by Jackie May
No one speaks for a long minute as they contemplate my suggestion. Parker is the first to break the silence. He shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
Rook is quick to follow Parker’s lead, nodding his agreement. Charlie and Enzo nod as well. Nick is frowning at them all. It makes me smile. I knew the cowboy would be willing to jump into the fire with me.
“Any more dangerous than waiting around for assassins to pick us off one by one?” I ask. “We’re stronger when we’re together.”
I wait for Terrance to shut me down, but, surprisingly, he still seems to be considering the idea. “We are a very strong clan,” he says slowly. “It’s not ideal, but it does seem to be the best solution.”
A few of my men still look like they want to argue, so I say, “Remember, the collector doesn’t want to hurt me. Even if you all get caught up in a fight, I won’t be harmed. This will be much more dangerous for all of you, but I have faith in you, and I can’t see any other way. We can’t live with a bounty on our heads.”
Finally, Parker nods and Rook sighs, knowing he’s been outvoted.
“There’s still the problem that the collector needs a phoenix,” Illren points out.
I scrunch up my nose. “Yes, but it’ll still work. He wants us enough to pay a million-dollar bounty for every member of our clan. We’ve thwarted all of his attempts so far and scared off nearly every mercenary in the city. Having the chance to capture me and get rid of all of you once and for all? He’ll show up, and he’ll bring his army, and then we’ll get rid of all of them.”
“Plus, we can sweeten the deal,” Nick says. “Give him an offer he can’t refuse.”
When we all look his direction, he sighs as if what he’s about to suggest might literally kill him. “I know a phoenix who just might be crazy enough to join us.” He grimaces. “Crazy being the key word.”
The crazy comment isn’t what has my curiosity piqued. It’s the look on Nick’s face. Like he’d rather eat glass than call this person. There’s definitely a story there. I’ll have to pry it out of him later. I take a deep breath and clap my hands together. Okay, so we have a plan. Let’s get our clan healthy again, and then we can call out the collector.”
Tension is high as we arrive at the club. We’ve chosen Underworld as our battleground. It hasn’t been open since the shooting, and it’s still a mess from Terrance’s rage, but it’s familiar, and no innocent bystanders will be around to get caught in the crossfire.
I shake out my trembling hands. I’m nervous. I talked a big game to get the guys to agree to this, and it’s true I think this is the best way, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared. I’m scared for my men. I’m wanted alive, but the bounty on my guys is only good if they’re dead. The thought of losing even one of them has my stomach in knots.
I look around at my clan, talking strategy, scoping out the building, getting familiar with all of the exits, and even barricading some of them. They seem to be in good spirits, considering we’re about to fight for our lives.
Hands grip my shoulders, and I jump sky high at the touch, letting out a startled scream. Those strong hands holding my shoulders pull me back against a hard chest and begin to knead the tension out of me. “Relax, Mistress,” Illren’s soft voice murmurs in my ear. His breath blankets my neck, and then his lips brush my skin. I shiver, and some of the stress leaves me. “A little nerves will keep your senses sharp, but too much anxiety will be a distraction.”
“I can’t help it. Only two days ago Rook and Wulf were nearly killed. And Oliver still tires easily.”
“The wolves are fully healed and at full strength. The sorcerer may be physically weakened, but his magic is the strongest in the Midwest. He will be a huge help in this battle, all while being tucked safely behind the bar. Enzo and Charlie will be guarding him, and both have some skill with blades. He will be all right.”
His words are a little reassuring. He’s right. Everything’s going to be okay. We’re a strong clan. My men are some of the strongest, most skilled underworlders in the city. We’ll be okay.
Illren’s fingers move up my neck to the base of my skull, and my eyes fall shut. I let out a moan that makes him chuckle. “You should not tempt me with such sounds, Mistress.” He pushes my head to the side and peppers my neck with kisses that have me shivering again.
“Now isn’t the time for this, Illren.” I say that, but I don’t move away from him or try to stop him.
He smiles against my neck. “Then after this is all over, we will make time.” He turns me around, and when I open my eyes, his stunning otherworldly gaze steals my breath. “You may be bound to the cupid, but you are still mine. Very soon, I will leave you in no doubt of that.”
I gulp. Because, how does one respond to such a statement?
Illren pulls back from me and reaches for a pile of gear sitting on the bar. “I have something for you.”
He picks up a weapons belt and fastens it around my waist. He’s all business now. “This belt has seen me through many battles. He begins touching all of the numerous weapons on the belt as he lists them off to me. There are five vampire stakes, a silver dagger, an iron dagger—both spelled to increase damage—and two vials of magic potion that work a bit like acid bombs. All you have to do is throw one at the feet of your opponent. It will release a cloud of magic that will cling to the first person it comes into contact with, so you need not worry about it spreading to you. Just make sure you’re a good two or three feet away from the person you use it on.”
“Damn, Illren,” Rook says, grinning at the fey. “That’s quite the arsenal.”
Illren frowns. “It is nothing compared to what I carry, but she is not ready for more than this yet.”
I laugh, but it dies on my lips when Illren invades my personal space to tighten the belt for me. “Do not be shy with your weapons,” he says. “No hesitation. No mercy. Your attackers will be trying to capture you, not kill you, so you will have the advantage. Use it. You will be fighting for your life, and for the lives of your clan.”
It’s quite the speech, and just enough to calm some of my anxiety. I take a deep breath and nod to Illren. “Thanks.”
He nods gravely back and then begins to pack his own cache of weapons onto his body. Rook and I both watch with amusement until a short, petite woman with fiery orange and gold hair blows in through the front door like the wind carried her here. It’s still an hour until we told the collector to meet us here, but we all jump to attention, and Illren lets loose a dagger that flies through the air toward the stranger so fast I didn’t even see it until the woman ducks. I blink. The woman has reflexes nearly as good as a vampire’s.
We’re all ready to attack until Nick groans in exasperation and says, “Kat, I told you to call first. We could have hurt you.”
This must be the person we’ve been waiting for, the phoenix Nick asked to join us. She’s wearing jeans and a plaid button-up shirt, cowboy boots, and a brown cowboy hat, and she looks every bit as free-spirited and cocky as Nick.
She rolls her eyes at Nick and grabs Illren’s dagger from the wall it stuck in when she ducked the throw. She finds Illren in the crowd and smirks. “Nice aim. I bet you’re handy in a fight.”
Nick sighs. “Kat, that’s Illren Kovros.”
Kat’s eyebrows climb up in surprise. “Kovros.” She studies his dagger, flips it a couple times, then looks at Illren again. “I heard tell you’re the deadliest assassin in North America.”
Illren would probably argue that he’s the deadliest assassin in all of the world and the fey realm as well, and I’d be inclined to believe him.
Illren, with his signature bored expression, shrugs a shoulder. “Would you care to find out?”
“Illren,” I say, but my warning dies on my lips when, quick as a flash, Kat throws Illren’s dagger right back at him. I don’t even have time to gasp before Illren plucks the dagger out of the air and sheathes it in his belt.
My jaw falls slack. I knew he was go
od, and that the sidhe have enhanced reflexes, which is why they’re so good in a fight despite their lack of physical strength, but that was incredible. Why would anyone ever go up against him?
The woman’s smirk brightens into a genuine smile. “You’ll do,” she teases.
Nick groans again, but I’ll be damned if the corner of Illren’s mouth doesn’t twitch with a smile.
The woman stands tall and puts her hands on her hips as she takes in the rest of our clan. “Well, hell. You are just the handsomest clan I’ve ever seen.” She grins at me. “You’re one lucky gal. You really need to tell me your secret.”
I laugh. I like the firecracker of a woman. “I’m not sure I know.” I walk to her and hold out my hand. She gives it a hearty shake. The brief thought I get from her makes me smile. So this is the woman who’s got Gorgeous’s knickers in a bunch. I like her already. “Katherine Clayton,” she says. “Kat to my friends.”
“Nora Jacobs.”
She shucks her head in Nick’s direction. “So how’d you wrangle the old grump into being your partner? I tried that once. It didn’t work.”
Nick, arms folded over his chest, snorts. “I like her better than you. She’s not an annoying pain in my ass.”
Kat winks at me before sighing dramatically. “Dragons. So touchy.”
“I’d love to banter all day,” Nick says dryly, “but we sort of have important things to do.”
“Yeah, yeah, big showdown O.K. Corral style.” She rubs her hands together with excitement, then reaches down to her hips to rest her hands on a pair of shiny pistols. “Hell yeah. Can’t wait.”
Nick sighs again.
I want to smile, but the reminder of the battle has my mood plummeting again. “Thank you for agreeing to do this. I’m sorry we had to ask you to put your life in danger.”
Kat sobers up to match my seriousness. I’m a little surprised she can manage it. “You’re all putting your lives in danger.”
“We have no choice; you can still back out.”
Fire flashes in Kat’s eyes. “I’m glad you called. That bastard is collecting mythics. He stole a child. My people are in hiding. I wouldn’t miss this fight for the world.”
Well, I really can’t argue with that. I’ll stop worrying about her and just be glad she’s on our side. The way she ducked Illren’s dagger and threw it back at him, there’s no doubt she’s got a lot of skill.
While I take her around and introduce her to each of my men, we gain a few more visitors. Director West, Ren, and Cecile, I’m not surprised to see. But Henry and about a dozen of his vampires are the last people I would expect to show up.
Several growls come from my guys, and they all gather around me protectively.
Director West sighs. “Gentlemen, please, Henry is only here to help.”
“We don’t need your help,” Rook snarls.
“Actually, you do,” Henry says smugly. He waves one of his vampires forward. The man steps up to Henry’s side with eerie grace and bows his head to me. “Beg your pardon, Miss Jacobs, but I have several informants around the state, and I’ve been told that this collector of yours sent out a call after receiving your message. The bounty said one million dollars apiece to every man who fights for him and lives through it. Mercenaries from out of town have been entering the city all day. With all due respect, your clan is powerful, but this is a fight you won’t win alone.”
My heart squeezes in my chest. This is going to be bad. My eyes prick with tears at the real danger I’m putting my men in. An arm comes around me, and I fold myself into Oliver’s chest. He squeezes me in a tight hug. “We’ll be okay,” he murmurs.
“Outnumbered or not, we don’t need you or your men here,” Terrance growls.
I wish that were true, but in my heart I know we need them. We have to set aside our pride and our hatred for Henry and his clan. I pull myself out of Oliver’s chest and meet Henry’s gaze. “How do we know we can trust you?”
“Nora.” His voice sounds pained, and his expression matches it. “You must know that I would do anything for you. Even fight alongside your men if it means keeping you safe.”
He’s got a point. Henry, for all his faults, has an obsession with me that would never allow any harm to come to me. Yes. He would fight alongside us to keep me safe. My guys must all realize this, too, because they relax a little. “And what of them?” Illren points to the group of vampires behind Henry. “How do we know they will not turn on us for the money?”
Henry stands up straight and puffs out his chest. “These are my strongest, most loyal men. I hold a sire bond over all of them. They will not betray me.”
“A sire bond is a powerful thing,” Parker says. “And Henry will not harm Nora, nor will he let his men hurt her. I trust them.”
“I don’t like it,” Wulf grumbles, eyeing the vamps warily. “But Parker’s right.”
“We need them,” I agree with a sigh. I glare at Henry. “Fine. You can fight with us, but you and your men stay away from me. My men will protect me. Do you understand?”
Henry clenches his jaw, but he nods, and he and his men start combing over the place the way my guys did when we first got here.
With the drama out of the way, Director West, Ren, and Cecile come over. Cecile gathers me in a light hug. I squeeze her back. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Of course I did, darling.”
I don’t bother arguing with her. She’s my friend. I’m glad she’s here. If it were her that needed the backup, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
“Stop hogging her,” Ren whines, pushing Cecile out of the way to wrap me in his own hug. “I can’t believe you didn’t invite me to this party.”
I bark out a laugh and kiss his cheek. “Thanks for coming. If we live through this, you can join the family and move into the den with us.”
Ren jerks me back and pouts at me. “Don’t even joke about that. That’s just cruel.”
I smirk. Terrance was so sure he’d turn us down, but I knew.
The troll in question must have heard our conversation, because he clears his throat behind Ren and says, “She wasn’t joking.”
Ren whirls around, wide-eyed. “Shut. Up.”
Terrance shifts into his cranky bouncer stance, which I’ve decided is really more of an I’m-hiding-my-emotions pose. He grunts. “We’ve already discussed it. If you want it, there’s a clan waiting for you and a bedroom in the den.”
Ren’s mouth falls open, but only for a split second before he grins wickedly and says to Terrance, “Yours, handsome?”
Terrance rolls his eyes and walks away to talk to Parker, Rook, and Wulf. Ren snickers. “So?” I ask him. “You in?”
“Oh, sister.” Ren grips my shoulders and raises his eyebrows. “Join your clan and live in the love cave with all of your hot men and your pretty faerie?” He fans himself. “I am so all over that.”
I shake my head and chuckle, and then Charlie yells out from behind the bar in exasperation, “Would everyone stop calling me pretty?”
Rook doesn’t miss a beat. “Sure. As soon as we stop calling Oliver adorable!”
All my guys laugh. Even Terrance throws his head back and releases a laugh that shakes the walls of the building. I love that laugh. I love my troll. I love all my guys. They’d better all make it through this, or I’ll never forgive myself for suggesting it.
With the mood lightened, my guys all drift together, and Director West comes over, hands full of navy blue vests. A couple of Henry’s vampires are with her, holding even more vests. “Here,” she says, handing out the vests to my clan. “These should help protect you from bullets and knives at least.”
She hands me one, and I test its weight before slipping it on. It’s a standard bulletproof vest with the initials FBI on the front. I’ve never thought about using body armor, but it’s brilliant. “Thank you, Director.”
She smiles warmly at me and holds up a dozen amulets on leather straps. “These will also help protect you fro
m magical attacks. I spelled them myself.”
Surprised, I take one of the amulets and place it over my head while Director West hands out the rest to every member of my clan plus Cecile, Kat, and, unfortunately, Henry. Call me an asshole, but I really wouldn’t be sad if Henry got staked in this fight.
I am, however, touched by the director’s efforts to protect the people I love. I may not like her, but she’s not really a cold-hearted bitch. I suppose she does the best she can in difficult situation after difficult situation. Maybe I can’t quite forgive her for what happened to my mother, but I can admit that someday I probably will.
Once all of my guys are outfitted in their vests and magical amulets, and are armed to their teeth with a variety of different weapons, we all get into position.
Oliver sits on a stool behind the bar where he will focus on magical attacks while Charlie and Enzo stand guard beside him. Ren stands guard beside Enzo. The last thing we want is our healer to be hurt.
I stand in front of the bar, smashed between Kat and Nick. Parker, Wulf, Rook, Terrance, Director West, and Cecile are our front line of defense, while Henry and his vampires flank them on both sides of the room. Illren has slunk off to the shadows and will likely attack whatever army comes our way from behind. They’ll never even know he’s there until he stabs his sword in their backs.
When the clock strikes 10 p.m.—the time we told the collector to meet us—Nick turns to me. “You do not leave my side.” His eyes flick to Kat. “Either of you. Stay with me unless it looks bad. Then I want you both to hightail it to Terrance’s panic room. It’s the two of you this asshole is after. I don’t want him getting either of you.”
Kat and I both agree because it’s what he wants, but the look she slides me when Nick turns his back on us says she’s thinking the same thing I am. Neither of us is running from this fight. No matter what happens, we’ll see it through to the end.
After about five minutes, we hear muffled noises outside and footsteps on the roof. They’re surrounding the building. The place is pretty secure. Only a few emergency exits, and we’ve locked and barricaded those. There aren’t many windows. I glance up. The ceilings are two stories up, and the only windows are small ones near the ceiling. Some of the underworlders with flying capabilities could come through, but there aren’t many of those that are dangerous, and not many others could come in that way.
