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I woke up encased in heat and wrapped in a pair of heavily muscled green arms. I tried to just snuggle in and go right back to sleep. Even a freakish killer like me has to admit that being warm and safe is a nice feeling.
Then the entire crap-assed night came back to me and I sat up straighter, earning a grunt from Emerson when I shifted my weight, accidentally pressing my elbow into his gut and probably squishing his giant green junk.
"Where the fuck are we, and what the fuck happened?" I demanded.
We were in Theo's armored car. Thug number one was driving, while thug number two was in the passenger seat. Emerson took up most of the back seat, with me on one knee and Fin on the other. The leprechaun looked like he'd like to stab a bitch. And the bourgeois human took up what space remained in the back seat, turned with his back against the door so he could watch us all.
"We are about ten minutes from my home," Theo informed me calmly. "The gang members you left alive are in the trunk. And I've got someone coming to help interrogate them when we arrive at the house."
His blue eyes met mine. "How are you, Sam? You pushed yourself a bit hard tonight."
I growled. "I don't need any weak little human fussing over me. I've survived worse."
He smirked at me and I turned to study Fin and Emerson. "What about you two idiots?"
Fin flipped me off. "Fucking head feels like someone tried to bash it in, and I'm covered in fucking bruises. Other than that, I'm peachy."
Emerson's arm tightened around my waist briefly. "I was so worried when I woke up and you weren't there, Sam. I thought they'd killed you."
I shook my head at the big softie. "It will take more than a crap-assed unsanctioned cyclops to put me down, ogre."
He smiled, the expression both sweet and sad. "Yeah, Sam."
I turned to face forward and tried really hard to ignore the fact that I was sitting on the big guy's lap. With Fin. But my stomach kept doing that weird little glowy tingle thing. It was fucking stupid.
When we pulled up in front of Theo's big, dumb estate, I was the first one out the door. Emerson set Fin on his feet beside me, ignoring the leprechaun's bitching about being picked up like a doll. Then the ogre cur stood, pausing to stretch his cramped legs, his back giving an almighty pop that sounded like gunfire. He groaned and we all looked at him, making him blush and hunch his shoulders defensively. "Why are cars all so short?"
I patted him on the arm. "Stupid one-size-fits-all human mentality," I commiserated. Fin grumbled out his agreement.
A few more guards joined us, gathering around the back of the car as Theo popped the trunk. The gang members were sweaty, rumpled, and red-faced from being stacked in the trunk like sardines for however long it took us to get back here. But hey, they were alive. For a while longer, anyway. I had no clue what would happen to them once Theo was done with them.
I stared wearily up at the mansion as Theo's people frog-marched the goons around back, probably to a back entrance or a fucking dungeon or something, who knows.
"Come inside for a moment," Theo said, turning to me with his smooth operator mask firmly in place. Shame, he'd almost been fun when he let his guard down and acted like the care-free psycho he really was.
I just wanted to go the hell home. When I groaned my displeasure, he just turned away, like he knew I'd follow. "I want to make sure your money gets to you, your people are truly unharmed, and..." he glanced back at me with a sly smile. "You left your other knife in my bedroom."
I felt Fin's eyes burning holes in me, and Emerson coughed to hide whatever he'd just said. I rolled my eyes. "I do want my knife back." I fingered the top of my empty thigh sheath before shrugging and following the human. Fin and Emerson shuffled along behind me.
The creepy butler met us at the door. "Good evening, Sir," he said in an even tone. "I'm pleased to see all is well. Your guest is here, and I've put him in your study. I can send refreshments if you'd like?"
Theo opened his mouth, but I cut him off, brushing past him. "Don't bother on our account. I just want my knife, then we're out of here, Jeeves."
The butler's mouth twitched, but he gave me a slight bow. "Just so, Sam. I retrieved your weapon from the master's bedchamber and cleaned it for you. I will bring it to the study."
I eyed him. His expression was neutral, but I was pretty sure he was fucking with me, bringing up where he'd found the knife. Again. "You do that, dude," I said, forcing myself to exert the massive effort needed to walk down the hall. My wounds were basically healed, but they were sore. And I was tired as fuck.
Theo paced at my side. "By all means, Sam, make yourself at home. And do feel free to order my staff around."
I shrugged and kept walking. "Gee thanks. Will do."
He snorted in amusement.
I pushed open the wooden door to the room where we'd met with him before and headed straight to the bar. I knew it was stocked with the shit I could never afford. Someone was sitting in the boss man's office chair, but the room was shadowed, and I was all out of fucks to give, so I didn't even look their way. I just made a beeline for the booze and started pouring.
I had lifted the glass to my mouth and taken one glorious sip when a beautiful, silky, toe-curling voice washed over me. "Are you okay, Sam? I smell blood."
I dropped the glass on the bar with a bang, not caring that I'd just sloshed thousands of dollars’ worth of whiskey all over. Nope. I was done for the night. "Time to go."
The smell of ocean and home washed over me, and I barely kept myself from throwing the entire damned bottle at his head.
Angel.
What was fucking Angel doing here?
Of course, he looked absolutely fuckable, as always, his tall, lean, broad-shouldered form clad in black leather, and his long silver-white braid sparkling like moonlight. His liquid gold eyes skimmed over my body, taking in the bandage and my dirty, battered state. He made a concerned face.
Right. Like I bought that bullshit.
"You two know each other?" Theo said, coming to get his own glass of whiskey, not saying anything about my unforgivable sins where my abandoned glass was concerned.
I narrowed my eyes at Angel. He just shrugged a graceful shrug and went back to the desk. "We grew up together," he said calmly.
I didn't say anything. We had grown up together. Which just made his betrayal that much worse.
Theo nodded. "You know some interesting people, Sam," he said with a touch of humor in his voice. He turned to face the rest of the room, taking his whiskey to the desk and staring down at Angel until the asshole smirked and vacated the boss's chair. Theo sipped his drink and set it aside, slipping into his chair with a sigh. "I brought in the Siren to question the idiots currently being chained up in my basement. I thought his methods might be faster and easier than torturing the information out of them. I would like to sleep sometime tonight."
I huffed. "Great. Good. Give me my money and my knife and we'll get out of your hair so you can do whatever the hell you want."
Theo typed something into his laptop, ostensibly transferring the rest of my money to my account. Then he raised an eyebrow at me. "I get the feeling you object to my methods, Sam, darling."
I picked up my discarded tumbler and tossed back what was left of the liquid gold inside. Setting the tumbler down with a thunk, I turned to meet Theo's eyes. "You do what you want. But watch it or you'll find yourself thoroughly screwed over." I nodded toward Angel. "I wouldn't trust that one farther than you can throw him. And you're human, so you probably can't throw him far."
"Sam," Angel said tiredly.
I held up a hand, ignoring the sharp pain in my chest that made it hard to breathe whenever I looked at the damned siren. "Whatever. You do your job, I'll do mine."
The butler glided into the room, handing me my knife, which had been cleaned and polished. I slid it into the empty leg sheath and straightened to find him holding out my mostly ruined leather jacket. "I found this in the master bath. I wasn't sure if you'd want it back?"
I felt Angel's golden gaze join the green and red-brown ones already burning holes in me as I took my jacket back and started to take off the one I wore. Theo waved a hand dismissively. "Just keep the clothes, Sam. I have plenty more."
I shrugged, but did as I was told. I'd keep his expensive junk if he wanted me to. No protest there. "Thanks, Jeeves," I said to the butler.
He smirked at me. "I threw your underthings away. They were quite ruined."
Fin started muttering something in Leprechaun. Emerson coughed. Angel turned to look at Theo with one silver eyebrow raised. I rolled my eyes.
"You're doing this on purpose," I accused the butler. He didn't deny it, just snickered, turned on a heel, and breezed out the door.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," I said, glaring at the human. "Tell them you didn't fuck me, so I don't have to kill everyone in this room."
Theo smirked. "Amusing as this all is, I really do need to get the information from my captives and get some sleep. You may all be free spirits, but I have a city to run."
That wasn't a denial. I shook my head. Men and their fucking dick measuring contests. Sometimes I was glad I wasn't well-endowed. That way, I wasn't even tempted to compete. "Assholes," I muttered, turning and heading toward the door.
"Take care of them," Angel said softly to Fin and Emerson.
Fin rounded on him and jabbed him in the solar plexus with one short finger. "Sam isn't your concern, asshole." Then he grinned up at the siren. "But, hey, thanks for all the food."
I laughed as Angel watched us leave with a pained expression on his face.
Fuck, I was never happier to be done with a damned job. I needed to stick to hunting fiends and curs from now on and leave this bullshit to the idiots too stupid to avoid it.