by Nova Drake
“Yeah, I figured as much.”
She pulled her much larger knife from her boot and moved in a little closer in a ready stance as he approached. A few ducks and a little maneuvering and she managed to get behind him and drive her knife with all her strength through the back of his knee before dashing out of reach again. Big guy let out an inhuman growl as he dropped to his hands and knees. Justice paused, catching her breath for a moment.
“Okay,” she said a little breathlessly while wandering back in front of him. He growled and lunged but, unable to use his leg, he didn’t reach far enough. “Settle down. I just want to chat and then you can go have your leg fixed up. You got a name?”
Big guy bared his teeth as she stepped closer but he didn’t respond.
“I’m being much nicer here than usual, you might want to consider helping me out. Let’s start over. My name is Justice, what’s yours?”
There was still no answer, just another lunge that she easily hopped away from.
“Who did this to you? Where were you exposed to the Niyazine?”
Big guy simply glared. Jess shook her head in frustration.
“How ‘bout this one. Ever seen a scary dude, kinda hot, black hair and clothes. Scares the piss out of everyone, everywhere he goes?”
Big Guy let out another growl, but this time his eyes darted around looking for another threat. Justice stepped back and looked around as well. While her eyes picked up nothing, she had to admit there was a strange feeling of being watched. She’d been a little distracted with Big Guy, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing on end. She blew out a breath to steady her nerves.
“Okay, times up, last question. A few years ago, a man was killed and his fourteen year old son was taken. His name was Ryker. You ever heard that name anywhere?”
Big Guy returned his attention to Jess. The look in his eye told her their conversation was over. He lunged up on his good leg and threw himself at her, landing on her with the force of a small building.
The wind was knocked out of her. Her organs and ribs were slowly being crushed. Pushing down the edge of panic, she used both hands and all of her strength to slam the butt of her knife into his temple. Big guy shook his head in a daze. She'd intended to knock him out, but his distraction was enough to heft his shoulder up and slide free. Holy shit, that hurt. The thin handle of a throwing knife had been sticking out of his chest and sank into her much softer leg when he landed on her.
“Son of a bitch,” she complained, leaning back to stomp her heel down on his temple. He finally dropped.
Justice flopped back in the middle of the street to catch her breath. The strange, icy feeling crept over her again, and she pulled herself up to look around. There wasn’t a person in sight, but it wasn't a good idea to linger. She had no way of knowing how long big guy would be out. Or how long he held a grudge, but she was sure he wouldn't wake up in a good mood. She had that effect on people.
Using her legs, she heaved him over to his back and retrieved her knives. The eerie feeling raised goosebumps along her spine, rushing her along. She quickly slid her knives back into the slots in her pants and limped back to her nearest hideout, exactly zero dollars richer.
Chapter 8
It just started raining when Justice let herself into her small, abandoned apartment. It didn’t rain often, but when it did, it was usually in the form of violent storms. Good timing, she thought to herself as she snuck in through the window. The door was bolted shut, and the window was the only way she came in and out. There was a trick to getting it open that made her feel safe.
Jess stripped down the second she was inside, leaving her bloody boots by the window, and dropping her pants and tank top on the floor on her way to the shower. Like the others, she had commandeered the little apartment from one of her targets, and anonymous cash payments to the slumlord kept the water on. It also kept them from asking questions. That was all she needed. She lit a candle in the bathroom and climbed into the tub that was calling her name.
Twenty minutes later, Jess grabbed her bag of supplies out of the closet and headed to her tiny futon. She kept an emergency bag just like it at every one of her hideouts. After pulling on black shorts and a tank top to sleep in, she dug first aid supplies out of the bag.
Before she had the chance to patch her leg, a flash of lightning threw a shadow across the room - a shadow that looked an awful lot like a figure. Jess froze. Forcing a practiced calm, she glanced up at her window, seeing nothing. It was dark, with the exception of the soft flickering of the candlelight in the next room.
Picking up her usual attitude, Jess dropped the supplies back in the bag, sneaking a knife into her palm instead. With a glance around, she confirmed that no one else was inside and moved to the window. Sliding her feet into her boots, she found that one was still wet with her blood and wrinkled her nose in annoyance.
An ominous rolling of thunder and flash of lightning made her hair raise as she slid the window up. When nothing jumped out at her, she stepped confidently outside, flicking her knife open and looking around. She felt the blood running down her unbandaged leg again and mentally cursed out whoever had her in out in the rain in her bedclothes. So much for her good timing.
Justice moved slowly and silently, like a predator pursuing its prey, circling the small, mostly abandoned building while trying not to splash in the gathering puddles. She made it all the way around, nearing her window again before she finally caught something out of the corner of her eye.
Spinning around, she swung the knife out, but her wrist was caught before she could make contact. Pivoting inside her attacker's grasp, she slammed an elbow into his ribs. A small grunt met her ears as he shoved her forward. Her untied boots didn’t offer the stability needed to keep her upright. Once on the ground, she stomped her foot down into a leg that was pulled away too quickly to do any real damage. Damn, she’d broken kneecaps with that move before. This time she doubted it even left a bruise.
Frustrated, Jess shifted to her back to get eyes on her attacker and was met by an empty grey-blue stare. Her blood went cold, and she rolled back to her feet again, putting a little more distance between them. Her wet hair slapped against her back as she righted herself. It clung uncomfortably around her neck and shoulders.
She remained crouched and ready to strike, with her knife in plain sight, but he merely stood there staring, taking her in. His expressionless gaze lingered down settling on her leg, and then back up again observing her face. Something about his piercing stare left her feeling exposed. For a moment, her attire, or lack thereof, left her feeling even more uncomfortable. Though she cared more about the lack of weapons stashed in her tiny sleeping shorts than she did about her minimal clothing, sticking to her body in the rain.
Shaking off any thoughts of insecurity, Jess remembered the black eye she from Big Guy’s hit and realized her creepy friend was taking in her injuries. Assessing how easily she would go down, maybe?
Feeling the need to show that she was in no way weakened, she let a confident and mischievous smile trickle across her lips. She hadn’t forgotten this guy’s reputation, or how dangerous he was. But there was no way in hell she would let him sense fear from her. She tilted her head expectantly.
“You gonna stand there all day Peeping Tom?” she asked with her usual amount of snarky attitude.
Creepy’s eyebrows rose at her comment, but he made no effort to advance or continue their fight.
Jess straightened, turning up one side of her mouth in a taunting half-smile. “What’s the matter, afraid to make the first move?” She shook her head and sized him up with a sigh. “What is it with the shy guys tonight? Well, don’t worry hun, I’m not afraid to take control.” She gave him a little wink in case he still had the idea that she was intimidated by him.
For the first time, his eyes almost seemed less cold, maybe even amused. Though his expression hadn’t changed, so she might be imagining that.
Always one to follow up o
n a threat, she attacked, aiming to do some superficial damage but not cause significant harm. She needed him cooperative but at a disadvantage, if she wanted to get him talking.
Unfortunately for her plans, he blocked and eluded almost everything she threw at him. The few times she did make contact hadn’t done much damage. Somehow she ended up with her knife and her arm twisted behind her back, firmly, but not painfully - unless she struggled. How the hell did that happen? She was pressed into his chest, and he held her with one arm. She squirmed, stalling, while she took inventory of her situation and how willing she was to sacrifice her arm to get out of this.
“What do you want?” she demanded, caught in his stony gaze.
A trickle of fear tiptoed down her spine as he stared back. She slid her free hand along her lower back and dropped the knife to it. She swung it up, intending to hold it to his neck, but his other hand caught her wrist long before it became a threat. He pressed her tightly in his grasp, both hands trapped in his. Shit. He was ridiculously fast.
“Why are you looking for me?” he asked. His deep, raspy voice had the same lack of expression as his eyes. Cold. Empty. It gave her chills. She hoped he didn’t notice the goosebumps rising all over her body.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You’ve been asking about my identity for days. Why?”
Justice froze, suddenly extremely uncomfortable with how close they were. She was pressed up against him, soaking wet, in her sleeping clothes. Not that he wasn’t hot - his own wet shirt clung to his skin, revealing every defined muscle in his chest and abs. His bicep flexed where he held her trapped wrist out at their sides, keeping the knife away from his throat.
The way his wet hair fell across his forehead almost made him look less menacing. Her every movement, every shiver, every struggle to break free rubbed her against him in an awkwardly exciting way. But the conversation had just taken a dive for the extremely creepy side, which was where this guy seemed to spend most of his time.
Regaining her composure, Jess straightened and locked in on his stare, ignoring the chill it sent through her. Not to mention the way the heat of his body counteracted it.
“Have you been following me?! Look, I’m flattered, but I’m not really looking for a new stalker right now.”
Jess lifted her knee to stomp down on his boot, but he released her and stepped back before she could bring her foot down. Her angry stomp hit nothing but a puddle, splashing dirty water all over herself. Gritty dirt and debris clung to her legs and trailed down into her boots with the rain. Jess set her jaw and tried to hide the wave of frustration. She couldn’t let him see that he was getting to her.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
His eyes met hers again. She felt his stare clear down to her gut, holding her frozen in place. Once again, feeling exposed by the intensity of his watch. A shudder took hold of her shoulders before she could cover it, and she mentally berated herself for letting him see that he affected her. She hoped he wouldn’t notice, that he would brush it off as a chill from the rain. Still locked in his stare, she knew the answer. He’d noticed. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did.
His eyes finally released hers and quickly grazed over her once more. This time it looked more like an appraisal. Like he was deciding if she was worthy of knowing. Apparently, she wasn’t. He turned to walk away, the dismissal clear.
“Somebody you don’t want to know. Stop looking.”
Justice stood there, a little dumbfounded as he disappeared around a corner. It took a moment before she finally got her thoughts together and realized she’d let him get away. She ran after him, stopping at the corner only to find an empty street. How the hell did he keep doing that? She blew out a frustrated breath and glared down the empty street as if she could intimidate it into forking over the creeper it had magically devoured.
“Shit,” she muttered, as she turned to head back to her apartment, sloshing through the rain in her wet, bloody boots.
Jess climbed back through her window. Feeling less safe, she stacked glass jars along the top. If anyone tried to open it, she’d hear the glass breaking. If she hadn’t been completely exhausted, she’d have headed to another one of her safe houses, but she was soaking wet and frustrated after a less than successful night of fighting. Not to mention, she was still bleeding. If anyone else showed up, they were going to have to deal with her temper – and that would not be pretty.
Chapter 9
Justice gave herself a few days to heal before she headed back out. Her leg was well enough that she was no longer limping, but her black eye was still noticeable. She plunked down at a table near the window, and a minute later Kat set a coffee in front of her.
Jess looked up at her with a smile. “Thanks.”
Kat shook her head at the sight of Jess’s face. “Let me guess? I should see the other guy.”
Jess’s grin widened. “Something like that.”
“Jess, are you in trouble? Maybe I can help you. Do you need a place to stay? I don’t have a lot of room, but if you need to lay low for a while, to hide from someone or something...”
Jess’s face softened for about half a second. “No. No, it’s nothing like that. I’m good.” Kat just stared at her, the worry in her face was obviously not going anywhere. Jess laughed. “Really, I appreciate the offer but you were right about me the first time. Trouble is my middle name. I’m really good at finding it.”
Kat frowned. “The offer stands if you change your mind.”
Movement drew her eye to the pass-thru to the kitchen where Zain was watching her with the same look of concern on his face. When she caught him staring, he gave her a small smile and a half-hearted wave before disappearing. These two and those damn eyes.
Jess turned her attention back to Kat and gave her a tight smile and a nod. “Thanks.” She looked down at her coffee, and Kat finally took the hint to walk away.
Jess decided to take off while Kat was distracted. Murderers and monsters she could handle without flinching. Emotions and relationships, however, gave her the overwhelming desire to bolt. She knew all too well that those were the only things that could ever really hurt her.
Needing a distraction, Jess headed down the nearest back alley looking for something to punch. Just her luck, she found four guys in the middle of a mugging - a pretty brutal one, too. Their victim was already on the ground, but they hadn’t let up yet.
Jess casually tromped up to the fight, looking on as if she was about to offer tips on their technique. The guy on the ground was bleeding badly, and if he didn’t get out soon, he wasn’t going to. Not that that was her problem. She was just looking for someone to take some aggression out on. Though she did typically aim for people that deserved it, and she had four viable options right in front of her.
She leaned up against the brick building next to their fight and casually propped one boot against the wall. “This looks like fun. Four against one, huh? You guys must be real badass.”
As expected, their focus had turned to her. One of the four searched the guy for valuables before they all moved closer. Jess pushed away from the wall, not wanting to get cornered, and stood in front of them, unconcerned, arms crossed, her usual snarky smile pulling up one side of her mouth.
“Sorry ladies, I guess I was just looking for some attention,” she taunted. “My name’s Justice. I’m looking for some information.”
They clearly hadn’t heard of her and kept advancing without reaction. She frowned. Obviously, she wasn’t as famous as she’d hoped. Two of her new friends ran their gaze over her body. She aimed a glare their way, not liking the look in their eyes. That was so not happening.
Two of them moved in from either side, attempting to block her in. The other two stepped forward directly in front. She stepped into the two in front of her and planted a heavy boot right into the groin of the closest guy, followed by a hard punch to the temple. He went down immediately. He wouldn’t be getting back up, but his
friends were a little ticked.
A forceful kick broke a rib of the next guy that dared to get close. He grabbed her leg and pulled her off her feet. Jess landed on her ass and stomped the other boot into the side of his leg. The move worked the way it was supposed to this time, breaking his knee and taking him down. She popped back up to her feet. Two to go, and they were closing in. She took a step back to give herself time to pull a knife, but she was tripped by the guy whose leg she had just broken. She’d counted him out too soon. Her legs were swept out from under her and her head smacked the ground. Her teeth clacked together, and spots danced in her vision.
While she took a second to stop seeing stars and fight the wave of nausea, the three of them pounced on her. Two grabbed her arms, starting to lift as her buddy with the broken leg stood shakily at her feet. Still seeing double, but not wanting to miss her opportunity, she drew her knees to her chest and slammed both feet into his blurry face. He flew back and didn’t get up. There. Now he was down.
