He laughed humorlessly. “I’m just toying with my food.”
“Eat this.” My fist crunched against his mouth, his teeth scraping my knuckles. For a guy who hated silver, his bones sure felt like metal. I followed the punch with a downward kick to his knee. True fact, it only takes twenty pounds of pressure to break a knee. I’m not sure if Romulus knew this before, but he sure as hell knew it now. He fell to the ground, gripping the broken joint.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Rex make like he was about to step in. “Don’t even think about it.” The menace in Rhea’s voice was unmistakable.
I stood over Michael. “How about now?”
He looked up at me. His eyes glowed with hatred. Before I saw it coming, he grabbed my leg and pulled it out from under me. I fell flat on my back, the concrete jarring my spine and knocking the air from my lungs. Romulus’s weight slammed into me, and he went to work on my face. Rivulets of blood blurred my vision, but the pain was clear as crystal and just as sharp. I bucked my hips and struggled to break free, but the hits kept coming. He finally stopped tenderizing my face and moved to my ribs. I felt one give way and puncture a lung. I wheezed for air through blood bubbles clogging my throat. Shit was getting serious, and I needed to do something before the pain overwhelmed me. Grabbing one of his flailing arms, I snapped with my fangs, not caring where they landed as long as they got him somewhere.
Finally, I got a hold of his forearm. I bit down as hard as I could, feeling flesh give way. Romulus jerked above me with a howl. He ripped the arm from my mouth, leaving a tag of skin behind. I spat it out, along with a mouthful of blood. With a trembling hand, I swiped the red from my eyes. No time for licking my wounds. The bite might have hurt him, but I was in worse shape.
I struggled to my knees, wobbling slightly. Romulus kneeled nearby, his arm close to his body. Blood smeared the front of his khakis and shirt. Some of it was mine, obviously. But I’d managed to bite a good-sized chunk out of his arm. We both panted like wounded animals, watching each other. His arm smoked and sizzled, and I think I saw a flash of bone as he released the useless arm to hang limply at his side.
A cough rattled in my chest, causing a spark of pain in my side. But I wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. Surrender was never an option. Unlike Romulus, no one would kill me if I gave up. But I’d have to live for eternity knowing I’d surrendered.
I dragged myself off the ground and shambled toward him. He sighed and took a defensive position, raising his one good arm to form a fist. We fell into each other like two boxers at the end of a brutal round. Holding each other up with our stubbornness, jabbing at ribs and kidneys and anything else we could reach. He collapsed to his knees, taking me with him.
But still we punched. My head fell to his shoulder while my hands slapped at him. Opening my mouth seemed to take every ounce of strength remaining. My fangs broke the skin and sunk into his jugular. His body went stiff and then sagged. I tried to swallow blood to regain some strength, but the wound started bubbling and smoking. The few drops I got tasted like acid. With a final burst of strength, Romulus shoved me back. We both fell in a heap on the floor.
The air rattled painfully from my lungs. My face felt like someone had taken a mallet to it. And the thought of trying to move made my muscles cramp in protest. Michael’s own raspy breath sounded from nearby. He obviously wasn’t faring much better.
I swallowed. “You s’render?” I slurred.
“N’er.”
Footsteps approached from both sides. Shadows fell over us.
The world tilted as hands locked behind my back, pulling me upright. I groaned in protest, but Rhea held on. I glanced sideways through swollen eyes to see Romulus receiving the same treatment from Rex.
“Boss, you okay?” Rex asked. Obviously, Romulus’s second wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box.
“I think it’s pretty clear they can’t continue,” Rhea said.
“But no one surrendered,” Rex said.
“It’s a draw, then.”
“No way, mancy. They’re gonna have to just rest for a second and get back at it.”
“You’re joking,” said Rhea. “Look at them. They’re done.”
“What the fuck am I supposed to tell the pack?” Rex said.
A new voice entered the discussion. “You’ll tell them The Shade stopped the fight. If they have a problem with that, you send them to me.”
I turned my head toward the new arrival. I couldn’t make out more than an outline. But I knew that voice. And before I passed out, I managed to mutter a name I hadn’t said in thirty years. “Slade?”
12
Rhea’s face hovered over me when my eyes blinked open. My ribs throbbed like someone had taken a crowbar to them. It hurt so bad I could do little more than take shallow, wheezing breaths. In addition, my face felt like one large bruise. I moved my jaw to ask where I was but flinched as lightning speared through my skull.
Rhea helped me sit up. “Drink.”
I expected a potion of some sort. Something to quicken the healing and perk me up. Instead, the ferric scent of blood teased my nostrils and its rich taste coated my tongue. I swallowed greedily. Now I didn’t mind the chemical aftertaste or coldness of the bagged blood.
“More,” I whispered. My body was jacked up after the fight, and it would take a lot more than one cup of blood to heal the damage.
Rhea calmly set down the cup and looked me in the eyes. “That’s all you’re getting.”
I narrowed my swollen eyes. “Why?”
“Look, Sabina, we both know I could give you more blood or even a potion to make the pain you’re in nothing but an unpleasant memory.” She shifted on the seat, which made my broken ribs scream in pain. I hissed as cold sweat broke out on my chest. “But if I did that, you wouldn’t learn your lesson.”
“What?” I panted.
“You’ve earned these wounds. The choices you’ve made have led you to this moment. If I remove those consequences, you’ll never learn to moderate your behavior in the future.”
I wasn’t sure if it was from the excessive pain or the torture of listening to Rhea’s lecture, but bile rose in my throat. “You’re a real bitch, you know that?”
Rhea smiled and patted my arm. “Yes, dear.”
“Can I have some water at least?” I snapped. “Or is thirst part of my penance?”
“Of course you can have water,” she said with a patient smile. “Giguhl? Would you please get Sabina a glass of water?”
For the first time, I realized Giguhl had been sitting in a chair across the room this whole time. His arms were crossed, and his posture told me he was in full sulk about something. When Rhea asked him to get me water, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked.
Rhea shook her head. “We’ll discuss it later.”
While I waited for my surly demon to bring me a drink, I took stock of my surroundings. A familiar scent lingered in the air, but I couldn’t place it yet. We were in an office I didn’t recognize. A glass-and-steel desk sat about five yards away. I lay on a black leather couch next to a coffee table matching the desk.
Giguhl handed me the glass and trudged back to his chair without a word. I took a long drink, swishing the water in my mouth first to wash away the silver flakes.
“Where did the weres go?” I asked Rhea, since apparently Giguhl wasn’t speaking to anyone.
“Rex took Romulus back to the pack. He’ll recover. Not sure he’ll be too happy with the outcome when he does, though.”
Mention of the outcome reminded me of the latecomer to the fight. That was where the familiar scent came from.
“Slade.” The word came out sounding like an expletive. As far as I was concerned, the name ranked right up there with asshole. “Where is he?” I tried to sit up. The blood was helping a little with the pain, but I was still in a world of hurt.
Rhea, however, had other plans. “You need to rest.” She pushed me back gently. “He’ll be back soon. I take it you know him?”
I relaxed back into the cushions and nodded. My wounds might be healing, but I was shaky as hell. “He used to work for the Dominae in L.A.”
“An old friend, then?”
I narrowed my eyes. “More like frenemy.”
“In that case,” said Rhea, “I suppose asking you to be civil during our meeting is a waste of breath.”
“You could say that.”
The door opened then. Slade strolled in like he owned the place, which I guess he did. Giguhl perked up.
“Hey, Slade!” he said with more enthusiasm than necessary.
Slade nodded at Rhea and Giguhl as if they’d all already gotten acquainted while I was out, but his eyes were on me.
I jerked up, ignoring the stitch in my side. I didn’t want to face him lying down. Rhea tried to help me up, but I waved her away.
Slade slowed and a smile crept across his face. “Sabina Ka—”
He was interrupted—by my fist.
“Sabina, no!” Giguhl yelled.
I heard a loud curse and movement at my back. The scent of sandalwood filled my nostrils. “Stop!” Rhea grabbed my arms and held me back, surprisingly strong for a mage.
Slade smiled through blood streaking his lips and chin. “Nice to see you’re still feisty as ever.”
A growl came from somewhere deep inside me. “Feisty? Try furious, asshole.”
I didn’t like surprises. Although, truth be told, Slade wasn’t a surprise, exactly. He was more like a bombshell.
“Come, now, Sabina. I’m not your enemy.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“Sabina.” Rhea’s quiet tone held a hefty dose of reprimand.
Then I got a load of the smug smile on Slade’s face. The first thing I learned in assassin school was never to let emotions get the best of you. Hell, Slade himself had reinforced that lesson when we worked together. Allowing an enemy to make you lose your temper was like giving them a weapon to use against your most vulnerable spot. I took a deep breath and willed my muscles to loosen, my jaw to relax, my heart rate to slow.
