Deadlocked (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 3) (13 page)

Tess chose not to follow me
back into the shop demanding details. Yay, for small favours. I was busy
putting away the clean dishes when suddenly the door chimed. I looked up in
time to see three dishevelled-looking men, norms around my age, stalk in. Their
eyes scanned the shop, clearly casing the place. Jon, one of my werewolf
babysitters for the day, flicked his gaze to mine and I gave a little shake of
my head. The leader of the group strode up to the counter where Tiffy was
meticulously polishing the Deco. The other two men spread out to either side
of the shop, standing with arms crossed, meant to intimidate I’m sure.

I stepped up to the counter,
moving in front of Tiffy. “Can I help you?” I gave the goon my most pleasant
smile.

“Gimme everything in your
register. Do it now and no one gets hurt.” The man, I’ll call him Goon A,
had his hand in his jacket pocket and he gave it a little
wave, like he was holding a concealed gun. “I said now, sweetheart, or are you
too blonde to understand?” He laughed, looking over at his buddies to see if
they joined in. They did.

“Oh, you so did not go
there,” I replied, shaking my blonde head.

“What?” Goon A looked
confused.

“Don’t worry about it.
Listen, I don’t have time for this shit right now. Why don’t you three idiots
go on home and we’ll all forget this ever happened.”

“No, you listen, bitch.”
Goon A waved his pocket around again. “Give me all your money or I’ll cap one
between your fucking eyes.”

“Seriously? Do people
actually talk like that outside of movies?” I gave him a look of pity.
“You’re just going to get yourselves hurt.” I included his back-up goons in my
gaze.

“Are you nuts or something,
bitch?” He looked at me in shock. “Who’s gonna hurt me? You?” He gestured
with his pocket again - like I believed he really had a gun in there, please,
give me some credit.

“No, not me, my associate.”
I gave a little shrug. “Oh Tess,” I looked over at Tess. She was standing in
the doorway to the kitchen, watching the exchange with a grin on her face.
“Tess, would you be a dear and come out here and speak to these idi-, I mean
gentlemen?”

Tiffy, who, in
uncharacteristic fashion, had taken a bold step out from behind me to stand at
my side looked at the three men and gave them a grin. “Oh you’re in trouble
now, boyos,” she said, her grin growing wider. I did a double-take. I wonder
if anyone else noticed the extra row of craggy, shark-like teeth?

The three men looked at me,
clearly confused by my lack of cooperation, and then Tess stepped out from the
doorway. “Certainly, Harry,” she said with a smile.

The goons took one look at
all five foot three of her and burst out laughing.

“That’s your back up?” Goon A
guffawed. “Oh, I’m soooo scared.” He turned to share a laugh with his buddies
and then turned back to face Tess. “Careful sweetheart, you might break a
nail. Now quit fucking around and give me the ca-”

With lightning quick,
werewolf speed, Tess was in front of the goon, her knee delivering a blow to
his groin that would probably leave him choking on his own testicles for a
week. The goon fell to his knees with a squeal of pain and Tess followed
through with a knuckle punch to the throat, leaving him rolling on the floor in
pain, gasping for breath.

One of the goon’s buddies (Goon B) suddenly realized they were in trouble and stepped up to help his friend, but
by that point I had already vaulted over the counter. I landed in front of
him, bringing my elbow up to smash him in the face, breaking his nose. He
stumbled back, blood gushing down his face, into the waiting arms of Jon.
Mike, my other werewolf babysitter, quickly pinned back Goon C’s
arms as well, leaving Goon A defenseless on the floor. Just as well the goons
were the only norms in the place or we would have had a hard time explaining
everything.

I stepped over to Goon A
where he was curled in the fetal position, wheezing and holding his groin,
tears running down his cheeks. Tess gave him a push with her foot, rolling him
flat on his back. She put a dainty little foot down on his chest. “I guess
we’ll have to call the cops,” she said with an exaggerated sigh.

“Maybe not,” I replied with a
shrug. “Tiffy? Will you be a dear and reach under the counter and grab my
katana?” After last night’s unwelcome visitor, I had felt it best not to come
to work unarmed. I held out my hand and Tiffy placed my scabbard in my palm.
“Do you know what they used to do to thieves in the olden days?” Goon A began
to squirm but Tess’s foot couldn’t be budged.

Tess smiled wickedly. “Oh
yeah.” She switched to kneeling with one knee on the goon’s chest and wrestled
his arm out from his body. I pulled my blade out slowly, the sound ringing
through the shop.

“What the hell?” Goon A
screamed. “You can’t do that!”

“Who’s going to stop me?
You? Your friends?” I pulled his arm out, stepping on his hand to hold it in
place. He howled as my heel ground into the bones of his hand. I made a show
of lining the blade up with his wrist.

Goon A flinched, his eyes
closed tight. I waited a minute, letting the suspense kick in. “No, please,
wait. Wait! I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He looked at me, pleading with his eyes.

“Not as sorry as you’re going
to be,” I said, bringing the blade down with a chop.

The goon screamed a blood
curdling scream and then suddenly it stopped. His eyes popped open and he
looked in surprise at the blade resting on his wrist. I had pulled back my
swing just before I broke the skin. I slowly drew the blade across his wrist,
leaving a thin red line. Blood immediately began to well. It would sting like
a bitch in a minute.

I stepped away from Goon A,
after first stopping to wipe my blade clean on his jacket. Tess stood up. The
moment her knee left his chest, the goon rolled away and got to his feet. I
turned, dipping the end of my katana to touch his chest.

“Spread the word, boys. Next
time someone comes into my shop with a gun, real or otherwise, I’m keeping it
and the hand that held it.” I stared at each man in turn. None of them would
meet my eyes. “Now get the hell out of here before I change my mind and call
the cops.”

***

Compared to the visit from our
would-be robbers, the rest of the afternoon was thankfully uneventful. Tess
left to go back to the gym. She had an early evening class to teach. Nash
ambled in a short while later, looking damn sexy with his day old stubble.
His partner, Dev, followed on his heels. I had hardly seen Dev at all lately.
He always seemed to be tied up back at the precinct putting out supernatural
fires.

Dev was a norm, but he had
the gift of persuasion, something that came in handy when trying to deal with
supernatural crimes while keeping the norms in the dark. He must have had a
witch in his family tree at some point, his gift skipping a generation or two.
I eyed him speculatively. Maybe he was part Fae. I’d have to get Mrs. P to
scope him out. He certainly had the otherworldly good looks to have some Fae
blood, with his mixed race colouring and baby blue eyes, he was definitely a
head-turner. Even Tiffy didn’t seem to be immune from his charm. Dev was more
‘pretty boy’ though, and not my type. No, Nash, with his roguish good looks,
was more my taste.

I flashed Nash a smile from
across the room, then suddenly remembered Jon and Mike, wondering if they had
tattled about my little encounter with the goons earlier.

Nash’s eyes narrowed as he looked
at me, his smile becoming a smirk. “Oh no, what now?”

“Nothing,” I said, trying to
feign innocence.

“What?” Nash replied, his face
puzzled. I looked at him, my teeth worrying my lower lip. He crossed the room,
heading towards me. “It’s so sexy when you lick your lips like that. I can’t
help but imagine that sexy mouth of yours wrapped around something else.”

“Nash!” I gaped at him. I
couldn’t believe he had just said that out loud, in front of everyone. In
front of customers! I grabbed him by the arm, dragging him down the hall. I
stopped in front of the storeroom. The lighting was a little dimmer there and
we’d have a bit of privacy. “Nash, you can’t just go saying - ”

I grunted in surprise as
Nash grabbed me by the shoulders, pushing me up against the wall, his lips against
mine. His hand cradled the back of my head, his fingers grasping my hair
roughly. He pulled my head back, tipping my face up to meet his. He nibbled
down my neck, his whiskers scratching deliciously across my sensitive skin.

He took a deep breath, taking
in my scent and then stepped back, looking at me critically. “What have
you been up to?” His eyes narrowed again as he looked at me.

“Nothing,” I replied
defensively. “Just working, taking care of business.” I shrugged.

“Then why do you have
that cute little ‘I’m guilty’ look?” He raised an eyebrow at me, his mouth
turning up at the corners.

“I do not.” I frowned at
him, biting my lip.

“Then why are you biting your
lip? You drive me crazy when you do that.”

“Yeah, you already said
that.” I scowled at him. “In front of everyone.”

Nash looked at me, a confused
expression on his face. “What are you talking about?”

“A minute ago….” I stopped,
my cellphone ringtone announcing an incoming call from Salvador, the creepy
organ music echoing through the hallway. I rolled my eyes. “I should take
this. It’s Salvador.”

I stepped away and answered
the call. “Good evening, Salvador,” I said, trying to keep my impatience from
my voice.

“Harry,” he replied, his
usual creepy joviality absent. “I require your presence in the penthouse
tonight. We have matters to discuss.”

“We do?”

“Eight o’clock. Bring your
wolf,” he continued, ignoring my question. “And Angharad, this is not a
request.”

He hung up, leaving me
staring at the phone. “Damn bossy vampire.”

Nash eyed me. “I wonder what
my ringtone is?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
I replied, pushing my phone into my back pocket.

“What?” Nash frowned at me.

“I said, wouldn’t you like to
know…what your ringtone is?”

“But I never said that out
loud.” Nash frowned.

“Yes, you did, just now. I heard
you.” I frowned back at him. “Just like I heard you say how you like to
imagine my sexy lips wrapped – ”

“I know I didn’t say
that
out loud.” Nash looked surprised.

“You did so. Right in front
of every….Oh!” I blinked in surprise as an idea whirled around in my head. “
I
can hear your thoughts! Can you hear mine?
” I aimed my thoughts at him as
hard as I could, my brow wrinkling up in concentration.

“
I heard that.
”
Nash’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Holy shit!” I said out loud.

“
How is this happening?
”
Nash looked at me, his face still shocked.

“You know you didn’t say that
out loud, right?”

Nash frowned. “Right. Yeah,
I knew that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “So can you hear all my
thoughts?”

“I don’t think so. At least
I couldn’t with Isaac. I just hear the ones you direct at me.”

“Wait. You can speak this
way with Isaac?”

“Yeah, remember? When I gave
him some of my blood?” My eyes grew wide as realization dawned on me. “Of
course, I had some of your blood last night. The mate bond must work like the
bond between Isaac and me.”

“So it’s temporary? Or…?”

“I don’t know. I guess,
unless I, uh…feed from you again.” I felt my cheeks flame red.

“
You look adorable when
you blush like that
.” Nash gave me a heated look. “About that,” he said
out loud, raking a hand through his hair.

I noticed his wrist, the one
I had bitten the night before. He was wearing a wide leather cuff bracelet. I
grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong with your wrist? Didn’t it heal?” He was a
werewolf, it should have healed in no time.

“That’s what I was just going
to mention.” Nash pulled at the cuff, opening the snaps to peel it off his
wrist. There were two dainty little scars matching my fang bites.

“Oh!” I looked at the scars
in surprise. “I didn’t know they’d do that.” I looked up at him. “I’m
sorry.” I frowned, looking down at the marks again. I really hadn’t meant to,
well, to mark him.

“Hey minx, it’s okay. I
don’t mind. Really.” He tipped up my chin so I would look him in the eye.
“It’s only fair I guess. I did mark you after all.” He shrugged, a grin on
his face.

“But do they hurt or
something? Why are you wearing the cuff?” I brushed a finger over the two
little dots.

Nash groaned and took a deep
breath. His eyes locked onto mine, full of need. He pinned me to the wall
with his body. “No minx, they don’t hurt.” He rocked his hips against me and
I could feel his hard length push against my belly. “They’re so sensitive
right now, any time my sleeve brushes against them I get a massive hard-on.
All I’ve been able to think about today is…” He dipped his head, locking his
lips to mine. “
Fucking you, over and over.
” His thoughts washed over
me, followed by a chaser of pure lust. I’m not sure if it was his or mine. My
lips parted and he deepened the kiss.