Bounty Hunter (The Rover series Book 1)

by Amelia Shaw

  He took his chair again and swiped a lock of my hair off my face so he could get a better look. I braced for another attack and it came exactly as I expected. I’d already started holding my breath.

  I twisted my face into agony, drew him closer and closer so he practically pressed his face onto the table opposite mine.

  When the air returned, a buzz started in my brain. Oxygen deprivation. I needed to make my move before I passed out and missed my chance.

  His eyes were heavy lidded, and I sucked in air as fast as I could. Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.

  The next time he reached out to touch me, I moved my right hand up to the table, seized the knife he’d been dumb enough to enter the room with, and so easily slid it through the bottom of his jaw.

  He died quicker than he deserved, blood pooling around his face as I sat back from the table, bringing the knife with me.

  “Idiot,” I whispered.

  He didn’t make a sound. I gave myself the tiniest moment to process the fact that I’d taken his life. And then I pushed the blade to the back of my head and focused on my next step. Now that I had a knife, the guards in the hall didn’t stand a chance.

  “Oh, boys,” I called in a singsong voice, my heart pounding as blood lust pulsed through me.

  These guys deserved to die.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I waited for one of the goon squad to enter the room, or at the very least come to check on their mage friend. While he tortured me, I picked up the same tainted magical signature I’d felt in the ballroom.

  I filed that little nugget away. My theory was that had been a signature of a powerful mage’s magic, which explained why I didn’t feel it when the low-level mage in the box killed himself.

  I riffled through Gregg’s pockets and found a fancy fountain pen, a notebook, and his wallet. After I tucked the $one-hundred dollar bill into my dress, I opened the fountain pen so I could hold it in my left hand, the knife in my right. I used the hilt of the knife to knock on the door and then ducked behind it.

  One guy opened the door. He caught sight of Gregg and rushed to the table. I took the opportunity to creep up behind him. The knife was sharp, so it cut clean through the man and out the front. I let him fall over his friend and prepared for more men to enter. After a tense minute with my heart beating in my ears, I poked my head into the hall to find no one.

  I retreated to the table and checked the goon. He had a knife in his boot. I traded my fountain pen for the second knife and patted him down for a cell phone or an earpiece. Nothing.

  I considered trading my dress for the man’s clothes, but they were already soaked with blood and I figured the loose clothing would hinder me more than my dress did.

  Before trekking back into the hall, I searched the floor for the earpiece I’d tossed away. It still emanated a faint squealing sound, so I left it. Fin better show up soon or I would start thinking he left me here on purpose.

  The hallway stretched long and empty. No noises filtered down from the stairs at the end. I stepped into the hall and waited for something. An alarm. A shout. Someone to pop out and scoop me back up. Nothing happened, so I crept toward the stairs, monitoring every door as I passed.

  I made it to the bottom of the stairs. A henchman appeared at the top. Damn. Figured I wouldn’t be that lucky.

  He rushed down the stairs straight at me. At the last second, I flattened against the wall and let him rush right past, then I knifed him in the back. He fell face first.

  I turned around to walk up the stairs. Arms came around mine, locking my biceps to the side of my body. I kicked my feet between his legs and brought us both down. Once I got my feet under me, I ran, only the big knife left in my hand now. More men crowded the top of the stairs. The one I’d tripped closed in behind me.

  I stopped and panted. “Well, boys, looks like I’m at a disadvantage here.”

  I needed to funnel them, but if I returned to the interrogation room, it would allow them to cage me in again. So, I made the scary choice and charged toward the oncoming guys.

  The first one I took down with a knife to the gut. Before I could dislodge him, two pairs of hands came around my arms.

  I used the tight wall space and their arms to swing my legs up onto the wall, pull the knife out of their friend, and slash at one pair of arms. He dropped me hard onto the stairs. The pain sparking my shoulder told me I probably fractured something with that little stunt.

  Someone grabbed my ankle and tugged me backward. I slashed out with the knife. Someone else secured my wrist before I could make contact.

  It took five more men to drag me to the ground. A pile of guys laid on my back, squeezing the life out of me. Too many arms pressed me into the carpet. They removed my knife and held my hands behind my back.

  My odds of getting out of here alive plummeted, as did my heart.

  They carried me back down the hall, this time into a different room. Guess the cleaning lady wasn’t finished with the mess I’d made in the other one.

  They tossed me onto the floor with force. I let myself lay on the cold rubber and breathe for a minute. My shoulder still screamed from earlier, and being carried and tossed around didn’t help the shooting pain subside.

  I finally managed to sit up. Two men guarded the inside of my room, and two outside. I scanned the two closest guards for weapons. They were in the black fatigues, so all I caught were bulges in the material that could be a cell phone, or they were a little too happy to have me tied up on the floor like the sadist from before.

  I arranged my dress so I could sit cross-legged comfortably and tried to relax the muscles in my arms and legs. They were shaking with fatigue and adrenaline, and I wasn’t done fighting yet.

  I expected a mage to come question me any minute. This time I wouldn’t let him torture me before I killed him.

  I should feel some kind of remorse about the lives I’d taken, and yet, I couldn’t summon anything for a man who got off on inflicting pain. I would bet I hadn’t been his only victim.

  Another man entered the room. He spotted me on the floor, walked over, and punched in the face before I could even offer a smart-ass comment.

  I lay back, my lip split, bleeding and aching. My heart shot into my throat as I blinked up at him. He stood over me, grinning. Someone had given this dick nugget free rein on his prisoner. Not good, especially since the man hit like a damn sledgehammer.

  My entire face pounded, and if I took another punch like that, my nose would break.

  He reached down and hauled me back up to sitting. “What, nothing to say to that, bitch? Guess we finally figured out how to get you to shut your mouth.”

  I smiled and realized the inside of my lip had cut on my teeth. Blood coated my tongue in a copper tang. “Don’t worry, I’m just waiting.”

  He slapped me, open-handed, hard enough to jerk my face to the side. My hair tumbled out of its pins down my back. I captured one of the metal pins under the guise of catching my breath. When I tossed my hair out of my face, he’d already reared back for another hit.

  Asshole. You deserve this.

  I jabbed the pin, rubber tip and all straight into his right eyeball.

  The scream he let out satisfied me on a visceral level. He stumbled backward into the other guards, who escorted him into the hallway.

  I jumped to my feet and screamed, “Anyone else want to play let’s be a douche? Because I’m three and O and I’m looking to get to five.”

  The guards stared at me, but neither made a move. I used the reprieve to spit the blood from my mouth and settle my heartbeat. Any minute another man would walk in and this song and dance would start again.

  Like I’d summoned him with the power of my mind, another guy walked in. This one didn’t launch straight at hitting me. He stood a distance away and stared.

  “Can I help you?” I asked. “If we are going to fight, get on with it. If you want to ask questions, fine. Just stop staring. It’s creeping me
out.”

  He leaned forward and grabbed my hurt shoulder. I moved to bring my arms up to pound on top of his. The buzz of magic hit the air and I felt the bone crack in my arm. A blinding flash of pain washed through me until I could only stagger back and scream.

  I hated these bastards. The lights above me swam in and out of my vision as I counted my breathing to focus on anything but the pain. If I let myself touch the light, I would pass out. And I did not want to see what these bastards would do with an unconscious, hurt woman.

  “I see,” I said, panting, my knees buckling beneath me so I hit the rubber floor with a thump. “We are not starting with foreplay.”

  His eyes narrowed, and I shut my eyes, bracing for his next attack. This was going to hurt so much.

  When he didn’t touch me, I opened my eyes, but the room was now empty. The guards were gone. As much as I would have loved to get up and walk on out of here, I couldn’t. Everything from my shoulders down hurt so bad all I could do was focus on not whimpering.

  I waited until the thought of moving didn’t bring tears to my eyes. No one returned to check on me, or walked past the open door. Finally, after what felt like forever, I got to my feet. Then I limped to the door and leaned heavily on it to catch my breath.

  Fin would be paying my medical bills too. The dick left me here to die. Why else hadn’t he shown up by now? When I saw him again, he was dead.

  He’d proven I couldn’t punch him, but I sure as shit could shoot him.

  For now, I would sit down here and take a little break. I couldn’t stand anymore. The pain was too much.

  I slid down to the floor and stared down the empty hallway to the stairs. Light shone from above, and all I wanted to do was crawl to it. Maybe it would lead me out of this hellhole.

  “I appreciate the visual, but if you crawl, I have a feeling once you get to the top of those stairs, you’ll torch the house,” Fin said, sauntering down the hall, his tux perfectly immaculate, like he’d arrived for a date.

  I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Where the fuck have you been?”

  He crouched down in front of me, level with my eyes. “Miss me?”

  “If you don’t shut the hell up, I’m going to murder you with my two bare hands then I’m going to desecrate your fairy ass corpse.”

  I forced air through my nose, and inhaled, trying to reign in the pain, the anger, cascading through me like water over rocks.

  “So that’s a no then.”

  I reached out to hit him, but the pain swamped me, and my vision swam.

  He cradled my head and helped me lay flat. “You’re injured.”

  “That’s what happens when you leave a tiny woman alone to fight a dozen men.”

  Finally, a look of concern crossed over his face. He stared down at me, running his thumb over my cheek. “I’m so sorry you’re hurt. I can help you focus so we can get home. I got rid of the guards that were down here, but I don’t know what else we will face. Do I have your permission?”

  I wanted to scream at him, but if he could cull some of this pain, then I didn’t have a choice.

  “Do it!” I said between clenched teeth.

  The vibrations of his magic surrounded me. They felt so different from the mage’s magic. Pure and clean. The sunlight compared to unending darkness.

  The pain ebbed away to a dull throb, and he cupped the back of my neck to sit me up. “How’s that?”

  “Better,” I said. But then tears began pouring down my face. I touched my cheek, and then brushed them away, even more angry. I did not allow people to make me cry. “This didn’t happen.”

  “Of course not,” he whispered. “Can you stand now?”

  Gently, he lifted me to my feet, and I wrapped my arms around his torso and let him pull me close. He didn’t squeeze, only held me, and it was enough.

  His fingers ran over my tangled hair. “You’re okay now. Let’s go home.”

  I pulled myself from his arms, my face hot, and didn’t meet his eyes. “Where were you? Why did you disappear and leave me alone?”

  When I glanced up at his face, he pulled away, and wouldn’t look at me.

  “Fin?”

  The silence stretched until all I could hear was my pounding heart in my head, in my throbbing arm.

  “Fin.” I hated the waver in my voice. “Answer me. Where did you go?”

  “I felt the magic at the same time you did. Across the dance floor, permeating the room, this whole house. I feel it even now. I think you can only feel the active magic. When I felt the magic swell, I knew he prepared to make his move, and I readied myself to make mine.”

  My previously over pounding heart seized and stuttered in my chest. I clutched his arms. “Did you get him? Did you get the Black Mage?”

  “Not yet. I tried, but I couldn’t find him. He built this house with his magic. It lives in the walls. It’s meant to confuse people, ensnare them. I wasn’t able to find him, but I think with your help we can.”

  I took a second to breathe because my head was about to explode. “So you’re saying you abandoned me, the one of us who can’t do magic? What if I’d died? What if they didn’t bother with the human spare and outright killed me? Would you have at least shown up to get my body out?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and ducked his chin. “I see my logic in this situation may have been clouded. I figured he paid so much attention to you while you were dancing, he had some interest in you. I thought you would be safe. Considering, well, you, I should have known you wouldn’t be content to wait for me to rescue you.”

  “No shit. Let’s just go. I think I have some broken bones which you are severely going to pay for. That is an addendum to my contract... pain and suffering with an exponential percentage.”

  I reached for him to lean on, but then jerked my hand away. “Wait a second. You said you figured I’d be fine, and that Esteban had shown an interest in me, which is why you disappeared.”

  I cupped his chin and forced him to meet my eyes now so he couldn’t lie. “Did you fucking use me as bait to catch the bastard?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Fin opened his mouth, but movement caught my eye. With a gasp, I looked up as oodles of goons swarmed down the stairs and from the door at the other end of the hall.

  Damn, there was probably another exit back there. I should have tried it.

  Fin touched my elbow. I didn’t know if it was meant to be reassurance or an apology. Either way, fuck him, it didn’t work.

  The men squeezed into the hall, doing their best to surround us.

  Between the pain in my arm and the pain in my heart at Fin’s betrayal, I didn’t have a single thing to say, at least not to the mages.

  “Fin, please, they’re all yours,” I said. “I think I’ve reached my quota for the night. Should have gotten the punch card when they threw me down here.”

  He didn’t respond, but crowded me into the empty room they had held me in so he could hold ground at the doorway.

  The mages advanced, and I watched, fascinated, when I felt the tinge of Fin’s magic in the air. The first few mages who approached simply folded over onto the floor like they’d fainted. I hoped Fin wasn’t dumb enough to leave them alive.

  The next round had to get over their fallen comrades to reach Fin, and they lay down almost as fast as the first.

  “Is it harder to control a mage’s mind or a human’s?” I asked, as he continued his almost comically simple slaughter of the Black Mage’s men.

  It took a moment for him to answer. “A mage’s mind is not more difficult, but more protected. A human is usually wide open, but a mage learns to protect himself early, like the fae.”

  Now he tells me I can block him out.

  “When we get out of here, you’re going to teach me that little trick.”

  Once the first wave went down, another round arrived, and I folded my legs under me and took a seat on the floor. Might as well save my strength until I needed to fight, or we actua
lly escaped.

  “Just let me know if you need any help over there,” I told his back. He stood stock still in the open doorway, his hands clenched by his thighs. Hell. If I’d known the extent of his mind power, I might have been more afraid of him when we met. Not that he would have known it.

  Why hadn’t Esteban come to face us yet? At this rate, his personal harem would be decimated. Then who would come to his fancy parties?

  When the hallway finally went silent, I waited a long moment before climbing to my feet, carefully cradling my arm to steady it. If I didn’t feel it now thanks to Fin’s magic, I sure as hell would feel it tomorrow. Until then, I would baby the shit out of it.

  “All done?” I asked.

  He turned, his chest heaving, his eyelids heavy. “Yes. I think that is all for now.”

  A pile of men surrounded him like a bunker at the doorway.

  I stepped up beside him and motioned at the fallen. “You might have to help me over them if we are going to get out of here.”

  When he didn’t start lifting me over the pile of men, I turned to look at him. “What’s happening here? It’s time to go, right?”

  “I think we should stay and complete our mission.”

  Fairy boy said what?

  I blinked twice in an attempt to assimilate what he’d just said with my tired, overly pained brain. “You want to go up against the Black Mage while one of us is incapacitated and you are already tired. Look at you—you’re sweaty and pale. If I didn’t know you were such a stubborn asshole, I’d say you’d tapped yourself out with these guys here.”

  He waved at them. “I did this to protect you.”

  “I never said, ‘Fin, please magic these boys so I can sit here on my fine ass and rest.’ No. Those words never left my lips. What are you going to do if we run into another group like this, or Esteban himself? He’ll bat us both across the room like flies. If you remember he hasn’t been locked up, beaten, or had to fight for his life yet tonight.”