Authors: Laurie London
Asher tried to look engaged in their conversation even though his mind was wandering.
“Look after my sister,” Fallon had said from the cold stone floor. “And tell her…I’m sorry to miss the birth of her wee one.”
It wasn’t as though Fallon hadn’t known the risks. All Iron Guild warriors who came through the portals to fight the enemy here on their own soil knew it was dangerous. They were wanted men with a price on their heads should their cover be blown. Asher had been in charge over here. Which meant he was responsible for any casualties suffered by his men. Fallon was the newest warrior, eager to prove himself…and much too young to die.
They’d won the battle, but at what price? The Crestenfahl portal had been destroyed and his friend was dead.
He absently rubbed a hand over his knee, which hadn’t fully healed yet.
He glanced at the time on the blonde’s glittery cell phone lying face up on the table. Almost midnight. To hell with it, then. The guy wasn’t going to show tonight, either. He plucked a few bills from his wallet and threw them next to the empty glasses. What he needed now was to lose himself inside a soft body or two. He’d come back again tomorrow night.
One of the women gasped.
He frowned. What?
“Were there gold flecks in that beer?” the other one said, a mixture of confusion and awe on her face. “Or is that just an extremely generous tip?”
Shit. He’d put down too much.
Way to draw attention to yourself, asshole.
Grabbing one of the bills, he laughed as he stuffed it back in his wallet. He tried tabulating the exact amount he’d thrown down, but came up empty. Numbers and letters often became a jumbled mess in his head, especially when he was under pressure.
“Never been much good at counting.” He hated to admit this weakness to anyone, but better they thought he was stupid than not from their world. He nodded toward the video screens. “Still jacked from the game, I guess. When Crosby scored at the end, I lost it. Partied a little too hard.”
“Me too,” the redhead said. “I totally freaked out and accidentally spilled my drink on the guy next to me. He was so pissed that we ended up leaving and coming over here.”
Thank the Fates he’d been paying enough attention to the game to rattle off that detail. The women seemed to buy the explanation for his screwup. They continued talking about the match and the upcoming championship games, which sounded much more civilized than the Warrior Games back home, where some participants actually died.
“Ready, ladies?” he asked a few minutes later.
The blonde pursed her lips into a pouty frown. “So soon?”
Clearly she wasn’t surprised by his assumption that they were going to be leaving with him. She was expecting to hook up…just maybe not this fast.
“Both of us? Together?” The redhead placed a hand on his thigh and slid it north.
That would be a big fat
yes
. “Only if you want to.”
He leaned over and kissed her—Monique? Mindy?—then the other one—Cindy? Susan? They scooted a little closer until their breasts were pressed against his biceps.
Although he’d been told their names a few times, he’d forgotten them already. A twinge of guilt lodged in his throat like a dry cracker. He prided himself on always remembering the names of the women he slept with. As an Iron Guild warrior, honor and respect, even in the smallest ways, were not taken lightly.
“And only if you like dogs,” he said, smiling, though he was serious. Conry was his touchstone. If a woman didn’t like dogs, Asher moved on.
“Dogs?” they asked in unison.
“Wherever I go, he goes. But he’s quiet. You’ll never know he’s there.”
Through the window, he could just make out the lanky, wiry-coated animal in the shadows across the street. Although Conry could fend for himself, Asher had picked this precise spot in the club because he could keep an eye on him from here.
Interesting. A woman was with him.
He sat up straighter. He couldn’t make out her face, but she wore a short green dress and cowboy boots. There was a dish of water that hadn’t been there before, and as Conry drank, she stroked his head. Was she talking to him? What was she saying? She stood, turned quickly enough that her skirt twirled up, exposing the backs of her thighs, and went back inside the building.
A smile crept to his lips. He liked it when people were kind to his dog. Especially pretty girls.
“You bring him out clubbing?” Cindy asked, turning to look. “I love dogs.”
The deerhound had retreated into the shadow of the awning, just the tip of his tail showing now. He was looking in the direction the woman had gone and not here, where he knew Asher was.
How strange. Conry wasn’t overly affectionate with people he didn’t know. Most of the time, he stood off to the side, watching and taking in everything. He wasn’t the type of dog who lay at your feet, rolled over to his back, and wanted you to scratch his belly. He had more dignity than that.
Hell, was he wagging his tail?
“I don’t see him,” she said.
He suddenly didn’t want to point him out. What if she wanted to go over there and pet him? Conry would let her, of course, but there was something about the way he was acting with the woman in the cowboy boots that Asher found intriguing. He didn’t want to spoil it.
In fact, now that he thought about it, he wanted to check her out, too. He fired off some lame excuse about forgetting a prior engagement.
“But what about our plans?” Monique asked. She frowned, and he noticed that tiny lines of makeup had gathered in the creases of her face.
“Yeah, I thought we were leaving together,” Cindy chimed in.
“I’m sorry, ladies.” And he really did feel bad. He didn’t like to lead women on. He was a man of his word in and out of the bedroom. For a brief moment, he considered taking them to the dark hallway near the restrooms that he’d spotted earlier. Ten, fifteen minutes tops was all he’d need to satisfy the two of them as well as himself. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d made two women come simultaneously.
There was Conry, wagging his tail again. What was going on?
He stood up. “Another time, ladies. I’ll be here tomorrow night.”
A moment later, he was extracting himself from the booth and making his way through the crowd. Once outside, he took a deep breath. The night air was cool and damp, holding a hint of rain. Compared to the stuffy atmosphere inside, it was invigorating. Instead of whistling to Conry like he normally did, he started across the street, checking out his surroundings as he went.
Movement near the front of the club drew his attention. A dark figure darted from the shadows and crouched near a parked car. Given the way he carried himself, Asher knew he was military.
Shit. Had someone tipped them off? If he were recognized as a warrior of the Iron Guild, they’d come after him, and if captured, he’d meet the same fate as Fallon.
He scanned the streets. Just a few groups of late-night partygoers laughing and staggering down the sidewalks on both sides of the road. There weren’t any Night Patrol units either, which was a little unusual for this part of town. Usually they were everywhere.
The man near the parked car didn’t seem to have noticed him, so Asher crept along the far side of the street to get a closer look. The guy was shrugging a backpack from his shoulders. Unease prickled down Asher’s spine, making the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
The guy huddled over the pack for a moment, then turned and ran.
“Holy Fates,” Asher hissed, as the realization hit him.
He ran, his arms and legs pumping.
Boom.
He flew through the air as the front of the club exploded.
Chapter Three
Down in the wine cellar of the Grape and Bean, Olivia struggled to get her bearings straight.
The wooden ladder she’d used to reach the top shelf now lay at an awkward angle over one of the standup tables. Dozens of bottles had fallen from their slots and shattered on the floor. Broken glass and red wine was everywhere. One tall rack that obviously hadn’t been bolted to the wall had tipped over, taking with it several boxes of unopened Reidel wine glasses. The overhead pendant lights were swinging precariously, casting grotesque shadows on the stone walls.
The sound had been deafening. Like a Metro comm-train crashing into the building, only the nearest line was more than a mile away. It had to have been an earthquake. Though she’d only been five years old when the Big One hit, this had to be right up there. She’d done a report in school once about a man pinned under the rubble for almost a week. Recalling the photo on the book cover showing the twisted stairwell that had been his home, she prayed she’d be able to get up the narrow flight of stairs to the tasting room.
“Marco,” she called out, gingerly stepping over a case of wine that now sat between her and the door. “Are you okay?”
She pushed the handle. It didn’t budge. Panic bloomed in her chest, making it hard to breathe. She sucked in a few raspy gulps of air as blood pounded loudly behind her eardrums. The room suddenly shrank to half its size. Claustrophobic. Had something fallen in front of the door on the other side, blocking her in?
“Calm down,” she said aloud. “A freak-out isn’t going to help.” She tried the door again. It still didn’t move. She pounded for a good five or ten minutes, pausing only to yell for Marco. Her fist hurt. Her voice became hoarse. Each time she stopped, she held her breath, waiting for an answer, but all she could hear was the far-off sound of sirens.
Damn these stone walls.
Using her shoulder, she pushed with all her strength, but nothing happened.
Where was he? Where was that couple celebrating their anniversary?
If only she had her cell phone, but it was in the back office.
Hitching up her skirt, she planned to kick at the door with the heel of her cowboy boot, but right before she did, she noticed the frame had shifted near the bottom. Maybe that’s what was jamming the door.
She searched the room for something to use as a crowbar and spotted one of the wrought-iron chairs. Perfect. That just might work. She grabbed the closest one—damn, it was heavy—and shoved the flat metal foot against the frame, trying to wedge it into the crack between the jamb and the door. Now, if she could get the angle right. Using the seat as a lever, she wrenched with all her strength. Not expecting it to work, she was shocked when the wood suddenly gave way. She lost her balance and nearly fell to the floor.
She exited the cellar and darted for the stairs, absently stepping over more broken stemware on her way up. When she got to the top, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The plate glass window had shattered and the street outside was a war zone. Several emergency vehicles were parked at crazy angles in the middle of the road, their lights flashing. People were shouting orders. Others were crying. Running.
Despite a light drizzle, a thick layer of smoke and dust hung in the air. The Grape and Bean awning was tattered and hanging by just a corner. It appeared as though all the businesses on both sides of the street had been affected, with the club across the street suffering the most damage. The whole front facade was gone, reduced to rubble.
God, how long had she been stuck down there? On one hand, it had seemed like hours, but in reality, it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. Had Marco and the customers gone outside to see what had happened?
She was dimly aware that her phone was ringing from somewhere behind her. It was her mother’s distinctive ringtone. With shaking hands, she found her purse. It took three tries to hit the Talk button.
“Mom?”
“Liv! Are you all right? Oh my God, I’ve been trying to reach you.”
At the sound of her mother’s voice, Olivia choked. Rather than anchoring her and giving her strength, it reminded her that she was barely holding herself together. Struggling to get herself under control, she wished she’d have thought to answer her mother via text instead. That would’ve been much easier. The urge to get outside and see if anyone needed her was almost unbearable.
“A little shaken up. What about you?”
“Me? I’m fine.” Her mother sounded confused as well. “What are you talking about?”
“Aren’t you home? Didn’t you feel it?”
Just then, a man stumbled on the sidewalk in front of the Grape and Bean, his face covered in soot. “Mom, I’ve got to go. It’s chaos around here.”