Charity couldn’t shake Ruin’s warning as she perched on the edge of the desk in the bar’s back office as Ruin filled Havoc in on the latest. And it was definitely a warning. Since denying her feelings could lead to dangerous things, she acknowledged it wouldn’t take much for her to fall hook, line, and sinker for his improbable promise.
It wasn’t just his screw the devil attitude which gave hers a run for its money, it was how she felt with him by her side. Since losing her parents, a hollow ache settled deep in her soul, cold and unforgiving. It kept her from fully embracing the emotional ties offered by those like Boden, hell, even Lilith and Tabby. There was always a piece of her holding back and waiting for shit to fail. At first, the heat of her fury kept it in check, but lately it had grown, pushing her closer and closer to a line she never wanted to cross. No-one managed to tempt her enough to pull free. Until Ruin.
Like some world-altering wildfire, he burned through all her reservations and dared her to dance in the flames. Hell, she was so twisted up in him now, she didn’t want to consider how much worse it could get.
She tried practicality—once this mess was cleaned up, they’d part ways. Considering the antipathy the Vultures held for Lilith, doing her job would be problematic. Besides, Ruin’s home, or the closest thing to it, was Pebble Creek and her’s was down by Boulder. But the Vultures were Crane’s de facto heirs. Which meant they couldn’t avoid dealing with Lilith, regardless of their reservations. Maybe there was a chance for Charity to finagle a way to become the liaison between Reaper and Lilith, with the added benefit of staying close to Ruin. Long distance relationships were doomed from the start. Her mind stuttered, then took a sharp right. Oh dear god, was she really considering the ‘r’ word in connection with Ruin?
Before she could face the question, Ruin set the phone back in its cradle with a muttered curse. Grateful for the distraction, she half-turned to see him leaning back in the chair. ‘What?’
Ruin rubbed the back of his neck and blew out a breath. ‘Havoc’s a stubborn ass.’
‘Tell me something I don’t know.’
He pushed to his feet. ‘Havoc and Vex are already heading in, should be here late tonight.’
‘How late?’
‘Between midnight and two.’
She couldn’t dredge up surprise. ‘I thought Reaper wanted them to stay while he got things handled?’
He came around the desk and took a spot next to her, folding his arm across his chest as he leant against the desk’s edge. ‘He’s claiming things are handled.’
Oookkaay, sounded as if Ruin thought differently. ‘You don’t believe him?’
That earned her a grimace. ‘I believe he believes it, but …’ he trailed off.
‘You’re worried there’s another strike coming?’
He glared at the space in front of him. ‘You heard the same things I did. Someone is determined to keep us occupied.’
She understood his ‘us’ meant Fate’s Vultures.
He turned his glare to her, the skin around his eyes drawn tight. ‘Having Vex and Havoc on the road doesn’t sit well with me. Neither does leaving Reaper holding the fort on his own.’
Recalling his sharp responses on the call, she offered, ‘Didn’t sound as if they shared your worries.’
He pushed off the desk and paced the small space. ‘That’s because they’re idiots.’
Maybe, maybe not. She bet the reason Vex and Havoc were riding to Ruin’s side was because Reaper didn’t want to leave his boy hanging with an unknown. ‘Or they have concerns of their own.’
He paused and looked at her. ‘Maybe, but I can handle myself.’
Refusing to let his temper ruffle hers, she pointed out, ‘So can they.’
He spun on his heel to resume his restless movements. ‘Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’
‘Nope, it doesn’t.’ Shoving up from the desk, she walked over to the door.
‘Where are you going?’
She didn’t bother looking back as she pulled the door open. Time for a little tough love to keep him too busy to dwell on his worries. ‘I’m not wasting time listening to you bitch about your friends. There are a couple more places I want to stop by, then we need to find a new place to sleep since I’m not about to piss Kayvao off by bringing trouble his way.’ She began to make her way back to the front of the bar, tense expectation a fine line along her spine.
He stomped in her wake and grumbled, ‘I’m not sleeping in a dump.’
Hiding her smile and determined to shake him free of his grumpiness, she teased, ‘Don’t worry, princess, we’ll find you an appropriate bed to lay your little head on. Wouldn’t want to bruise your delicate flesh.’
When his hard arm wrapped around her waist and dragged her back against a hard chest, she bit her lip to stifle her laugh. He nipped her ear and warned, ‘Can’t make the same promise, you wicked wench.’
A sharp elbow to his ribs loosened his hold, and she stepped free with a husky, ‘First you have to keep up.’
The sun was starting its descent when they stepped outside, leaving the bar with a wave for Max and his dad. Charity walked beside Ruin as they casually made their way through the evening foot traffic. They made it about four blocks before Ruin wrapped an arm around her waist drawing her close, ‘We’re being followed.’
Yeah, she picked up their shadows about a block back. She didn’t bother to look. To anyone watching they were just another couple walking down the street. ‘I’m counting two behind and a third coming up from the other side.’
‘We got another two heading our way.’
Sure enough, up ahead two men headed straight for them. There was no mistaking their intent, not when their hard stares didn’t waver and the crowd instinctually parted to let them through. As the bigger one knocked into a passing pedestrian she caught the flash of metal. ‘Blade men,’ she muttered, barely moving her lips.
Ruin gave her waist a quick squeeze of acknowledgement. He bent his head as if completely caught up in her and in contrast to his actions, his order was hard, ‘Take it off the street.’
At her slight nod, her hair caught against his beard. When a rather boisterous group erupted from one of the more questionable clubs, they used the distraction and darted into the narrow opening. Together they ran down the alley, the sounds of their feet hitting the ground echoed in the small space. When more joined in, she kicked it up a notch, and Ruin kept pace. They took turns when they could, weaving deeper into the mismatched collection of buildings.
They were running out of options when she spotted a low roof structure that would allow them a chance at the roofline. ‘There.’
Ruin followed and as they closed in, she didn’t slow but took a running jump to grab the edge of what looked like a haphazard addition. Thankfully it was wood, so her palms gathered splinters instead of cuts. When the shaky overhang swayed, she held her breath and scrambled up, Ruin hot on her heels. Wood groaned under their combined weight and a sharp whistle raised the hair on the back of her neck. She recognised the sound for the signal it was and knew they were running out of time.
Sure enough, at the roof’s edge to their left, two heads popped up. She and Ruin went right, leapt over the two-foot space between buildings, and kept going, aiming for the far side of the roof. The next jump dropped them with a dull thud onto the corrugated metal of the last of the buildings. She scanned for a sign of a ladder and started worrying when she came up empty. Then, Ruin snagged her wrist and pulled her to the far right corner. As they pounded closer, she caught the dark rods of a ladder. Behind them a shout went up, followed by another series of sharp whistles.
She slipped over the edge and grasped the ladder’s rough edges with a futile wish for gloves. She looked across the roofs to find four figures heading their way. Gritting her teeth, she scrambled down, dropping the last few feet. As she rolled with the fall, honed survival instincts had her pulling her blade free. Good thing, because as she came up out of the roll, she caught the attacking Blade Man coming up by surprise. He yelped and jumped back, but not before she managed to get a slice in.
‘Bitch!’
He had no idea. She didn’t respond and didn’t give him a chance to find his footing before she darted in, keeping him on the defensive. It would give Ruin a chance to get off the damn ladder. She went in low and mean, determined to even their odds. But Blade Men weren’t your standard street thugs. As he parried, she felt the burn of his blade nick her flesh. No stranger to knife fights or the inevitable fact that she’d be cut, she didn’t let the initial sting slow her down. She managed to block his next swipe and use the blade in her other hand to slice across his femoral. She wasn’t worried about keeping him back but keeping his ass down. She and Ruin were about to be severely outnumbered.
He yowled and stumbled back, fury twisting his face before he lunged back in for more. His strikes took on a vicious edge as the realisation he was bleeding out flickered behind his rage. Distantly she registered the sound of Ruin’s boots hitting the ground as he dropped from the ladder and the rush of running feet heading their way, but her focus stayed on the threat in front of her.
She ducked under another wild swing, letting the edge of his blade cut a line of fire along the back of her arm. Snaking her arm around his, she locked his wrist and forearm in place and sank her blade up and under his ribs. His agonised bellow left her ears ringing as she twisted the blade embedded in his chest while forcing her weight against his trapped arm until bone snapped. Releasing his now broken arm, she gave another yank on her blade sending the sharp edge up and slicing through his heart. Pulling her knife free, her attacker staggered back, dropped to his knees, and fell face first to the ground.
She turned to help Ruin, only to take a solid kick to her back. Stumbling forward, she struggled to find her breath despite the searing pain tearing through her lower side. Son of a bitch. A change in the air behind her was her only warning. She dropped to her shoulder and rolled out of the way of the next hit. Being on the ground wasn’t smart, but neither was taking another mind-numbing hit. She came up in a crouch, her back against the wall. In front of her a thick-chested man with arms as wide as her thighs, gave her an evil grin as he uncurled a length of thick chain, letting it hang from one meaty fist.
Hard as it was to look away from the chain, she did, focusing on his chest. When his muscles twitched, she went down and to the left. The chain whipped over her head. Thanks to the searing ache in her side, she wasn’t fast enough to escape the stinging bite of the chain’s tail end. A sharp hiss escaped, lost in the pained grunts and male curses as Ruin fought to hold his own somewhere on her other side.
The chain wielding fiend brought his metal back to heel and prepared for another strike. Trapped as she was between him and the building, she had two options—use her arm to tangle the chain, which would break it, or do the unexpected. Since she didn’t want to fight with a broken arm, she pushed off with her toes and went low, slamming her shoulder into the behemoth’s gut. The impact sent white streaks across her vision. Despite her now numbed shoulder she wrapped her arm around his waist. Tucking her head low, she used the blade in her other hand to awkwardly stab his back wherever it reached. The vibration of his agonised bellows reverberated through her aching shoulder. Between her knife and her weight he stumbled back. He tried to use his fist to knock her away. Most of the blows fell along her back and shoulders, but when his weight shifted and he started to fall back, she drilled her blade in one last time, tore it free and stumbled back.
Too slow, a right hook clipped her jaw and sent her careening off balance. Another fist buried itself in her stomach. She bent in half, agony tearing through her. Her free hand clamped down on the fist in her stomach, digging her fingers into pressure points. She captured a finger, jerking it viciously backwards, forcing the digit back at an unnatural angle. An angry roar erupted as the finger’s owner tore free of her grip. Unfortunately, her reprieve didn’t last long.
An arm wrapped around her neck, bowing her back and bringing her up on her toes as her abused stomach and ribs protested. Thankfully, she hadn’t lost her grip on her blade. Striking low, she hit her newest attacker enough to loosen the chokehold. Dipping her chin, she grabbed the restringing wrist and raked her booted foot down the leg behind her.
She twisted free of the chokehold, instincts screaming to protect her exposed back. She was too late. A stunning kick to the back of her thigh sent her to her knees, her hands flying forward to keep from smashing her face against the ground. A heavy boot stomped down on the hand holding the knife and ground down. Under the bruising force, her fingers spasmed, releasing the knife. Someone grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. As cool metal kissed her neck she stilled, silently cursing a blue streak as she was hauled to her knees.
Scuffling, grunts and the muffled impacts of fists on flesh continued somewhere out of her visual range. The hold in her hair shifted and fetid breath washed across her face. ‘You might wanna tell your boyfriend to give it up.’
Suppressing her urge to gag, she rolled her eyes up and curled her lips into a sneer.
Between her angle and the fading light, it was hard to make out much. Acne scars, small eyes under a heavy brow, overly large nose, cracked teeth, it wasn’t a pretty picture. His eyes narrowed to mere slits. ‘Do it!’
‘Fuck you.’
Scar Face glanced up and gave a short nod. A fist landed in her stomach. The pain of the hit was worse because of her restrained position, but she fought her way through it.
Dimly she heard the slimy voice say, ‘Ain’t dicking around, bitch. I’ll let my friends gut him. Technically, he’ll still be breathing when we deliver your asses, so it counts as a live retrieval.’
Under the haze of pain, she focused on the fact someone wanted them alive. It gave them a slim chance of escaping this mess, but it was better than nothing.
‘What’s it gonna be?’
Swallowing hard, she called out, ‘Ruin, stop!’ The words almost choked her, but she wasn’t stupid. The sounds of fighting continued and the grip in her hair tightened until she hissed. She didn’t need Scar Face’s glare to try again. Steeling herself, she sucked in air and screamed, ‘Ruin!’
The sounds stopped and she could only watch Scar Face’s expression to follow what was happening. He looked to somewhere in front of her. ‘Let him go.’
‘You first.’ The growl belonged to Ruin.
The knife at her throat pressed deeper, stinging as the edge bit. ‘Not a chance.’
‘Then I guess we’re at a stand-off, asshole.’
Scar Face’s hand twitched and the blade sank in a bit more. Dammit. She didn’t want her throat sliced because someone got nervous. ‘Ruin, they only get paid if we’re delivered alive.’
Seconds ticked by in the heavy silence, and then it was broken by the sound of a blade hitting the ground.
Above her, Scar Face smiled. ‘Get him.’
Footsteps rushed in even as Scar Face rose, dragging Charity up with him. Catching his smirk, she wanted to claw it off his ugly mug. As soon as she was on her feet, he twisted her arm up along her spine, the knife poised at her kidney. The only good thing was he let go of her hair, which meant she regained control of her head. Before she could smash it back, he hissed in her ear, ‘Try it and I’ll let you bleed out.’
Gritting her teeth, she stayed still. Frustration crawled through her with bitter acid as she watched two of the Blade Men take Ruin captive. Once his hands were bound, the bigger of the two men, who sported a hell of a shiner, took his fists to Ruin’s gut with rapid fire precision. Pained grunts escaped Ruin’s clenched jaw, but his gaze didn’t waver from hers. If it was the last thing she did, she’d slit that asshole’s throat.
It seemed forever before Scar Face snapped, ‘Enough. Let’s move.’
The big man ploughed one more vicious gut shot, then turned away and headed straight for her. When he caught her staring at him, his smug grin faltered. ‘Whatcha looking at, bitch?’ he growled.
She let the promise of his impending death shine free, but her voice was harder than diamonds. ‘A dead man walking.’
As the mercenary group dragged Ruin and Charity through the maze of Kennewick’s seamier side, Charity wasn’t surprised by the lack of witnesses. In fact, she picked up the muted sounds of quickly closed doors and caught a couple of shadows ducking back behind dark windows. Yep, no-one wanted to risk their necks for two strangers.
Taking inventory of the aches and pains radiating through her battered body, she realised the aches of a cracked rib or two dominated her earlier aching shoulder. In a day or so, if she was still breathing, her body would carry a map of bruises from head to toe. Not too shabby considering between her and Ruin, they managed to cull the herd in half. Her gaze slipped to the side focusing on one of the men being half carried by another, blood turning his dingy shirt into a macabre abstract. Allowing a small, evil grin, she amended her tally to four.
A shove to her back sent her stumbling forward. Next to her Ruin let out a low growl, but she gritted her teeth and kept her mouth shut. No use talking until they got to wherever they were going. Blade Men were glorified bounty hunters and easy hires, but once transacted for a job, they completed it. Just not always the way expected. Which meant whoever hired them was working against the clock, and that made her think her bait was well and truly taken.
Ruin limped alongside her, his hair tangled around his bruised face, a seeping cut above his eye, and his face a stone mask. Occasionally he turned his head and spat. The red tinge left behind on his lower lip worried her. When he caught her look, he gave a slight shake of his head.
She forced her attention away from him and began taking note of their surroundings. The dank odour of wet, churned earth met her nose. Dragging the scent deep, the soft shushing rush of water hit her ears. They were down by the river. She looked around but found nothing but a jumble of old shipping containers. Some were stacked on top of each other, others lay as if tossed by some careless hand. The light faded fast, leaving the place draped in various shades of grey and black. She picked out a couple of shadows tracking them from the container roofs. Since Scar Face didn’t seem concerned, she figured these were lookouts.
Her guess proved right when Scar Face raised a hand at one of the sentries, who took off. Back on the ground, Scar Face led the motley band down a twisty route through the narrow openings before finally stepping into one of the stacked containers. When she stumbled in after, she realised someone changed the container into a two level building by cutting the roof of one and floor of another in half. A rickety set of stairs were propped against the far edge leading up to the second floor.
Scar Face headed for the stairs, Ruin and Charity shoved along behind. Following Ruin up the steps, she noted the lack of railing. A solid shove halfway up would result in a splatter pattern on the floor. Good to know. The weathered wood creaked under booted feet, and the tang of rusted metal replaced the faint traces of wet earth. At the top, another sharp shove at her back caught her off guard. Managing to regain her balance on the top step, she growled, spun, and drove her knee straight into the balls of her tormenter. Not the move the bastard expected. Her hit landed hard enough to send him back a step or two. When his back foot slipped, he wobbled. She grinned into the mixture of fear and anger in his face just before he tumbled off the side of the staircase.
She barely got to appreciate the sharp crack or his pained bellow as he smashed to the ground because the dick hidden behind him backhanded her, slamming her head into the wall.
Someone barked, ‘Enough!’
It barely cut through the ringing in her ears. The idiot who hit her grabbed her arm, spun her around and shoved her into the open space of the second floor. She ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek and tasted the coppery blood. She turned to find furious muddy eyes staring back. Unable to resist, she grinned knowing blood stained her teeth.
‘I thought you were smarter than that.’ The droll comment came from behind her.
She turned, but there wasn’t much to see.
Two lanterns hung on either side, but their reach didn’t touch the edges of the room or the unknown speaker. ‘Perhaps my information was wrong.’
Muddy eyes gave her another shove, sending her stumbling against Ruin.
‘You good?’ Ruin’s question was low and quiet.
‘Just peachy.’ Straightening she stood next to him.
Together they faced the room. Whoever waited for them wasn’t ready to step into the light, since he stayed near the back wall where the light didn’t reach. Charity continued to scan the room, stopping on a huddled form on the floor. When a familiar gaze stared back from behind crooked rhinestone frames, Charity sucked in a breath. She took a step forward only to be brought up short by cruel fingers digging into her arm. ‘Echo?’
The battered mess gave a wet laugh. ‘Fancy meeting you here, girl.’
Seeing the normally outrageous woman reduced to a beaten pulp, ignited a cold fury. Charity shrugged off the hold and turned her glare to the mystery figure coming up behind Echo. ‘What do you want?’
He stepped forward and Charity got her first good look at River Man. ‘Shouldn’t I be asking that question since you’re the one looking for me?’
She wasn’t impressed. His frame wasn’t the only average thing about him. Brown hair cut short matched equally brown eyes set in a face neither attractive nor ugly. If she passed him on the street she’d never guess at what lay under the skin. Thing was, after watching his interaction with the Raiders and seeing his handiwork with Echo, she wasn’t about to underestimate him.
He stopped and brushed a hand over the tangle of Echo’s dark hair, her flinch coiled like a vicious poison in Charity’s gut. Even the Broker’s smile was fucking average. ‘Echo here, has been nice enough to inform me you were recently asking questions about my business. Business that took a nasty turn this morning.’ The hand in Echo’s hair clenched. ‘Something I explained to our mutual friend here, I wasn’t happy about.’ He gave her a vicious shove that sent Echo sprawling with a pained groan. River Man didn’t shift his shark-like gaze. ‘In fact, I’m quite curious as to who invited you to what was a private meeting.’
Charity’s thoughts spun. River Man hadn’t snatched her bait, instead, he went the same route she did when she hit town—hit up the person who knew the comings and goings of Kennewick, Echo. Which meant he had no idea who she or Ruin were, but assumed they were the shooter. It was too soon to decide if that was a good or bad thing.
Unfortunately, before she could say anything, Ruin cut in. ‘You did.’
That took River Man by surprise. ‘Excuse me?’
Shut up, Ruin! She silently screamed the warning wishing she had the ability to gag the idiot. Instead, she could only stand there, hands bound, teeth gritted, head aching and glare as he dug his own grave.
‘You should choose your business associates,’ Ruin sneered, ‘with a bit more care. They got greedy.’
Brown eyes widened as knowledge struck, then narrowed. ‘Fuck me, you’re a goddamn Vulture.’
‘Not my type, but I’m sure Reaper will make an exception just for you.’
She made a distracted mental note never to be on the receiving end of Ruin’s fury, it cut deeper than bone.
As a threat it worked. River Man’s face lost a bit of colour, but it didn’t last long. He turned his attention to Charity, calculation seeping into his flat gaze. ‘And you?’
Again, Ruin spoke before she could. ‘A fun piece to get to that one.’ Ruin lifted his chin towards Echo. ‘They’ve done business before, so I used her to get me in.’
As much as she appreciated his attempt to keep her out of the line of fire, she wasn’t comfortable with him playing her shield. Unfortunately, she was short on alternatives. When he refused to acknowledge her glare, she fought to keep her churning emotions from her face and turned her anger towards River Man. She held his reptilian gaze with a disdainful sneer.
His cold smile made her uneasy, an instinctive reaction to an unknown threat. ‘Well then, I hope you enjoyed it while you could as I’m afraid your fun has come to an end.’ His attention shifted to behind her. ‘Gil, Bo, bring him along.’ Scar Face and Muddy Eyes slithered up to Ruin, grabbed his arms and dragged him back towards the stairs.
Fear seared through her leaving her heart frozen. She turned to follow, only to be brought up short with a vicious grip on her arm. Turning to the man who held her, she spat, ‘Where are you taking him?’
River Man’s smile was merciless in its cruelty. ‘Whereas your worth is minor, as a Vulture, his is much, much more. Enough that I may yet be able to salvage the transaction you two cost me.’ He tossed her towards Echo, sending her to the unforgiving floor with bruising force. With her hands bound, she could only twist to take the impact. Pain, bright and sharp, lanced over her hip and shoulder, adding grey edges to her vision. She tried to relearn to breath and dimly heard him give orders to the guards on the bottom floor. ‘Keep them here. I’ll be back soon to get them ready for delivery.’
Dropping her head to the floor, she swallowed against the choking dread and prayed for a fucking miracle.