hotel would eventually call the police… then they’d have to get on the road again.
They planned to interrogate her in the car, but first, they had to sneak her out. Reuben was trying to coax Adrianna out of the chair she was sitting in. Apparently, while Cara had been asleep, they’d told her what was going on.
“Are you going to get up?” Reuben asked.
The werewolf was scowling; it looked like they had been arguing for a while.
Adrianna shook her head and said something. The enchanted gag kept it from being even remotely intelligible, but based on her expression, she wasn’t saying nice things. And based on her furious expression, she was reciting a list of all the curse words in the English dictionary and beyond.
Reuben tossed back his shoulders dramatically.
“Adrianna, come on. Be reasonable. Quit making this hard. The only reason you’re not free right now is because we can’t trust you.”
She scowled. “MMMMMPPPHHHH.”
Reuben reached out for her gag.
“I’m going to take this gag off for a second,” he said. “Now, don’t scream—”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eddy contributed from the corner. “Reuben, don’t do it. She’s got nothing to say. She can talk all she wants once we’re in the car.”
“She obviously wants to say something,” Reuben said. “I mean, we’ve got to give her a chance.”
Adrianna looked as surprised as anyone. Her eyes shot open; she stopped struggling against the magic bindings and stuck her head out. Reuben ignored Eddy’s advice and pulled off the gag. It looked funny because the gag was enchanted, so it looked like he was just reaching into Adrianna’s open mouth and grabbing air.
Immediately, Adrianna started screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Get her to shut up!” Eddy yelled, stepping in and karate chopping Adrianna in the throat.
Brutal, perhaps? No doubt about it, but then again, it did the job. She coughed and stopped screaming because she was too busy gagging and choking.
“Asshole!” she coughed.
Eddy snatched the gag from Reuben and stuffed it in Adrianna’s mouth.
“Let’s just... focus on getting her out to the car, okay?”
Reuben nodded. Together, he and Reuben physically picked her up. They almost fell over trying to pick her up. Both of them were straining from exertion.
“The hell is she made of?” Eddy choked out as they stumbled towards the door.
Adrianna whipped her head back, smashing him in the nose. She probably didn’t expect what happened—he pulled back and let her go. Reuben attempted to catch her in vain. Instead, she just hit the mini fridge and crashed to the floor.
“MMMPH!”
“Sorry,” Reuben said, turning her up into a seated position. “Eddy, you okay?”
Eddy clutched his nose. A thin stream of red liquid leaked between his fingers.
“I think she actually broke my nose. I say we just toss her out the window and hope she hits the bushes.”
“We’re not going to hurt her,” Reuben said, evidently the mature one. “It’s not right. She’s our prisoner. She’s helpless.”
Cara decided it was time to jump in with her two cents, “Uh, let’s not forget that she stabbed me when she didn’t have to. I’m with Eddy.”
Eddy raised up a hand for her to high-five. She slapped it, prompting Eddy to brag a little.
“This girl knows what’s going on. Reuben, pay attention to your girl.”
Reuben ran a hand across his face in exasperation.
“We need to get her in the car. Eddy, you know I can’t do it without you. Cara, I’d ask you to help, but you still need rest, and besides, she weighs like ten times what you’d imagine.”
Adrianna was still coughing quietly. Eddy had hit her in the throat probably harder than was necessary, which is probably why she’d bopped him in the nose instead of just going amicably. Reuben grabbed her shirt and pulled her to her feet. She worked with him to stand up, though she favored the leg where Cara had shot her.
Reuben looked both of them in the eyes. Cara suddenly remembered how much of a leader he was. He liked to take control in every scenario she’d ever seen him in. Not in a bad or irritating way. It was just his personality.
“Eddy. Stop sulking. Come over here and help me out of this damn window.”
“I want to help,” Cara said.
“Don’t worry about it, love. Eddy and I can do it.”
Eddy wandered over, holding his nose and grumbling under his breath. He looked Adrianna in the eyes, which meant he had to look up. She was taller than both him and Cara. Reuben was the only one of the group that stood over the assassin.
“I want you to know something. If you hit me again, I will personally throw you out of that window—to hell with what Reuben says. And I’ll make damn sure you don’t hit the bushes.”
Adrianna didn’t say anything, but she just narrowed her eyes and stared him down.
Eddy and Reuben led her to the window. Reuben climbed out the second story room. Cara had asked him why he favored second-story rooms once. He’d said that it was because it was defendable. It was hard for people outside to get into, but easy to get out of if there were ever a problem, or if they had to toss a superhuman assassin out.
Either way.
Anyway, Rueben was in charge of catching Adrianna on the ground. Eddy prodded Adrianna towards the window like he was trying to lead a lion somewhere—cautious and far enough away to avoid being bitten if things went south.
“You ready?” Eddy called. “Do you see anyone in the parking lot?”
There was a moment of silence.
“I don’t see anyone,” answered Reuben. “Adrianna, come on down. But slowly. Otherwise we’re both going down.”
Slowly, using Eddy as a steadying hand, Adrianna put one foot out the window and balanced. Cara got off the bed and walked towards Eddy and Adrianna. She suddenly felt a wave of nausea wash over her and she almost fell. She had to lean up against the other bed to catch her balance before finally stumbling over to the window.
“You okay?” Eddy asked.
“I’m feeling a little sick.”
“It’ll pass,” he guaranteed. “Happens all the time after magic healings, especially ones that were as dire as yours.”
Adrianna gave him a withering glare like, ‘You done yet?’
Slowly, they eased her out the window. Adrianna moved quickly. She’d gotten tossed through a wall and crushed a car earlier that week and walked it off. Jumping down eight feet was child’s play.
She hopped down. Cara wasn’t entirely sure if Reuben caught her or not, but she heard a grunt of exertion from the werewolf down below. Eddy, who had seen the whole thing, didn’t seem panicked. It had evidently gone perfectly.
“Cara and I will be right down,” Eddy called. “Here are the keys.”
Her grabbed his car keys off the table and tossed them down to Reuben, then turned to Cara.
“Ready, dear?”
“I’m not too confident about this plan,” she replied. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
<
br /> “Just an illusion,” he assured. “I’ve done a billion magic healings. You’ll be fine. Just try to avoid puking.”
“Usually pretty good advice,” she told him.
Don’t puke. Sounded easy enough, but she struggled with it as she and Eddy went to check out. The hotel guy hesitated when they handed in their cards.
“Weren’t there two guys earlier?” he asked. “Like a really jacked dude?”
“What?” Eddy asked with a straight face, like he didn’t know what he was talking about. “Who are you talking about?”
The guy frowned. “I swear to God… I’m going nuts.” He handed Eddy a receipt. “Okay, you’re all good. Have a good one.”
“Thanks,” Eddy said, and the two whisked out the front door. As soon as they were out of earshot of the employee, he grinned at Cara. “I forgot what fake name he put it under. I figured it’d be better to just act like he didn’t exist.”
“I thought we hadn’t had time to get any fake IDs.”
“I found one from him that I made when he was younger. It still works.”
They met by Eddy’s car; Cara hadn’t seen it before. She’d been inside it, but she’d been blinking in and out of consciousness on their little trip from Eddy’s presumably destroyed home to their hotel.
She was impressed. It was a nice, big sports car. It looked slim and sexy and fast, like it could go from zero to sixty in… she didn’t know what par was. Four seconds? Five? Whatever it was, she was sure this car cut that time in half.
“You like it?” Eddy asked. Reuben clambered out of the driver’s seat to make room for Eddy.
“Holy cow,” she said. “What is this thing?”
Eddy listed the name proudly. She recognized the name of the brand, but other than that, she had nothing. It wasn’t like a normal sports car that someone could see every other day in a basic color. But this beast… whatever it was, she had never seen one before. It looked fast, but roomy enough for four people if the people in the back were small enough.
Reuben looked at Cara, smiled, and came towards her. She felt a bolt of tingling energy shoot through her body as he stopped in front of her and pressed himself up against her with his hand on her lower back. He kissed her on the lips passionately. His lips were warm and gave way slightly to hers. Before she was done, he pulled away with that affectionate, daring smile.
“I’m glad you feel better. How’d you sleep?”
“Like crap,” she said.
She could taste him on her lips. She didn’t want to stop. She wanted him right then, in the parking lot. How he had gotten her under his spell didn’t make sense, but he had a powerful, almost animalistic desire that always hid just under the cloak of humanity.
“I had nightmares the whole time.”
He winked at her, stroked her shoulder, and changed the conversation. “Yeah, Eddy here… he’s got some cool toys.”
“Don’t mean to brag,” Eddy said with a look that seemed to mean he wanted them to keep showering him in compliments.
Inside the car was even more luxurious than the outside. It smelled new, not like someone had been inside it for even a week. The black seats were already heated from the seat warmers, and the blacked out windows kept everything inside hidden.
Cara clambered in the back, letting Eddy drive and Reuben take up the more spacious front seat. Based on what she could see from the outside of the car, he could fit either his upper body or his lower body in the back seat, but not both. Even as small as she was, she felt a little claustrophobic.
Which is why she was so unhappy when she saw her fellow passenger that she’d be seated right next to.
Adrianna.
“Really?” Cara said. “Can’t we put her in the trunk or something?”
“Too small,” Eddy said, revving the engine. “Listen to that baby purr…”
“Dammit,” Cara muttered, squeezing behind Eddy. The car was luxurious, sure, but there was a box in her seat. She started to move it between her and Adrianna, but Eddy cut her off.
“Don’t put that near her,” he warned.
“Why? What’s in here?” She started to pull it open.
“Don’t open it either. It’s guns. I keep a stash in every one of my cars. Just in case…”
That explained why it was so heavy and why she shouldn’t put it anywhere near Adrianna. She put it in the seat and scooted over to sit in the middle seat. The benefit of the middle seat meant she could see between the front two seats and have a better view. However, this also meant she was close enough to Adrianna for their hips to touch. She could feel Adrianna glaring at her, but she tried to avoid making eye contact with the assassin.
“So,” she said in an attempt to break the tension in the car, “What now?”
“I’m hungry,” Eddy said. “Anyone up for breakfast?”
Chapter 2
Cara had initially thought that Reuben was a bad driver, but Eddy made Reuben look like a safe do-gooder.
He drove like a bat out of hell. He was not even remotely afraid to spin out in front of traffic or get close enough to a car to almost scratch the paint. Even Reuben was tensing up as Eddy got onto the interstate and headed to whatever restaurant he was driving towards.
“You can take Adrianna’s gag off now,” Eddy told Cara, looking back at her in the mirror.
“Focus on the road, you crazy man!” she hissed back. “You’re going to get us all killed.”
He looked back at the road, though he seemed mildly amused by her outburst. “I know what I’m doing. Reuben, back me up.”
Reuben conceded, though his fingers were digging into the seat anxiously.
“I hate to say it, but Eddy’s never crashed. He was always our getaway driver back when we worked together.”
“See?” Eddy huffed. “Told you. Anyway, take her gag off. The car’s basically soundproof.”
Cara looked at Adrianna, who mockingly lowered her head so Cara could reach it. Cara didn’t appreciate that. Sure, she was shorter than the assassin, but it was rather unprofessional to make such a big deal of it. She untied the enchanted gag and Adrianna spit it out. The moment she could speak, she started yelling.
“Sons of—” She cursed for probably five minutes. It got to the point where Cara was almost anticipating the next words Adrianna would say because she’d eventually have to get tired of screaming. Eddy and Reuben silently sat until she finally ran out of breath.
“You done?” Reuben asked.
“I’m done,” she snapped. “Let me go.”
“Like hell,” he replied. “Did you forget that you stabbed Cara?”
“So?”
“So…” He paused and breathed deeply, trying to contain himself. “The only reason you’re here right now and not dead in Eddy’s pool is because we need information.”
“So you have replaced me with the human,” Adrianna said sourly.
Reuben’s eyes were dark and angry.
“She’s my mate and I will rip your throat out if you say one more word about her. Do you understand?”
Adrianna seemed mildly entertained. “Oh, the mean guy approach. I like it, I like it. Better than when I first taught you.”
Eddy veered into another lane dangerously, causing at least two people to honk. He didn’t look or even seem to notice.
Reuben continued, “Okay, so I’m curious. How much was the bounty?”
“Two million dracmas,” she replied coolly.
“Holy shit!”
Eddy spun around in surprise, but this time, it wasn’t planned. The vehicle started to veer into oncoming traffic before he got them back in their lane again.
“Eddy…” Reuben’s fingers were firmly attached to the armrests. “Focus. On. The. Road. Let me handle this.”
Reuben twisted around to get a better look at Adrianna. The assassin leaned back in the seat, still with her hands bound around her chest like an enchanted straightjacket.
“Adrianna,” Reuben said, very seriously, �
�Where is Ezekiel? Who else did he hire?”
She stared him down with a sour expression.
“Boy, you sure know how to sweet talk a woman.”
“Just answer the question.”
“Why, Reubs? Maybe I should tell your little girlfriend about what you told me that night in New Yo—”
That was about as far as she got before Reuben grabbed the handle on the seat and pushed the back down to a reclining position. The only thing that stopped him from fully reclining was Adrianna’s body. She didn’t see it coming and was promptly squished into the seat.
“Get up!” she protested. “You weigh a ton!”
Reuben straightened up the chair. He had a blinking vein in his forehead. He was mad. Very mad.
“Don’t ever bring that up. Do you understand?”
“Jeezus,” she muttered. “Fine. I was just kidding…”
Reuben met Cara’s eyes for just a moment before looking back at the assassin.
“I’m going to ask you again. Where’s Ezekiel and who’s working with him?”
“What are you going to do with me if I don’t tell you?”
“Kill you,” Eddy contributed from the driver’s seat.
She nodded.
“And if I do spill the beans? What then? You let me go?”
“Yes,” Reuben said.
“No,” Eddy said at the exact same time.
Reuben looked over at Eddy.
“Eddy, we can’t just kill her.”
“Why not?”
“You’re kind of brutal for a religious guy,” Reuben accused, only half joking. “That’s dark, man.”
“I do what I have to do to protect my family,” Eddy told him. He wasn’t kidding around; his expression was completely serious. “If that requires her being executed, that’s what I’ll do. I’m your godfather. I take that job seriously.”
“I’m right here,” Adrianna said. “Since you’re deciding whether or not to kill me and all.”
Reuben acted like she hadn’t said anything.
“We can’t just kill her.”
“I could time freeze her, but it’ll only last a couple of days.”
