by Kaye Draper
He rubbed a hand through his tangled curls. My night vision mostly washed out the colors, but I could see the glint of his green eyes well enough. "Fuck off, Saber."
I strode over and looked down at him from a distance, hands on my hips. "Well, if you must use the stupid, unreliable luck shit, now would be the time," I gestured grandly.
He glared at me. "You know damned well I can't use it on myself. But I did cast it over this whole stupid mission of yours, Sam. Either it's completely failed, or the universe thinks this is lucky, for us. Maybe it was supposed to be way worse and this is an improvement."
I growled.
He threw up his hands, then folded, dropping into a cross-legged position on the floor that I knew probably didn't feel good on his joints, thanks to the dwarfism. "I'll try again," he muttered. "But you know how it is."
I crossed my arms and glared at the little moron as he closed his eyes. "Yeah, I know how it is. Fickle and unreliable, and mostly worthless."
He lifted a hand and shot me a stubby middle finger. He was so cute when he was mad. "Shut up so I can concentrate, Saber."
I went back to searching my cell. I wasn't really mad at Fin. And I knew he wasn't mad at me. We just both dealt with pain, fear, and uncertainty by getting pissy.
I didn't feel anything as Fin worked his supposed magic. I still didn't trust shit like luck magic. But right now, it was the best we had.
Chapter 9
It wasn't too long before I scented the unsanctioned prick and his crew, and heard the sounds of their approaching footsteps. I stood at the bars of my prison cell, shooting a warning glare at Fin and Emerson. "Let me do the talking," I ground out.
They both knew I could see them in the dark. Fin rolled his eyes. But Emerson nodded. Fin was just being purposefully stubborn. At least one of them would live through the night.
Light spilled into the dank little basement space. The flashlights were blinding after so long using only my night vision. I bit back a hiss of pain and crossed my arms over my chest. "Hey there, cyclops," I greeted the one-eyed asshat. I still didn't know what kind of shifter he was, but I was guessing it had some resemblance to a canine. Only dogs were this annoying.
He grinned and lifted a gun. "Hey there, pussy cat. Time to take a little trip out east."
He pulled the trigger. I stood still and didn't try to dodge. The cell was too small, my body still ached from my run-in with the damned magic barrier, and I was pretty sure he'd just keep shooting until he hit me. I felt a prick of pain and wasn't surprised to see a dart sticking out of my chest, piercing the thick material of my t-shirt and sports bra. The fucker had shot me right in the left tit. "Who's the pussy?" I growled. "You're the one using magic and darts because he's afraid."
That pissed him off. He grinned and lifted his arm again, this time shooting Fin and Emerson.
I fought to keep my breathing even and my blood pressure down while I waited for whatever cocktail he had loaded in those darts to start fucking me up. Sure, knowing your people had been given to maenads was one hell of a psychological intimidation technique, but the bigger issue was that they couldn't just leave our dead bodies here in the city or they'd get caught. Hence the elaborate disposal plan. But, they'd have to drop the magical barrier to take us out of here, and that would be our only chance to fight our way free. Which explained the darts.
Fin swayed and leaned into Emerson's leg. "You're a dead man, you blind fuckstick."
The unsanctioned leader and his cronies just laughed. They knew they were in control. Eye-patch raised a brow at me. "Maybe we should just sell the little one to a traveling circus, what do you think, pussy cat?"
I leaned against the rock wall, but kept my posture defiant. "Like I give a fuck what you do with the weird midget or the ugly green thing."
His evil grin just deepened. I could see the sadist in his eyes. He wanted me to know he was going to hurt the people I cared about. "I know they're your guild, cat. And you whipped little government traitors are all about the guild."
I saw Emerson slide down the wall to sit when his legs gave out, Fin cradled against him. I sneered at them, then looked back at the moron in front of me. "Fuck that. I do it for the paycheck, asshole.” I waved a hand at our surroundings. “So I can live somewhere better than a molding, half-rotten church." I hiked a thumb at Fin and Emerson. "But those fuckers blackmailed me into the whole guild thing. They can rot for all I care."
I met Emerson's soft, kind eyes as I continued. "Like I'd want anything to do with a big, dumb ogre, or a gimpy little leprechaun, otherwise." I let myself sway as I saw Emerson's eyes getting heavy and falling shut to the sound of my scorn. "Do what you want with them," I told Eye-patch, blinking my eyes rapidly. "But just toss me out in the wastes. If I survive, I'll help you out next time you need a guide."
Eye-patch frowned as I deprived him of his pleasure. He wanted me to hurt when I thought of Fin and Emerson being tortured and killed. He wouldn't get any such pleasure out of me. I slid to the floor, still glaring. Then I closed my eyes and fell over, my breathing evening out into the deep sighs of sleep.
"Haul their asses up to the transport," eye-patch ordered. I felt the magic barrier fall. I heard the clink of metal being unlocked. People grunted as they no-doubt struggled with hauling Emerson's big ass up a flight of stairs.
Someone approached me, and I stayed limp, lolling when they roughly slung me over their shoulder and started tromping up the stairs.
Fucking luck magic. Seriously. The shit was terrifying. So unpredictable.
The dart was still lodged in my chest, but whatever mechanism made the drugs release hadn't engaged. I prayed to whatever Gods were listening, with every jolting step, that the damned thing didn't choose that moment to finally spill poison into my bloodstream. I sighed with relief when the damned dart fell out as the guy dropped me into the open bed of a truck.
Opening my eyes and my senses just a bit, I could tell there were probably more thugs around than I could handle alone. And I barely bit back a hiss when I realized they'd put Fin and Emerson into another vehicle. One which was already roaring away into the night.
Growling, I sat up and lunged over the side of the truck bed, landing in a crouch, claws and fangs out. What I wouldn't give for my fucking knives and gun right now. I took out one thug before he realized what was happening. But the element of surprise didn't last long. I jumped back into the truck bed and over the other side just as some asshole started shooting at me. Apparently, they didn't care that much about keeping me alive until they could hand me over to the maenads. Though, about that…why did they separate me from Fin and Emerson in the first place?
Didn’t matter. I had more important shit to deal with at the moment.
Pulling on my supernatural speed, I darted toward an alley. If I could get into a busier—and more upscale—part of town, they wouldn't risk following me and catching the attention of the questionable city guard. A searing pain tore through my thigh before I even registered the sharp pop of gunfire. I grunted a curse. Ignoring the blood pouring out of my thigh, along with the blinding pain of being fucking shot, I kept moving. That was rule number one when hunting monsters. No matter how much it hurt, keep moving or you were likely to never move again.
My original thought was to double back and get at the truck they'd been trying to put me in, use it to chase down Fin and Emerson, who I was sure really were drugged. But I wasn't going to be up to fighting off all the goons, then driving a truck cross-country with a big old fucking hole in my leg.
I limped along, dodging down alleys and cutting across streets filled with bums and thieves. A thud and searing pain in my back. Just fucking great. I’d been knifed. I stumbled, gasping for air. Pushing off a wall, I turned and slashed the approaching guy's guts open with my claws. Then I left him gurgling in the alley as I shambled toward the center of town. Toward streetlights and city guards.
Guards who may or may not just let me bleed out rather than help me, becau
se I was a fucking cur after all. I twisted and turned, making the pain worse, but I couldn't quite reach the damned knife hilt, and I could feel the blade wiggling around in my lung with every step.
And all the while, Fin and Emerson were in a car headed toward the maenads. If the assholes who took them didn't just kill them and dump their bodies somewhere else to save time.
I reached a part of town where cars were a more common thing. Slamming into the side of a compact electric, I prayed to all the Gods.
Either my prayers worked, or Fin’s stupid luck magic was still going strong. The car wasn't warded. Whoever owned it must have been too stupid, too poor, or too human to invest in protective magic. I slammed my elbow through the window, then clumsily got the door open and myself inside, tweaking the damned knife handle on the way. Fumbling around under the dash, cursing and hoping the city guard didn't choose that moment to show up, I finally used the trick Emerson had told me about to get the car started and override the gearshift.
I had to hunch over the wheel and drive with one arm and my knee to keep from passing out every time I put pressure on the knife that was stuck in my back. But this was no time to be a whiny baby. I had shit to do. Easing out onto the road, I clumsily gunned it, heading toward the rich part of town. The one where only spoiled humans lived.
I had almost made it to my destination, when I saw flashing blue lights in my rearview and heard the sirens start up. Motherfucker.
I couldn't stop. They'd detain me. Maybe beat me to death just for fun, since I was only a half-citizen. And Fin and Emerson would be dead.
I whipped the wheel around, dodging other cars, then slid sideways, coming to a stop right up against the metal gates of Theo’s stupid-assed mansion.
The fucking knife was still stuck in my back, getting tweaked like a bitch as I tried to maneuver. And I was sitting in a growing puddle of blood. I blinked against the black spots dotting my vision. Luck was with me again when I saw a familiar lady guard running out of the guard booth toward me. Then the city guard's car pulled in behind me.
The middle-aged woman looked through the shattered window at me, her eyebrows raised. Then she glanced back at the approaching law enforcement and held up a hand for them to wait. "Rough night, Mr. ‘Diplomat?’" she said dryly.
I blinked to keep from passing out. That gunshot wound must still be bleeding. "You could say that. I need to talk with the boss man."
She raised her voice so it would carry to the approaching officers, who all had their guns drawn. "What's that, Viceroy? You need political sanctuary?”
She waved frantically at someone in the guard booth and the metal gates opened. "Thank fuck," I muttered and awkwardly got my stolen car turned to face the right direction, surging through the gate with glee. I watched in the rear-view as the gates swung closed, halting the police car that tried to follow me.
When I pulled up in front of the mansion, I just sat there in the car, wondering if it would be easier to just pass out and die now. I was so damned tired.
But Fin. And Em…. That antsy, possessive feeling rose up in me, and I managed to keep my eyes open. No dying until I made sure they were safe.
The driver's side door was snatched open and I found myself peering into a calm, professional face. "Mr. Viceroy," Jules the butler said in a polite tone. If I may?"
I blinked at him and licked my lips. "Uh. Yeah. I might need a little help getting inside, Jeeves."
One corner of his mouth twitched. Then the butler lifted me out of the car and carried me toward the house. "Are you aware you have a knife sticking out of your back, Sir?" he asked, positioning his arm to keep from shoving it in deeper.
I laughed, but it turned into a cough as my lungs slowly finished filling up with blood. Breathing was getting a little difficult. "It's…decorative," I managed to wheeze.
He raised one blond eyebrow at me as he shouldered the doors open and carried me into the house. "Just so, Sir. Just so."
Chapter 10
I was surprised when the butler carried me up a curving flight of stairs and into what appeared to be the master suite. He sat me on the edge of a big, overstuffed chaise, one hand remaining on my shoulder to make sure I didn't fall over. A door flew open and Theo strode in from the attached room—probably his bedroom—wearing nothing but pajama pants, a thin undershirt, and a robe. His brown eyes seemed to glow as he crossed in front of the fireplace and came to stand at my side, a black scowl marring his usually placid face.
"What happened?" he snapped.
I opened my mouth, wheezed, and coughed up blood, unable to keep it from spilling past my lips and dribbling onto the nice cream-colored carpet. Lifting an arm weakly, I pointed at my back.
"He's been stabbed, Sir," the butler offered helpfully. "I didn't remove the knife, as I wasn't sure what his healing abilities were. If you'll just keep him upright, I will go fetch the healer."
I rolled my eyes. I didn't need a damned quack doctor. I just needed the knife out of my back. Then my somewhat-shifter abilities would kick in and I’d be fine. Probably.
Theo paced closer, peering around at my back before replacing the butler's hand on my shoulder with his own. I sensed more magic around him than usual. He must have loaded up on charms before he came to see what the ruckus was. Must suck to be a weak human rich boy in a world filled with monsters. The butler was out the door in a blink.
I sucked in a wet breath and managed to puff, "pull it out."
When the human just stared down at me with his eyebrows pulled together, I tried to reach the knife myself, twisting my arm back behind me in a way that just made everything hurt worse. But I had to get that knife out. I was fucking drowning. My fingertips brushed metal, but I couldn’t get a hold of it. I gurgled.
Theo sighed. "With humans, removing an impaled object can make things worse. But…you are a hunter. I suppose I should trust you know your own body?"
Another dribble of blood oozed out of my mouth. At my glare, the human shook his head, then braced a knee on the couch, pulling my shoulder against his chest to steady me as he reached around and yanked the fucking knife out from between my ribs.
Blood gushed, and for a second there, my vision went black. Then I blinked things back into focus. I don't know how I was still conscious. Even with enhanced healing, this was bad. Except Fin and Emerson were out there needing me, and that restless thing inside me would not stop until they were safe.
I bent forward and coughed up a lung, Theo stabilizing me with his body, so I didn't pitch right off the chaise. He tossed the knife onto the nearby coffee table and I let out a wheezing laugh when I saw it was one of my own damned weapons.
The fuckers had stabbed me with my own motherfucking knife.
The door opened and the butler was back, clucking over how reckless Theo had been to just yank the knife out. But I was already breathing a little better, and I thought things were starting to knit back together. At least enough to keep me from bleeding out. My knives were enchanted with a couple of low-level charms for sharpness, aim, and bleeding. Maybe I should rethink that strategy, if stupid fuckers were going to use my own weapons against me.
A middle-aged woman with wheat-colored hair and no-nonsense blue eyes knelt in front of me and started poking at my thigh. "I'd say that was a nicked artery, not completely torn. But it's already closing up." She glanced up at me. "Shifter mix, right?"
"Saber toothed cat," Theo supplied before I could open my mouth. "But Sam can't shift, so I'm uncertain of his healing abilities."
The woman nodded, then took a look at my back. Crouching again, she looked into my eyes as if gauging my reactions. "You lost a shit-ton of blood," she said, her blunt language making me crack a surprised smirk. "But you're still conscious, somehow, so I think you'll be okay." She looked at the butler. "She needs to be cleaned up, maybe a pressure bandage on that leg just for good measure, then lots of rare red meat and sleep."
I glanced between Theo and his butler. "I need Ahura. Unsanc
tioned district. Mean little black woman. Red eyes. Probably a cur. Hangs at the Hole in the Wall. Can your people find her, or give me a car so I can do it myself?"
The doctor turned to rummage around in an old-fashioned satchel that was apparently filled with doctory things. I held up a hand. "Whoa. Thanks. But what I really need is some guns and a car. Maybe a null charm if you have one handy. I've got shit to do."
Three sets of eyes stared at me like I had just grown another head. "You were almost killed," Theo said calmly. "I never should have employed your group to handle this. I should have done as you said and used the city's resources. I will handle it from here."
I shook my head, fury making me clench my fists. "I don't know who you pissed off. And frankly I don't give a fuck. But those assholes took my…friends…and I need to go get them back. Now." I glared at Theo. "They planned to take us out and toss us to the maenads just to teach you a lesson."
The human's face remained calm and unconcerned, but his eyes flashed. He glanced at the butler. "Send someone to get this Ahura woman."
The butler scurried off to do as he was told.
Theo was still in his pajamas and robe, and he was splotched with my blood. It was a weird look for someone who on the surface looked so harmless and unassuming. But the way he carried himself told me this wasn't the first time he'd dealt with something gory and unpleasant.
"Are you almost done?" he said to the doctor. The lady had managed to wrap a compression bandage around my thigh while I argued with Theo, and she had insistently tugged my jacket off. She was currently cutting open the back of my clothes to stick some sort of bandage to my back over the knife wound.
I rolled my eyes and pulled off the remainder of my shirt, hissing when the movement pulled on my wound. I only remembered why it was a bad idea to strip in front of people after I looked up and met Theo's curious brown eyes.