by Pamela Labud
“Matty,” she barely breathed. A balding, thick-bodied raider-vamp assassin, one of the magically enhanced nasty creatures that hailed from the Underworld City, was on him in a moment. Muscled up like steroid monster on crack, he’d swung on her boyfriend so hard that she’d heard the crack of muscles against bone.
In the next instant, she was out the door and on him. Her enhanced wolf strength went full tilt boogie and she felt her wolf-self burst forth. She was protecting someone she loved, and she’d tear that vamp from limb to limb, or die trying.
The raider-vamp turned on her, fangs and claws out, wings expanding from his shoulders and he used them like a weapon, swinging from side to side, delivering blow after blow. Fiona dodged and ducked to keep from getting the full impact of each strike.
Even in her full wolf form, engaging with her most intense strength, with her battle acumen the highest of her kind, it took every bit of her to keep the vamp from besting her.
“Need some help, I take it,” a familiar voice called out to her.
Glancing up she saw the stranger standing just six feet from the courtyard. “What are you doing here?”
The man crossed his arms, an easy smile on his face.
“Just protecting my interests. He is my bounty. I’m not about to let some lowlife scalper scoop my bid.”
“I thought you were going to help me,” she growled.
“I thought it over. I help you and I get nothing. I hate to say it, but I’ve got a wolf in this fight, too. One that will suffer if I don’t do my job.”
Fiona ducked and barely missed a claw scraping across her abdomen. Growling in frustration, wanting more than anything to put down the assassin and tear the other wolf’s head off, she did her best to keep from letting her rage direct her fists.
“I let you take my boyfriend,” she growled again, “who knows what’ll happen to him, then.”
“Oh, I do know that,” he called out. “He’ll be tortured and then used for alligator bait and probably staked out a time or two at a lake bottom somewhere. My boss is very creative with someone who’s double crossed him. By skipping out on his bond, he did just that.”
Fi narrowly missed getting side swiped by a massive wing. “He wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“Listen, I can’t defend him because, to be honest, I don’t know him. Turning him in to collect what I’m due is tantamount. So, let’s just expedite things, shall we?”
“No, way,” Fi panted.
Of course, she knew that while her strength was mighty, it wasn’t limitless. Eventually this creeper would take her out, and then he’d either take Matty or the stranger would step in, take the vamp out and then he would grab Matty. Either way, it looked pretty bad for her boyfriend.
“He’s innocent,” she tried, one more time.
The man shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Just as she started to twist to the right, thinking to fake out her opponent, the vamp changed his direction and landed right on top of her. Unable to deflect the solid energy, Fiona went to the pavement, with a mangled grunt and in true fighting form, tucked, rolled and then was back on her feet.
The raider-vamp grinned, and she could have counted every one of his wicked fangs--oddly enough, he had a mouthful of them. She would have been shocked at that, if she hadn’t felt immediate excruciating pain to her left ankle. Her back then slammed to the pavement as she went the rest of the way down. The jerk was going to crush her, judging by the way he maneuvered to put all of his weight on her upper body.
“Okay,” she managed in a strangled scream. “Get this thing off of me!”
The second the words left her mouth, the other werewolf burst into action. The raider-vamp was yanked off of her and she finally could take in a deep, desperate lungful of air. Struggling to sit up, despite her injuries, she watched as the werewolf took on the raider-vamp and literally knocked him back with a single blow that sent the creature flying across the courtyard and into the closest brick building. He hit so hard, that he literally turned the cement into shattered stone and dust around him.
“Holy crap,” she wheezed. This guy was wicked scary.
The bounty hunter took a deep breath, wiped his sleeve across his face as if he’d just finished a three-hour MMA match and then glanced in her direction.
“Piece of cake.”
“I don’t think so,” she managed, wrapping her arms around her middle and heaving herself to her feet. It would be a couple of minutes before her body’s restorative tissues would accelerate her healing. With the beating she’d just taken, it’d probably be hours before she was completely back to normal.
“Really?”
“Really. I wore him out. You had a lucky shot.”
The stranger laughed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you believe that.”
Fiona let out another breath. “I do. Now, what can we do to fix this?”
He shook his head. “Not a thing. My hands are tied.” He started to move toward Matty.
“Wait. I’m sure we can come to some agreement. If it’s money you want, I don’t have a lot, but I’ve got my place and this restaurant. Take them both.”
“You don’t understand,” he said in an exaggerated patient tone. “I’m not doing this for money, or any financial gain. Even if you could offer me pure gold, it wouldn’t matter. The bounty I’m working for is…” He paused and dropped his gaze.
“Is what?”
He looked back up. “None of your business.”
Fiona would have gone all were-woman on him if she wasn’t still recovering from her raider-vamp fight. However, something in the way he folded in on himself told her that he wasn’t at all ‘good’ with this. He was desperate. He was cornered.
Fiona was sure he was no killer, and he probably had no choice in the matter or he’d turn away from them both right now.
“Fine,” she said at last. “Take me with you.”
He glanced up at her. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because the boss won’t like it.”
Fiona stepped forward. “I don’t care what he likes or doesn’t like. Take me with you and I’ll meet this boss of yours.”
“And do what?”
“Something you can’t do. Change his mind.”
#
Hawke knew immediately it was a mistake. His boss would love the werewolf. Once he knew what this guy meant to her…well, it was a thought that the bounty hunter didn’t want to dwell upon.
It was clear, she was not about to let him go without a fight and Hawke wasn’t one to hit a girl.
What he needed was time. Sure, that he could convince her to let this one go, he’d let her think she’d won, for now.
“Fine. I’m headed back to my hotel room until my employer makes his way here. Once he does, all bets are off. If he says you go—you go.”
He held his breath, hoping the woman would see reason and back down. After all, he thought, she must be asking herself if the guy was worth risking her life for.
The woman huffed. “Fine. What’s the plan?”
That stopped him short. “The plan? There is no plan. I take your boyfriend and keep him until the boss comes to claim him. End of story. Anything beyond that is not your concern.”
She looked at him then, and he could sense that she not only didn’t trust him, she didn’t believe him. It was as if somehow this woman knew there was more below the surface of this situation. How was that possible?
Perhaps she was a familiar or had some other magical talents that he wasn’t aware of.
Still, it didn’t seem likely that she could cover up any extra magical powers. Hawke would have sensed it immediately at their first meeting. His mother being a werewolf and his father a warlock, he was a hybrid among magical races. Manifestations of magic just didn’t get past him.
“Whatever,” she grimaced. “Where are you taking us?”
That feeling of
impending doom descended upon him. “Right now, to my room in Nocturne Falls.”
“I hate that place.”
“Too bad. It’s the place that’s paid for. Unless you have an unlimited amount of funds at your disposal, which I doubt, considering the condition of your business, over there.”
“You are so not a nice person.”
It was his turn to huff. “You can always change your mind.”
“No way.”
With that, he pulled the restraint device from his pocket. A thin silver choker, he knelt down and slipped it around the bounty’s neck. The liquid metal actually embedded into the skin, and after a few seconds, matched its color to flesh tone. Only a trained eye would be able to see it there.
“What is that?” the woman asked.
“A tool to make sure our boy doesn’t escape. It keeps him from going more than three feet away from me. It casts a harmless spell—unless he attacks me, then it gets pretty mean and emits a few hundred volts, until the subject is subdued.
“Right.” She moved to kneel down next to her boyfriend and pulled him from the ground and into her arms. Gently caressing his cheek, she whispered something to him that was so quiet that it was indistinguishable, even for Hawke’s sensitive hearing.
“Let’s go.” He knelt down on the Immortal’s other side, lifted him up and threw the still unconscious man over his shoulder.
Women had always been a mystery to him, and Hawke knew well what his own limitations were in that realm. What the she-wolf didn’t know was that he’d melt like a stick of butter on a hot day if she really pressed the matter. Females were his weakness. It’s what had gotten him in the predicament he was in now.
No time to think of that. He had to move forward. Secure the bounty—which he was pretty close to doing. Wait for contact. Surrender the bounty. Get out of the mess he was in. That’s where he had to keep his focus.
With that, he turned and walked toward a beat-up black SUV. Fighting the urge to look back to the she-wolf, he strode up to the car, hit the remote key button to unlock it and then hit the button for the automatic back hatch. Shoving the Immortal inside, he secured the restraints. There’d be no taking chances with this one. He turned to pull down the hatch and found himself face to face with the woman.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he growled, stunned that she was so close to him.
She let out an exasperated huff. “I’m getting in with him. You said I could be with him.”
Hawke slammed the door down. “I said you could come along. He stays. And you,” he pulled out a pair of silver cuffs “are going to do as I tell you. I wasn’t born yesterday. You’re not getting the drop on me.”
Her eyes turned to slits and a frown appeared. “You think I’d try something?”
“I know you would. I’ve been in the business too long to trust anybody in particular and especially not somebody I just met.”
Her expression darkened. Clearly, she was mulling over her options. Then, her face relaxed, and he took that to mean there was nothing she could do to change things—at least for the moment.
“Fine,” she said in a tone sharp enough to cut leather. She held out her wrists, palms up, for him to restrain.
Without saying a word, he slid the bracelets on. Magical handcuffs were thinner and looking more like inexpensive silver bracelet than stronger teel ones. They were joined only by magic, and in fact weren’t even connected, but with a few words, Hawke could snap them together so tight, even two half ton pickup trucks couldn’t pull them apart.
“Get in,” he motioned to her.
She paused a moment. “Where are we going, exactly?”
“Pinehurst Inn.”
“Really? You don’t trust anyone in Underworld City?”
“I don’t trust anybody, period. That’s where the boss is coming to pick up your boyfriend, so that’s where we’re going.”
Without another word, he walked around to the driver’s side, pulled open the door and climbed in. It took a few seconds for the woman to follow suit but just when he thought she might have changed her mind, she climbed in the SUV beside him.
It was going to be a long ride…and an even longer night.
Chapter Four
The very first thing that Matty became aware of was that Fiona was nearby. The second, that he was flat on his back, third, that he was magically restrained which greatly limited his movement, and finally, that he was bumping around in the back of some sort of vehicle. SUV, most likely. He was cramped, and his muscles cried out for relief, but he did his best to ignore it.
Fiona was his first concern.
Was she restrained, too?
Was she awake or hurt?”
When he heard her cough, he nearly cried. She was alive, at least. It wasn’t a sound that signaled distress or worse. No, it was calm and relaxed. Fiona was telling him she was okay.
Digging back through his memories, he tried to call up the events that had led to the predicament he was now in. He remembered his last conversation with Max and then words he’d had with Fi. And, then the attack. He recalled thinking he’d have been a dead man if he hadn’t been Immortal.
Just because you’re an Immortal doesn’t mean someone can’t seriously mess you up, though. You could be badly injured, on the brink of death, months in rehab. Nope. Injured didn’t mean dead, but it didn’t mean paradise, either.
Still, judging by his now awakening body, he’d suffered a pretty solid beating. Now he was in healing mode, so who knew what Fiona had saved him from. Even if he’d had broken bones, they were now on the mend. Great.
It was the restraint that bothered him the most. On more than one occasion, Matty had been in shackles and managed to talk his way out of trouble, twice he was rescued by his brother, and once he actually became dead—not a trick he ever wanted to repeat, by the way. It had been very uncomfortable waking up from that experience.
“So, back to the Pinehurst, I take it?”
“Yes. We’ll be meeting with the bondsman there. Don’t try anything stupid and things will be fine.
Since it was a man who’d spoken, Matty instantly came alert. It was a tense voice with an ‘in charge’ sort of tone and Matty didn’t like it one bit. Who was this guy? And why was he threatening Fiona? Was she a prisoner, too?
“Got it,” she said.
Max did his best to stay still, but it was getting tougher. He’d never been one to just do nothing.
The car eased to a stop. He heard the driver let out a breath.
“You may as well quit acting, back there.” His abductor said. “I know you’re not asleep.”
Matty grimaced. “Thank god. I thought I was going to bust. I’ve got an empty stomach and a full bladder, mate.”
“Classy, Matty.”
“Love you, honey,” he made kissing sounds.
Fiona groaned. “You are in so much trouble.”
“You’ll have to excuse my girlfriend, but she doesn’t always appreciate my humor.” Inching his right hand up to his neck, he pulled on the restraint and it didn’t give a millimeter.
“What’s say we loosen this thing?”
“What’s say we don’t,” the man grumbled. “Hang tight.”
That meant Matty had been out for at least an hour.
There was really no telling how many miles there were between Underworld and Nocturne Falls, Georgia. It was said that Underworld bordered the Florida-Georgia line. There was the little matter of it sitting on a different plane of existence. If the fates were playing nice with you, it was about two hours by car. If it was being difficult, let’s just say you kept your calendar open just in case.
Today was a good day.
“Okay. Mind telling me who this guy is that want’s me so bad? I had a big date planned with my girl, you know.”
“Too bad. Where you’re going, there won’t be much dating. Your girl here will have to make other arrangements—or be
tter yet, get another boyfriend. You’re going to be busy for the next two or three millennia.”
“If you think she’d do that, you don’t know my girlfriend. Right, honey?”
Fiona let out a breath. “Don’t push it, Matty. I’m still upset with you.”
“Yes, dear.”
Their abductor coughed. “You sound like an old married couple.”
The rest of the ride passed in relative silence, and though Matty was sure Fiona was acting like she was still mad and not at all bothered by their situation, when she glanced back at him, he saw the worried expression in her eyes.
It was from that inference that gave Matty the feeling that they might be in real trouble, after all.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the Pinehurst Inn, he cleared his throat. “So, what does your boss want to do to me? Shoot me? Hang me, what?”
“That’s not my business. I’m just to deliver the goods. That’s it.”
“Right, Wolfy. Um, can I call you Wolfy?”
“You don’t need to call me at all.” He pulled the car to a stop in front of the hotel. “We’re here. Don’t make a scene.”
Matty shrugged. “I just hope he doesn’t burn me.”
Fiona sent him a sharp expression. “Fire can’t kill an Immortal.”
“No, but it hurts like the devil. Not just the actual burning, but the rapid healing. Skin cracking really sets my teeth on edge.”
He watched the bounty hunter go inside to secure the room, craning his neck as he twisted around.
“Should we make a run for it,” Fiona asked, without looking back.
“No chance of getting away. The restraint he has on my neck is a mean one. It’ll hit me with a heavy charge and I’ll be out for hours. Best to play this through and see how things turn out.”
Fiona sniffed. “Best for you, maybe. I can’t do this, Matty. I can’t watch you destroy yourself over and over again.”
“What does that even mean? You’re leaving me? Again?”
“It means, if we manage to escape, I can’t keep doing this. Your heart is unbreakable, my love. Mine is not. “
Matty held his breath. He couldn’t tell her that being Immortal had its setbacks, the worst of which was losing the one you love the most in all the world. And yet, it was worth all the pain, if he had her in his life for as long as possible.