Page 22 of Fanged Desire
"Yeah, right," she snorted. "What, did you grow up in a Shaolin temple or something?"
I rolled my eyes, almost –almostregretting ever getting involved with this woman. "Let it go.”
I could already feel the impending headache. And I had no one to blame but myself.
When Micere loomed into view, I parked a little further down the street, pulling into an alley where we wouldn’t be spotted.
"Wait here," I told Addison, already sliding out of my seat.
"Absolutely not," Addison shot back, unbuckling her seatbelt. "I’m coming with you."
I opened my mouth to argue but stopped myself. We were running out of time and we couldn’t afford to waste it bickering. "Fine," I muttered, pushing the car door open. "But stay behind me and keep quiet."
We hurried toward the club, heading for the back door just like before. The back entrance was quieter than the front, but I still kept my senses on high alert as we approached. A few steps from the entrance I spotted Ethan leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette. He raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of us.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Everyone is up in arms about some grand robbery, and I know you’re involved,Hunter."
"I’m trying to fix it," I replied curtly, glancing down the hallway behind him. "We need to get into the manager’s office and grab the security footage."
Ethan stared at me for a moment, his expression frosty. If we’d met under different circumstances I would have introduced him to Dylan. They could have a stare-off.
“Are they looking for me?” Addison intercepted our glares, catching Ethan’s attention. “What did you tell them?”
Ethan’s expression softened for her and he smirked. “I told them you’d blown chunks all over the change rooms and had to head home. So long as they don’t catch sight of you, that story holds.”
Addison grimaced, shooting him a withering glare of her own. “Did you have to be so specific?”
"Never mind that. Can you help or not?" I demanded, patience wearing thin.
Ethan sighed, taking one last drag of his cigarette before tossing it aside. "Fine. I’ll distract them, but you two better make this quick. The manager’s not stupid."
Considering my actions of late, I was feeling rather stupid myself.
Chapter 10
Addison
I had no intention of spilling my guts to a woman I was beginning to suspect was not at all human, and I certainly hadn’t anticipated playing accomplice in a heist that night. But stranger things had happened, and there was too much at stake to hesitate now.
Ethan had ushered us through the back door of Micere with his usual nonchalant charm, striding ahead to strike up conversation with anyone who might have been loitering around. He veered left, redirecting a poor unsuspecting dancer as he went with an opening line that he certainly intended for me to hear.
“Did you hear about Addison? Poor dear couldn’t hold her liquor, or her lunch for that matter. I’ve never seen a projectile vomit of that velocity –”
I had half a mind to stomp on after him and defend my dignity, but Hunter was already tugging me in the other direction. We left Ethan prattling away to the confused woman as the two ofus went right, heading deeper into the dim back corridors of the club.
Needless to say, my nerves were frayed. Grabbing that video footage wasn’t going to be easy, and after what I’d seen Hunter do to those men earlier I didn’t want to think about what she’d do to anyone who caught us.
The corridor was narrow, illuminated only by emergency lights that cast eerie shadows against the walls, the muffled, jarring shriek of techno music reverberating through the building not helping my anxiety in the slightest. I walked ahead of Hunter, keeping my steps light, and ignoring the gnawing dread in my stomach.
I snuck a glance at her from the corner of my eye. She moved with the kind of grace that suggested she’d done this before – silent, controlled, and utterly calm. But I could see the tension coiled beneath that exterior. Whatever her reasons, Hunter needed that footage just as much as I did.
We turned a corner and I glanced back at her. “Almost there–”
I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence. One moment I was leading the way, and the next her arm was snaking around my stomach, thumping the wind out of me as she yanked me off my feet. Her other hand clamped over my mouth, cutting off the words that had barely left my lips.
My back hit her chest, and she pulled me with her in one fluid motion, dragging us both into the shadows. I tensed up on impulse as Hunter’s grip around me tightened, clamping me in place with alarming ease. I could feel the searing heat of her body against mine, the dig of her fingers at my waist. Hot breath brushed against my neck and left goosebumps in its wake.
Past the thundering of my heartbeat I heard footsteps heading our way.
