Chapter Six
I surveyed the menas they surrounded me, on three sides. I ambled backward to keep one shelf directly behind me.
They focused their eyes on the watch tucked tight in my grip.
I peered around the first goon to meet Mr. Echo’s hard gaze. “My threat stands. I’m going to come back here and burn your little shop to the ground.”
He didn’t seem concerned. Yet another man underestimating my bloodthirst when it came to betraying me.
“You can try, young lady, but I must warn you I have anti-fire wards all over this place.”
Another fucking mage. Why did it turn out all the bad guys were mages? Couldn’t a girl get one good guy mage to look up to?
The men inched closer, and I bumped into the shelf. It teetered slightly when I put my weight into it.
“Well, if he won’t listen, I’ll give you boys a chance to walk away without some broken bones,” I said, making eye contact with each of them.
“Don’t bother,” Echo called from behind them. “They only answer to me.”
I shook my head. “Do you have a nasty villain mantra book back there you’re drawing from? You’re being cliché and I honestly think you’re better than that.”
He answered with a slightly demented smile. “Do you have a plucky heroine mantra book at home on your nightstand?”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped. Nothing better than fighting a bad guy with banter. “Touché. I should really work on my one liners. They’re getting stale.”
“Take the watch. Kill her,” Echo said from his safe position across the room.
One guy charged forward. I dodged to the edge of the shelf and let him ram chest first into it. The shelf teetered and fell on him. It was so satisfying when the goons did exactly what I wanted them to do.
“Anchoring your furniture is important, Echo. Didn’t you read the Ikea instruction manual?”
I backed into a narrow aisle so the guys could only come at me one at a time. I wouldn’t survive if they came at me as a group.
Another goon came at me. I lashed out with a punch to throw him back a few steps. So far, none of them had used any magic. I didn’t know if I was relieved, or if they were saving it for their big musical number at the end.
The punched guy took another run at me. I crouched to sweep my leg under him. My ribs protested the movement, but so far, I hadn’t taken any hits there, so I’d say I was doing all right. He landed hard on the concrete, knees up, windshield wiper-ing back and forth.
“Two down, two to go. Did you use actual wood in this place or all concrete?”
The third goon took a running leap toward me.
He was pretty fast, but I’d been practicing with a fae. I grabbed a nearby lamp and swung it at his head, connecting with the guy’s skull and shattering the ceramic base.
He went down fast.
“Wow, you guys aren’t very quality. I’d get a refund on your might, Echo.”
The other goons had regained their feet, and I cast my gaze around for a weapon. The box conveniently labelled weapons sat on a shelf near Echo. If I made a move for it, I doubt I’d get it open before his goon squad got to me.
My indecision got me a punch to the face.
I licked a spot of blood from my lip and stared at the goon who’d hit me. “I was trying to be nice by not making you all look like pussies in front of your boss, but now, I’m tired of your shit.”
He threw another punch, which I blocked with my forearm before delivering my own solid hit to the side of his ear. With a hiss, he scrambled out of my reach again.
Without a weapon, I couldn’t end this fight properly, not alone.
Keeping an eye on the goons, I side stepped toward the shelf with the weapon box. The goons came at me from the front and behind again, but they had to maneuver around the shelves in the middle of the room. Every time they even brushed by a box, Echo made a distressing noise in his throat.
Out of sheer curiosity, I delivered a powerful kick to the nearest box, sending it off the shelf to smash on the floor. Wood chips spilled out along with some sort of jewelry. Echo rushed forward, but one goon nudged him into the corner.
“Wonder what’s in box number two,” I shouted and moved to kick the next box.
One guy swooped under my thigh and took me down to the concrete floor. My head hit the ground hard enough to shoot stars through my vision.
A boot hit my side, and I screamed.
Someone grabbed my hand to pry the watch loose from my grip. They weren’t winning that easily. Especially with a sucker kick. I shoved the heel of my hand into the man’s nose, hard, sending him backward with a broken face. Blood poured from the wound and down the front of my hand.
I scrambled to my feet, fire in my lungs with every breath.
“Anyone else want some?” I yelled.
Two of the guys surged forward at once, the bloody one still a few feet away, nursing his face in his hands. They each grabbed a wrist and compressed the nerves at the base of my palm. Between breaths, the watch was there in my grip, and then it was gone. Vanished. And no-one took it away, so where the hell did it go?
Yet another thing for me to figure out once I got out of here. I yanked my arm out of one of the guy’s grasp and slammed the other guy’s head into a shelf, sending it toppling over into another. Thing one and thing two would have to come around to the other side to reach me now.
From his corner Echo called, “Where’s the watch?”
I punched the nearest good in the neck and spun away from a kick that would have probably taken out the rest of the ribs on my injured side.
“I don’t know. As you said, I’m a half-breed welp with barely any magic. Sometimes shit just happens when I want it to.”
I was only a few feet away from the box labelled weapons. Just a little more. The goon with the bloody nose remained by Echo, who apparently was so powerful he needed a bodyguard from little ol’ me. Flattering.
“Where do you get all your henchmen?” I asked, sliding an inch at a time toward the weapons. “I’ve been wondering that since this other mage I’m hunting always seems to have a never-ending supply. I figure, if they’re cheap, I can pick up a few for my next fight.”
“Will you just shut up and hand over the watch?” one of the goons said.
I chuckled; his statement was so like some of the things Hawk used to spout at me when we sparred. He thought my jabbering was annoying, but that was the point. Distracting myself enough so I could maneuver, distracting the opposition enough to get them angry so they make a stupid mistake. Hawk never made stupid moves, but did often threaten me with duct tape if I didn’t be quiet.
One goon snuck in close enough to send another hit toward my ribs. I tried to block, but movement on that side had slowed down after the boot landing broke something.
At. While I was doubled over trying to get my bearings, another goon swooped in and dragged me upright.
They held me tight against the shelf. One pressed his hand around my throat. Two held my arms, and the other backed Echo.
“Now, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” Echo said.
“Another perfect cliché,” I said, despite the man compressing my windpipe.
Echo stepped around some of the mess to stand in front of me. “Search her pockets. Let’s see if it’s in there.”
One goon fished out my cell phone and tossed it away. An audible crunch made me wince. Damn. I really needed to put one of those life protector cases on it. The guys at the phone store were going to ask questions if I kept having to buy new phones every month.
Another goon threw a pack of gum and a spare hair tie to the ground. Once they turned my jacket pockets out, they dug through the inside ones. One of them got a little too close to my nipple, and I tried to headbutt him in the face, but I couldn’t with the other guy’s tight grip on my neck.
“Anything?” Echo demanded.
They shook out my jacket but found nothing.
I gave him a minute to process before wriggling in my hold. “Cool. It’s not here. I don’t even know what I did with it. What’s so important about it, anyway?”
I tasted iron in the back of my throat. Blood in my lungs was never a good sign. Shit. I only had a little time to milk the information out of these guys.
When I squirmed again, Echo waved off the main goon who held my head back. Thank you.
“You, my dear, had no idea what you were in possession of. Tell me, what mage did you steal it from? I must know.”
I tried to shrug with all the hands on me. “You probably don’t know him. He runs in certain circles.”
Mr. Echo spluttered around half-formed protests. I used the heel of my boot to kick at the weapon box behind me. It barely moved. Whatever he’d loaded inside had to be too heavy. Shit.
Echo stepped in closer, his face mottled and red. “Tell me his name.”
“Esteban, I think. At least that’s what I’ve been calling him. Why? Do you know his real one?”
“The Black Mage,” Echo hissed, and stumbled away from me.
I gave him a smile. “Oh, so you know him. Cool. Yeah, he and I keep meeting. Can’t say I enjoy it, but I wonder what he’d think about you being in possession of the watch I stole from him? Do you think he’s one of those guys who waits for explanations, or just starts taking heads?”
By the fear that flashed across Echo’s face, I assumed all magical people were just as terrified of him as everyone else—which made sense if he could steal anyone’s powers he wanted. Why hadn’t he taken mine yet?
Oh, right, because he wanted to use me as a breeding machine. The thought almost made me gag.
Echo waved at the goons holding me. They dropped me, but they didn’t look thrilled about it. “Get out. Now. Get out of my shop. If he knows you stole his artifact, he can trace the signature. You’ll lead him right to me.”
I coughed blood into my hand and sank to my knees. “I’m gonna need a minute, fellas.”
Echo backed away and then took off, sprinting toward the front door of his shop. The goons stared between him and me, then finally followed him. One delivered another sharp kick to my face before walking out.
I lay face down on the cold concrete and tried to breathe through the piercing pain in my chest. Any minute now something would make one of my lungs collapse.
With my vision swimming, I pressed up off the floor to sit. Upright, it hurt less to breathe, so I settled back against the shelf and focused on doing just that. Warm blood ran down my face, over my lips, but I’d broken my nose so many times I’d lost count.
My thoughts drifted to Fin and the kiss I’d dragged him into. He’d kissed me back, and I wished I’d had the balls to stay, to let him keep kissing me and see where it went from there. Even if it happened only once, I wanted to know what it would feel like with him. Would he be gentle or one of those lovers who demanded every pearl of pleasure they gave?
I groaned. That wasn’t going to get me moving. Who else could I think of that might give me some inspiration? Who’d yell at me until I got my ass up?
The chief popped into my head next and oh man, he would be so mad if he saw me now. He would rant and rave until spit flew from the hard line of his mouth, until I got to my feet and stumbled out of this shit hole.
I used that strength to pull myself up by the shelf, careful not to take in too full a breath.
It took a full minute to walk from one shelf to the next, using the merchandise to pick my way across each shelf.
At the door, I took a deep breath and tried to push it open. A sharp pain sizzled up my side. Then, berating myself, I turned to put my back against the steel and used my hips and shoulders to shove the door open.
The chill in the air slapped me hard, drying some of the blood on my lips. I pulled the hood under my leather jacket up to obscure my face and used the brick wall of the building to make my way out to the sidewalk.
I didn’t have a car or a getaway plan in place. Hell, once the building ended, I didn’t know if I would be able to walk on my own out of this shitty neighborhood without someone robbing me.
I sank to the ground, my back to the corner of the bricks. Of course, all the people running around earlier were nowhere to be seen. I drew in a ragged breath and it fucking hurt so much I whined through the end of it.
Well, this wasn’t the way I wanted to die. Especially since my to-do list had gotten so long. Punch Fin was right up there at the top of it.
Fin.
I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing. Then I focused on the bond between us.
Staying conscious was quickly becoming the biggest problem. The second I passed out, the wolves that lay low around this dodgy end of town would descend and who knew what would happen to me then. I didn’t trust Echo not to return and finish the job he’d started. Or at the very least, one of his goons.
“Stay awake, Zoey,” I whispered to myself.
But it was useless. Darkness closed in around me and I let go of the pain.