When they didn’t immediately respond, he gave them one last chance. “The clock is ticking. In ten more seconds, either you’re on your way home or we’ll teach you some manners. Your choice.”
Duke made his decision. “Fuck you, Other. I’m not apologizing to any bitch stupid enough to spread her legs for the likes of you.”
Chapter 14
Sasha flinched as if the bastard had actually slapped her. She shot a look at Larem, a hurt question in her glance. Was she asking how the guard had found out or if Larem had been the one who’d talked?
All things considered, he didn’t blame her for wondering; but damn, she should at least know him better than that. He pushed the pain deep down inside to deal with later. He had far more pressing matters at the moment.
Starting with the fact that Duke was dead. The guard might not realize it yet, but he was already drawing his last few breaths. In the next few seconds, he would be nothing but a bloodstain soaking into cheap carpet. His two friends, too, if they got in the way.
Larem grabbed Sasha by the arm and shoved her back toward Lonzo. “Get her out of here. She doesn’t need to see this,” he ordered, knowing he could depend on his roommate to make sure she was safe.
Hunter already had his gun aimed at the guard closest to him. His leg might not be back to full strength, but that wouldn’t interfere with his aim. Two shots would eliminate any problems Duke’s buddies might cause.
“Larem, here. You’ll need this.”
Lonzo had the good sense to wait until Larem nodded before sliding his sword pommel first across the floor. Larem knelt down to pick it up while keeping an eye on the guards. He risked a quick peek back to see how Lonzo managed the maneuver without letting go of Sasha: the Paladin held her back with one arm around her waist.
When she spotted him looking at her, she renewed her struggles to break free. “Lonzo, let go of me! What are you three up to now? I won’t have it, whatever it is.”
“Sasha, go with Lonzo, please.”
He wanted nothing more than to be holding her, soothing her, apologizing for her name being linked with his. “Go. I’ll let you rip into me all you want later, I promise.”
Duke obviously wasn’t done shooting off his mouth. “Just wait until your father finds out what’s going on. Do you think he and the other Regents will be happy when they find out what you’ve done? Hell, most of them know the Paladins are barely a step up from those animals themselves. I’ve always thought our job description should be zookeepers instead of guards.”
It was definitely time to end this. “Lonzo, get her the hell out of here.”
Larem waited until his friend dragged Sasha around the corner and out of sight. Despite the difference in her size and Lonzo’s, she was putting up a good fight. If he wasn’t mistaken, his friend would have a nice collection of bruises on his shins from where she’d tried to kick herself free. His woman had a strong warrior’s spirit.
When the sounds faded, he picked up Lonzo’s sword and held it out to Duke pommel first. The human looked around in growing panic, evidently only now realizing the trouble he’d stirred up may have turned lethal.
He stared at the blade Larem held out as if it were a snake. “What’s that for?”
“That’s so when I explain your death to Devlin Bane, I can tell him that I gave you a chance to defend yourself.”
When Duke made no effort to accept the weapon, Larem knelt down and slid it across the floor anyway. A human stood little chance against a Kalith warrior at the best of times, but they both knew Duke stood no chance at all if he didn’t at least pick up the sword.
God, what had he gotten himself into? “You wouldn’t kill an unarmed man.”
He could hear his two buddies backing away, clearly thinking he was wrong about that. Any second now they’d break and run for cover. He didn’t blame them. He’d be leading the charge himself if he thought he had a chance of getting away. But even if his friends forgot that Larem still had another friend with him, the Paladin stood ready to remind them.
“Where do you two dumb fucks think you’re going?” Hunter Fitzsimon’s words dripped with the brutal chill of death. “You started this, but we’ll decide when it’s finished.”
God, Duke never meant for this to go so far. Yeah, he resented the Kaliths strolling around like they owned the place, playing sword games with the Paladins and showing them up. That didn’t mean he wanted to challenge a swordsman of Larem’s caliber to a fight to the death.
He bent down to pick up the sword, hating the way the blade shook in his hand. Even more, he hated the cold amusement in the freak’s pale eyes when he saw the shimmer of quivering steel.
“I will convey your apologies to Ms. Willis.” The Kalith bastard ran his finger along the curved edge of his sword. “I know you regret what you said to her, but unfortunately you won’t be in a position to tell her yourself.”
Duke flexed his fingers on the sword, trying to adjust his grip on the unfamiliar pommel. He prayed for his life, prayed for forgiveness, and prayed for a quick and merciful death. As pissed off as Larem was right now, he would likely drag this out until Duke choked on his own blood and begged the freak bastard for release.
Larem switched his sword to his left hand. “There, Duke, to even things up I’ll fight with my weaker hand.”
Hunter’s laughter rang out. “Oooh, nice touch, Larem. I like it.”
Duke glanced back at his two friends. Oh, yeah, he was all alone in this. Even if they’d been interested in offering him a helping hand, Fitzsimon stood ready to stop them dead in their tracks. Literally.
Okay, Duke could die fighting or he could just die. A weird sense of calm settled over him. “You’ll bleed, too, Other.”
“So be it.”
In a flurry of sword strokes that took less time than it took Duke to blink twice, he’d lost his weapon and found himself pressed up against the wall with the tip of Larem’s sword staring him in the eye. The crazy fucker stood there smiling as if it were an everyday occurrence to gut someone for the hell of it.
“Duke, it would appear we’ve reached a crossroads in our relationship.” Larem reached out to pat Duke on the cheek, smiling when he flinched.
“Hunter, why don’t you let those two go? We wouldn’t want their last memory of Duke here to be . . . tragic, would we?”
“If you insist, although it will certainly spoil some of my fun.”
Hunter motioned for them to pass. “But just so you know, I will catch up with both you boys later.”
The Paladin’s comment was accompanied by the sound of two pairs of feet pounding down the hall and fading away in the distance. Duke knew every step they took diminished his chances of survival. No matter how cold-blooded the Other and his buddy were, they’d be less likely to slaughter him in front of witnesses.
Larem leaned in close enough for Duke to feel his breath. A vein pulsed heavily in Larem’s neck, as if he were battling some damn strong emotions.
“There, now we can talk in private, Duke, starting with why you were watching me and Ms. Willis Saturday night. That was you who took a shot at us with the paint-ball gun, wasn’t it?”
Duke managed a quick nod. “I was told to. Watch her, that is.”
Larem’s nostrils flared, as if scenting the air for a lie. “By whom?”
“The e-mail was anonymous.” That much was true. He wasn’t about to drag Rusty’s name into this.
Hunter moved into sight. “And you do whatever stupid thing some unknown person tells you to do? God, I would’ve thought even a guard would be smarter than that.”
Okay, he might be about to die, but that kind of crack was exactly what had Duke pissed off at the whole organization. He glared at the Paladin staring at him from behind Larem’s shoulder.
“Yeah, that’s right, Fitzsimon. Act all superior if you want to, but we’re the ones who actually die when his kind decide it’s time to party on our side of the barrier. We don’t get second chances.”
The sword point pressed closer, making it difficult for Duke to swallow without getting cut. How could he breathe, much less think, with that pale, ice-cold gaze on him? He closed his eyes and waited, frantically praying for deliverance.
When nothing happened, he pried one eye open to find Larem looking back at Hunter, his sword down at his side. What was going on?
“Call Devlin and tell him we have a present for him.”
When Hunter stepped away and pulled out his cell phone, Larem turned back to Duke. “This is your lucky day, Duke. You can’t say you didn’t get a second chance now, can you? The good news is that I don’t kill cowards. The bad news is that you will be spending some quality time with Devlin Bane. You should know that he hates people sneaking around behind his back, and that’s what you and your buddies have been doing. Isn’t that right?”
Duke felt like one of those damn bobble-head dolls as he nodded. God, Devlin Bane was going to kick his ass from one end of Seattle to the other, but that was still better than facing Larem any longer.
“Even more, he hates men who bully women, but not as much as I do.”
Then with a move too fast to track, the sword was back at Duke’s throat, this time cutting into his skin deep enough to hurt like hell. Warm blood trickled down Duke’s neck; he ignored it, not wanting to provoke Larem any further.
“Again, you owe Ms. Willis an apology, but I’ll tell her for you. Because, Duke, if you ever—ever—go near her again, I will finish what we’ve started here today. You can pass the message along to your anonymous friend for me, too. Got that?”
Duke bobble-headed it again. The last thing he saw was Larem’s fist flying straight for his jaw. It connected before he could duck, and then all he knew was darkness and pain.
Larem stood over the pathetic lump of humanity, feeling just as disgusted with himself as he was with Duke. The world would be far better off without such scum in it, but he couldn’t bring himself to end the bastard’s life. One reason was that Devlin would not be happy to learn there was some kind of conspiracy going on, only to find out that Larem had permanently silenced their only lead.
Another reason Duke still breathed was that Larem’s own sense of honor didn’t allow him to prey on the weak and helpless. And Duke certainly fit that description. Larem had to give the fool credit for at least picking up the sword and trying to defend himself.
But finally, Larem had spared Duke because of Sasha. She would not easily forgive him if he had avenged her honor by killing the obnoxious fool. Larem figured there was a fifty-fifty chance he’d come to regret showing mercy, but he’d deal with that when the time came.
Hunter hovered nearby. “You did the right thing, but I would’ve backed your play either way.”
