At the issue of Vincent’s command, all hell broke loose as men and beasts rushed them. Cursing under his breath, Duncan blocked several attacks as he drove his knife into the chest of one man and the gut of another. Suddenly a large grey wolf made a leap for his neck, but before the beast could latch ahold of him, he landed a punch that set the animal flying over the rail into the bar below.
Screams rose from the crowd and more chaos ensued. Praying he hadn’t harmed an innocent bystander, Duncan drove his blade deep into the thigh of the giant man charging his direction. Yelling out in pain, the man dropped to the ground crying like a baby. Duncan rolled his eyes, and took advantage of the moment of reprieve to check in on Senka and watched proudly as she sliced the throat of one wolf while simultaneously gouging another man in the eye.
Together they continued to stab and slice both men and animals. However just when it looked as if they had overcome the worst of what Vincent had to offer, the sound of a large number of heavy steps slamming against metal pulled Duncan’s attention back to the staircase.
“Shit.” Cursing, Duncan dodged a punch as more men exited the stairwell onto the platform. “Senka we’re outnumbered. Get your ass back onto the beams and get out of here! I’ll hold them off!”
“Like hell!”
“Senka, damn it, this isn’t the time to argue!” He snapped, while continuing to block and punch incoming attacks. “I am going to shift and you are going to get your ass out of here and that is final!”
“I’ve got a better idea!” she yelled, as she ducked to avoid the fangs of the wolf lunging toward her neck. Momentarily clear of danger, she jerked one of her light weight throwing knives from her pants. “Hey Vincent!” she yelled as she sent the blade careening his direction.
Vincent glanced back at the sound of his name being called and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid having a knife skewer him in the eye. Momentarily stunned by how close he had come to meeting his end, Vincent gaped at the silver handle of the blade, protruding from between the eyes of the wolf insignia painted on the wall. After taking a second to settle his nerves, he then turned and grinned smugly at Senka. “Sorry dear, you missed.”
“I never miss.”
With a cocky smirk, Senka tapped the spot just beneath her eye.
Arching his brow, Vincent raised his hand to touch his cheek and became wide eyed when his hand came in contact with the warm stickiness of his own blood. In a panic he rushed across the room to a nearby mirror and stared at the red line that ran from his nose, almost all the way to his ear.
“That knife hit exactly where I intended it. Now if you take that in consideration along with the fact that I sat next to you on that beam for nearly ten minutes and you never knew I was there…” Senka paused, watching as Vincent narrowed his eyes. “Not to mention the conversation I just overheard between the two of you, then you should count yourself lucky that I need you alive at the moment.” Senka began glaring at the men very cautiously closing in on her again. “Now I suggest you call off your men or I can personally guarantee the next blade I throw will not be hitting the wall.”
Cold and calculating, Vincent pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it to the wound on his face. Then to Duncan’s utter surprise, he motioned for his men to stand down.
“You have a lot of balls little lady, a lot more than many of the buffoons currently working for me.” With the white cloth pressed to his cheek, Vincent slowly abled his way toward Senka. “So do tell, what exactly is it that you need from me that has graced me with this reprieve on my life?”
“Senka, don’t…”
“No, Duncan. We tried this your way already. Obviously that didn’t work.” She snapped, gesturing to the mayhem around them. Shifting her attention back to Vincent she continued. “You were right, Duncan was lying. He didn’t come here to make a deal with you. Nor did he bring me here for his protection.” Hearing Senka’s confession, Vincent’s cold blue stare fell on him with frightening intensity. “The truth is Duncan would have never returned here if it hadn’t been for me asking him to help me get my sister back.”
“Your sister?”
“Yes, my sister.” Senka bit out. “The one your men kidnapped from our camp.”
Stopping only a few feet away from her, Vincent pursed his lips, “I don’t know anything about that.”
“Oh cut the bullshit.” Senka growled. Head held high, she faced down the much larger man with unwavering confidence. “Everyone knows you are trafficking girls, how the hell is it you think I found you?” Vincent scowled, clearly not happy with the knowledge his unsavory business was not as secretive as he thought. “I am standing here before you, my life and my sister’s life on the line, being brutally honest with you, the least you could do is return the favor.”
“You are right.” His voice low, Vincent stepped closer to Senka. “Such honesty is a rarity these days. And I must admit, I find it quite refreshing coming from someone so beautiful.”
“So you do have my sister.” Senka said hurriedly, ignoring the last part of what he said.
“Unfortunately, no.” Vincent shrugged. “I haven’t seen any Night Stalker girls come through here. Actually you are the first Night Stalker I have seen in years.”
“My sister isn’t a Night Stalker… she’s a Seer. And she would have just arrived here in the last week or so.”
Duncan watched as Vincent’s lips curled in a knowing grin. “The pretty blonde with the gorgeous eyes.”
“Yes.” Senka snapped. “And I want to strike a deal to get her, the Elemental girl from our camp, and Winston’s daughter returned to us.”
Vincent’s eye brows shot to his hair line. “That’s a hefty demand for a girl who is vastly outnumbered.” Pausing, Vincent’s eyes roamed over Senka’s body in a way that made Duncan’s blood boil. “And you don’t appear to have that sort of cash available to you.” Senka glowered and Vincent held up his hands with a chuckle. “Honesty, remember?” Closing a bit of distance between himself and Senka, he looked down at her with a predatory look that Duncan knew all too well. “So tell me sweetness, what exactly is it you have to offer that would make giving up that much of my expensive merchandise worth my wild?”
Overcome with the sudden uncontrollable desire to separate Vincent’s head from his body, Duncan rushed forward only to be stopped by a dozen or more of his men. Wrestling him to the ground, the gang of men pinned him face first on the ground, with his hands secured behind his back. Unable to shift without risking severe injury to himself and his bear, Duncan was forced to lay there and watch as Vincent continued to close the distance between him and Senka.
With a knowing grin, Senka slowly devoured every inch of Vincent’s lithe frame. “Hmmm, let me think.” Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, Duncan watched in disbelief as she pressed her body snug against Vincent’s, eliciting a low growl from deep in his chest. “Whatever could a girl like me do for a powerful man such as yourself?”
Vincent’s grin widened as he snaked a hand around her waist. “I am sure we can come up with something.”
Infuriated at the sight of another man’s hands on the body of his girl, Duncan struggled to free himself from the pile of the men pinning him down. Unfortunately he was severely outnumbered and all he succeeded in doing was pissing them off and getting his arms wrenched tighter behind his back. His struggles did however gain the attention of both Senka and Vincent.
“Is that jealousy I scent?” Vincent laughed. Inhaling a huge breath, his grin grew wide. “You have got to be kidding me. The Butcher, slayer of Night Stalkers, has fallen in love with a female of the very race he helped eradicate?”
Duncan froze, his gaze immediately going to Senka, who stared back at him questioningly. Vincent, watching the silent exchange between them, laughed heartily. “Oh this is good.” He snarled, grinning from ear to ear. “Not only do you love her, you haven’t bothered to tell her… have you?”
Duncan looked away. Placing a single finger under her chin, Vincent pulled Senka’s attention back to him. “So tell me sweetness, do you return the bear’s affection?”
Swallowing hard, she glanced back at him. Still refusing to face her, Duncan locked his eyes on a fixed point in the floor. “He lied to me.” The words, uttered from her mouth were like a dagger in his chest. “He’s been lying to me since the day we met.”
“So the answer is no?” Vincent prodded.
Senka bit her bottom lip, then shook her head. “How can I? I don’t even know who he is.”
If he thought her words hurt him before, Duncan was sadly mistaken. A pain, the likes of which he never experienced before, clutched his chest, causing him to cry out. He struggled against his captures, determined to get to Senka, to explain why he had done the things he had done, to explain why he had hidden the truth from her. He needed to beg her forgiveness. He needed to profess his true feelings. He needed to get her back.
Kicking and writhing beneath the pack of men, Duncan managed to break free for a split second. Unfortunately, before he could crawl to his feet and steal back the girl of his dreams, more men were on top of him. Determined not to let the only person he had ever loved escape from him so easily, Duncan fought to stay upright. He was actually doing a pretty good job, when out of nowhere someone knocked him in the head with a heavy metal object. Falling face first into the hard floor, he laid there as the men pinned him once more and this time restrained his arms with blocking bands, enchanted steel engraved with magical runes, to prevent Shifters from using their powers.
“Collar him and take his ass to the dungeon.” Vincent could be heard somewhere in the muddled recesses of his mind. “I’ll deal with him later.”
Dizzy and disoriented, Duncan felt two thick arms slide underneath his and hoist him to his feet. And though he fought hard to stay conscious, he could feel himself slowly slipping away as the blood drained down his face from the wound in his head. Not willing to go without seeing her one last time, he managed to raise his half opened eyes and locked them on Senka’s torn expression.