Drake woke up with a jolt. He blinked and shook his head. Ice-cold water sprayed out from his hair and face and dripped onto his sodden clothes.
He was sitting with his arms and legs strapped to a metal chair inside a gloomy warehouse. He scanned the space before studying the figure standing opposite him.
The woman put the empty pail down, placed her hands on her hips, and cocked her head to the side. “Evening, asshole.”
She was beautiful, in a cold, clinical way. Like a pretty snake. Drake’s eyes drifted over her feminine curves and athletic build.
Or a deadly praying mantis.
“Do I know you?” he said.
Fury flashed in the brunette’s pale eyes. She regained her composure and smiled at him grimly.
“Don’t worry,” she said in a steely voice. “By the time morning comes, you’ll know our names intimately.”
Shadows shifted to Drake’s right. The giant who’d hit him at the park came into view. The man was tall and built like a tank. He had the same eyes as the woman. Cold. Detached. Lifeless.
Drake grimaced. “I don’t want to rain on whatever parade you’ve got going on here, but I’m not into threesomes.”
A bark of derisive laughter escaped the woman. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”
Drake shrugged and subtly tested the ropes holding him prisoner. “My friends tell me I’m a regular riot.”
They’d taken his knife and his custom-designed Kimber Aegis. He could see the weapons on a table twenty feet to his left. But they hadn’t taken his watch.
Drake suppressed a bleak smile. Big mistake.
He looked past his captors to the faint outline of the SUV at the other end of the building. The Kawasaki and his BMW were parked in the shadows next to it. His gaze shifted to the metal roller tube in the giant’s left hand.
“Since you have the cane, I’m not quite sure what you want with me,” Drake said in a light tone.
“Oh, there’s plenty I want with you,” the woman said, “but our client wished to take a look at you first. It’s the only reason you’re still alive right now.”
Drake’s pulse jumped at her words. He didn’t like the sound of that.
“Not that I wouldn’t fancy a little roll in the hay right now, but I’m afraid you’re not my type,” he said.
The punch came out of nowhere.
Drake’s ears rang as his head snapped violently sideways. For a moment, he thought the giant had hit him again. He blinked and realized the man was still where he’d last seen him.
The woman stood before Drake, her chest heaving and her pale eyes blazing with hate. She slowly lowered her fist to her side.
That was when he remembered.
“Sarajevo,” he whispered. “The mercenaries.”
The heist was meant to have been a straightforward job. Drake had taken on the contract knowing that stealing the precious artworks of the former Bosnian banker his client had targeted would be an uncomplicated operation. All he had to do was scope out one of the removal men who’d been vetted by the banker’s insurance company, temporarily incapacitate the guy on the day the target was moving house, and take his place. Except he hadn’t accounted for the soldiers of fortune the banker had hired as his security two days before the planned robbery.
He didn’t know to this day what had given him away. He’d managed to grab the goods and escape from the grounds with minor flesh wounds. Things had gone downhill rapidly when he was making his getaway into the city. In the chaotic chase that followed, one of his pursuers had crashed into a gas tanker. The resulting explosion had wiped out three vehicles and damaged the facade of several houses and shops.
There had been two casualties in that accident. The driver of the tanker and the man behind the wheel of the SUV that had crashed into it.
A muscle twitched in the woman’s cheek. “So, you do remember.”
Drake carefully wriggled his jaw from side to side. The coppery taste of blood struck his tongue from his split lip.
She packs quite a punch.
He appraised his opponents with fresh eyes. “What are you?”
The pair exchanged a glance. Though they tried to mask it, Drake read surprise in their eyes.
I was right.
He knew they weren’t human. He’d sensed something odd when the giant had hit him in the park. He was certain of it now that the woman had touched him too.
There was also the fact they were incredibly strong and fast.
A frown wrinkled Drake’s brow. But I don’t know what they are.
He watched them for a silent moment. “So, is this retaliation for what happened two years ago?” He arched an eyebrow. “Are you avenging your fallen comrade?”
The woman’s hand shot out so fast Drake nearly missed it. She grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him toward her. His eyes widened as he found himself lifted into the air, the chair tilting forward on its front legs until it barely touched the floor.
“He was more than a comrade, you bastard!” she hissed inches from his face. “He was our brother!”
Drake’s heart sank. Ah, shit. I hate it when things get personal.
He glanced down at the woman’s fisted knuckles where she gripped his shirt, half choking him. “I’ve changed my mind. I like a dominant partner in the bedroom.” He grinned when she blinked at him. “Also, I gotta admit, that lace bra is a turn on.”
She glanced down at the gap in her cleavage, swore, and let go of him. The chair clattered back onto the ground. Drake braced himself when she drew back her arm to strike him again.
“That’s enough, Serena.”
Drake stared.
The giant had crossed the distance to the woman in a heartbeat and stood holding her wrist in an iron grip.
“Let me go, Nate,” she said between gritted teeth.
Her biceps bunched as she struggled in the giant’s hold.
“Hitting him won’t bring Ben back,” the giant said in a passionless voice.
The woman glared at her companion. She resisted him for another couple of seconds.
Drake knew the move was futile. Though they were both inhumanly powerful, the giant was the stronger of the two. The woman’s shoulders sagged a moment later. The giant slowly released her arm.
A low rumble of engines sounded outside. Drake tensed.
A humorless smile curved the woman’s lips. “Sounds like our client has finally arrived.”
The engines died. The faint sounds of car doors opening and closing followed. Hinges creaked and metal rattled as someone slid the warehouse door open. Footsteps drew close.
Drake’s skin prickled. The hairs rose on the back of his neck.
His suspicions had been correct. He’d have had to be dead to miss the energy he’d sensed in the last couple of minutes.
Fuck.
Figures appeared in the gloom. Drake slowly fisted his hands and watched the group of demons cross the floor toward them.