Page 64 of Heart of Iron
“She didn’t…tell you?”Delight turned Colchester’s pale blue eyes warm.Then they bulged as Will’s grip tightened.
He could barely see through the red haze choking him.One twist and he could tear the bastard’s head from his shoulders.But movement caught his eye.The shopkeeper, trembling in the doorway as he watched in horror.
Not here.Not now.
Butoneday, he promised himself.
Forcing his hand open, he shoved Colchester back.The duke staggered into the glass cases, spraying glass across the floor.He was still laughing and the sound of it rode Will’s nerves like a saw.He saw red again and turned away, breathing hard.
“She has the sweetest blood, you know?”Colchester called.“Purrs like a little kitten under the touch—”
The next thing he knew, he was slamming Colchester face-first into another case.The shopkeeper cringed, but the laughter finally died.Will dragged the duke out of the mess of glass and jewelry and smashed a fist into his midsection.Colchester bent over like a sack of spilled suet, blood and glass encrusting his face.
A boot hooked behind his and they both went down.Something hot bit into his back but he paid it no mind, riding the edge of the storm within him.Locking his arm around the duke’s neck he twisted and slammed him down onto the hard floor, scrambling on top of him with his fist raised—
It never descended.
A hand caught his, iron fingers wrapping around his fist like a manacle.“That’s enough,” someone barked.
Will looked up, his teeth bared.
“Control yourself,” snapped a vaguely familiar voice.The stranger was almost as tall as Will himself, but built lean and hard.His eyes were the same chilling blue as a glacier and he wore black leather from head to toe, the hard carapace of a breastplate covering his chest.
Will blinked, finally noticing the pair of guards behind the stranger.He looked down to find his other hand twisted in Colchester’s waistcoat.Blood ran down the duke’s pale face, with chips of glass embedded in his cheek.
“Get him off me,” Colchester snapped, spitting blood.“I demand this creature be arrested.”
And that was when Will realized who the stranger was.
Sir Jasper Lynch, master of the Nighthawks guild of thief-catchers.They’d worked together three years ago to bring down the vampire.Lynch was a hard man, but efficient.Unfortunately he was also a blue blood.
Yanking Will to his feet, Lynch stared down his hawkish nose at the duke.“Your Grace,” he said in a voice completely lacking inflection.“On what charges?”
“Assault.”Colchester rolled to his feet, brushing glass off his coat.He looked around.“Property damage.”A smirk appeared.“Attempted theft.”
Will growled and strained forward, but Lynch yanked his arm up behind his back and shoved him face-first into the wall.Even in the grip of the fury, he recognized a man who knew the right pressure points to press to hold him there, despite his superior strength.
“Don’t be a fool,” Lynch whispered deadly soft.“That’s exactly what he wants.”Then he gave one last wrench on Will’s arm and let him go.
Will shoved free, glaring at Colchester.
“We’ll need to have you make a formal complaint at the guild headquarters,” Lynch said.“Then we’ll have to find a magistrate who’ll charge him.And the witness of course,” he added, with a nod to the shopkeeper.
Colchester paused in the act of brushing himself off.“What the bloody hell do we need him for?You saw him.He attacked me with no provocation.”
“I’m afraid I intervened in an untimely manner,” Lynch replied.“I only saw two men fighting.”
The pair of them eyed each other.Colchester’s eyes narrowed.“You’re making a mistake, Lynch.I’ll have you replaced before sundown.”
“Unlikely, Your Grace,” Lynch replied.“The Council commands law enforcement in the city.Not you.”
A moment of heavy silence descended before Colchester looked away.“So be it.”Colchester’s fists clenched at his sides, and he looked past Lynch at Will.His teeth were bloody as he smiled.“Don’t think you’ll be the first.The little slut’s got a taste for it.”
It took the three Nighthawks to hold him back this time.Will fought to push past, straining for Colchester.The duke straightened his lapel, brushed the glass shards out of his cheek, and then sauntered out the door.
“Let him go,” Lynch snarled.“You’ll only get yourself killed and he’s not worth it.”
Will looked up.They’d pinned him against the wall and he was distantly aware of something warm and wet trickling down his back.Lynch stared at him for a moment then nodded curtly and stepped back.
