I leaned forward till I was almost nose-to-nose with him, meeting his glare with a good bit of steel. “Back the hell off, or you’re going to find out the hard way,” I said as I cocked the gun, making as much noise about it as possible. The diner was kind of noisy, but not so much that Alexis couldn’t hear and recognize the sound.
I got the feeling Alexis desperately wanted to come across the table at me, but he just sat there glaring instead. Then his gaze flicked to something over my shoulder, and his eyes widened.
It was a classic distraction technique, but I couldn’t help taking a peek over my shoulder anyway.
Alexis hadn’t been trying to trick me. Standing in the doorway, giving me a decidedly neutral look, was Blake.
The hostess—who had to be pushing fifty—was giving him goo-goo eyes, and practically every adult female in the place, not to mention a few men, were surreptitiously looking him over. There’s nothing like a well-built pretty-boy to get the hormones working overtime.
Blake ignored all of them—even the hostess, who was trying to direct him to an open seat at the counter—and started toward our table. I uncocked the gun, then scooted over in my seat so I could have the wall at my back while keeping an eye on both men.
Blake had been only slightly less hostile than Jamaal last night, but he was barely paying attention to me today. He and Alexis engaged in a hot and heavy alpha-male staring contest. I could practically smell the testosterone in the air, even over the bacon grease and coffee. I’d have liked to get out from between them, but there wasn’t anywhere to go.
When Blake reached the table, he casually leaned against my side of the booth, never taking his eyes off Alexis.
“She’s one of ours,” Blake said, his voice as challenging as his stare. “Tell Konstantin to mind his own business.”
Konstantin? Who the hell was Konstantin? And what was this “one of ours” crap?
Alexis raised his eyebrows. “If she’s one of yours, then why are you letting her wander around the city unaccompanied before notifying Konstantin about her?”
“Get out. And leave her alone.”
I’d have snapped at Blake for trying to protect the “little woman,” only I wasn’t sure that was what he was trying to do. It felt more like he was claiming his territory.
“I don’t answer to you,” Alexis countered. “And if she really belonged to Anderson, I’m sure she would have mentioned the fact by now.”
“For the record,” I said, though I wondered if drawing attention to myself was a bad idea, “I don’t belong to anybody, especially you assholes.”
Both men ignored me.
Blake shrugged. “Anderson has already decided she belongs to him. He sent me to fetch her, so that’s what I’m doing. You have a problem with that, take it up with him.”
Still barely sparing me a glance, Blake reached out and grabbed my arm in a bruising grip. I, of course, tried to pull away. But he was damn strong.
Alexis leaned forward, putting both his hands on the tabletop, his eyes practically glowing with menace. “Let go of her and get the fuck out of here, or you’ll be sorry,” he growled. “Konstantin wants to talk to her, and only a fool would get in his way.”
Blake let go of my arm and smiled. He, too, leaned forward and put his hands on the table. He was crowding my personal space, but he was doing the same to Alexis. If this went much further, people around us were going to notice and try to break it up or call the cops.
I was considering how I might bring the tension down a notch when I felt a change in the air. The diner suddenly felt about ten degrees hotter, and the crowd and traffic noise became muted and dull.
Blake ran his tongue over those full, sensual lips of his, and even though I’d never been particularly attracted to him, I felt a tug of desire in my nether regions. My pulse kicked up and my breath hitched. The air filled with the musky scent of sex, and I pressed my thighs together in hopes of erasing the ache that had built without warning.
Across from me, Alexis’s eyes darkened, and his mouth fell open. His breaths came in excited little puffs, and sweat dewed his face. The look he was giving Blake screamed of something very different from anger, and I’d bet anything he was sporting quite a tent pole under the table.
“Don’t ever forget who I am,” Blake said in a chilling croon as he leaned in even closer to Alexis. “Zeus’s line may be powerful, but even Zeus was helpless against Eros. Unless you’d like me to take you into the men’s room and fuck you till you scream for mercy, you’d better go tell Konstantin that this one is ours. Understand?”
Whatever Blake had been doing, he stopped abruptly. The temperature dropped, the musky scent evaporated, and the crowd noise returned to normal.
Across the table from me, Alexis recoiled, his back slamming against the backrest as he tried to put distance between himself and Blake. There was a wild look in his eyes, the lust that had been there only moments ago completely gone.
“Konstantin would have your balls for a trophy if you tried it,” Alexis whispered, but though that was supposed to sound like a threat, it wasn’t very effective when his face was so white, and his eyes so wide.
Blake smiled easily. “Wouldn’t do you any good, now would it? Besides, you’d have to tell him what happened, and I don’t see you admitting it. Now get out. If you’re still here when I’ve counted to five, we’ll be partying in the men’s room, and that’s a promise.”
Alexis made a hasty exit before Blake got to two.
I’d have liked nothing better than to follow Alexis’s example, but I was under no illusion that Blake would let me go that easily. He slid into the booth across from me. He beckoned to the harried waitress, and she stopped everything to bring him a fresh cup of coffee.
“Would you really have done it?” I found myself asking, not sure why I cared one way or another.
“Hell yes,” he answered with a sharklike grin as he poured an indecent amount of sugar into his cup. “I’ve always hated that holier-than-thou bastard. He’d have loved every minute of it, too, until his head cleared.”
I sure as hell didn’t like Alexis, but I couldn’t help thinking that what Blake had planned to do to him was downright evil. I guess that thought must have shown on my face.
“Oh, please. Don’t feel sorry for him,” Blake said. “The Olympians have embraced rape and torture as a goddamn art form, and he’s totally on board with that. As long as he’s not the victim, of course.”
“The Olympians?”
“A bunch of descendants of Greek gods. They envision themselves as some kind of master race. They also consider themselves to be the ruling body for all the Liberi.” He flashed me a sarcastic smile. “Not all of us see it that way.”
“And who’s Konstantin?”
“Their leader. He styles himself as their king, but I refused to call him that even when I was an Olympian. I’m sure as hell not going to call him that now.”
My mind boiled with an endless stream of questions. I settled for the one I decided was of most immediate importance. “How did you find me? And how did he find me?”
Blake leaned back in his seat. “I’m guessing he found you because their Oracle had a vision. And before you ask, the Oracle is a descendant of Apollo, and she sometimes sees the future. Most of her visions are so vague and confusing you can’t understand what they mean until whatever it is has already happened. But every once in a while, she sees something clearly.”
I nodded, swallowing my skepticism for the millionth time. “That doesn’t explain how you found me.”
He smiled and didn’t answer. He was definitely being less hostile now than he had been last night, but there was a hint of malice in his eyes; he wanted the mystery of how he had found me to creep me out. Unfortunately, I was giving him exactly what he wanted.
“All right,” I said, trying not to show my discomfort, “why did you find me?”
“Anderson promised you a follow-up conversation, remember?”
&
nbsp; I had a feeling my effort to hide the chill that ran through me was in vain.
“Jack merely delayed the inevitable when he pulled his juvenile little trick and snuck you out,” Blake continued. “I’ll give you a ride back to the house. You’ll be safer there anyway. It’s off-limits to the Olympians.”
Another conversation with Anderson was not on my to-do list, and no matter how much I’d disliked Alexis, I couldn’t imagine feeling “safer” at Anderson’s mansion. “What if I decide to decline your generous offer?”
“I know you caught the edge of my aura when I used it against Alexis,” he said, his nostrils flaring as if he scented my weakness. “The effect would be a hell of a lot more intense if I directed it at you. You’d follow me anywhere, begging me to fuck you. I wouldn’t do it, but I’d magnanimously offer to let you suck my cock during the ride to the house. You’d have a grand ol’ time.” He smiled pleasantly.
I was sick and tired of being scared. The threat made my stomach do flip-flops, but I did my best not to let my face show it. “Is threatening people with rape your answer to every problem?”
“I do find it’s remarkably effective,” he responded with a dry edge in his voice. “And it’s far less ostentatious than grabbing you and dragging you kicking and screaming out the door.”
I hated being bullied, but I didn’t have much choice but to give in—for the moment. “Fine,” I said. “Let’s go see Anderson.”
Blake fixed me with a long, penetrating stare. I had a feeling he knew I wasn’t the type to give up so easily. I gave him my best innocent look. I had no intention of setting foot within ten miles of Anderson and his Hand of Doom, but I didn’t want to give Blake an excuse to practice his unique method of coercion on me. I’d never realized sex could be so effectively weaponized.
I don’t know if my feigned innocence convinced Blake, or if he merely decided he was in too strong a position for me to give him trouble. Whatever the reason, he slipped out of the booth, and I was mildly surprised to see him throw a ten-dollar bill on the table. He hadn’t struck me as the generous type, but not only was he paying for my coffee—and Alexis’s—he was leaving the waitress a sizeable tip. He reached for my arm as I stood up, but I quickly danced out of reach.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” I warned. “I’m coming with you peacefully, but you touch me and all bets are off.”
He gave me one of his malicious grins. My threat was an empty one when he could use his creepy power to force me to come along, but I didn’t want him touching me if I could help it. Getting away from him was going to be hard enough without having to break free of his grasp.
My threat might have had no teeth, but Blake didn’t try to grab me again. He led me out of the diner and onto K Street, keeping a careful eye on me. I hoped he wasn’t parked too close, because I needed some time to come up with an escape plan. The gun was in my backpack, so even if I were willing to wave it around on a crowded street, I couldn’t. He was walking close enough that I doubted I’d have the foot-speed to just bolt and hope to outrun him. Which meant I needed a distraction of some kind. Something to keep him busy long enough to give me a sizeable head start.
I scanned the streets and sidewalks for something that could help. Finally, I caught sight of two tough-looking black guys leaning against a wall as they eyed Blake’s approach. Both were big and imposing, and at just the right age to be eager to prove their manhood. There was a predatory light in their eyes as they looked Blake up and down.
Like I said, Blake was a pretty boy, his hair moussed to look casually tousled, his clothes obviously expensive. The classic metrosexual. To a bigoted young punk looking for trouble, “metrosexual” meant “gay.” Despite the fact that he’d used his aura against Alexis, I was pretty sure Blake didn’t swing that way.
Blake didn’t seem to notice the punks, not even when one of them whistled at him and the other made kissy noises. From their body language, I doubted they were planning to do anything more than harass Blake, unless he was hot-headed enough to engage with them. But I suspected they would be just the kind of distraction I needed.
I looked straight ahead, pretending not to pay any attention to them. There was a dangerous glitter in Blake’s eyes, one that said he was seriously considering stopping to teach the punks some manners. I didn’t know if he had any powers beyond lust, but I suspected he was more than a match for these two, despite appearances. I also suspected he was going to control his aggressive urges, knowing full well that I’d make a run for it if he tried anything. So I decided to take the choice out of his hands.
Timing my move carefully, I waited until we were just a couple feet short of the punks. Then I slung my backpack off my shoulder and swung it as hard as I could at Blake’s back.
Since I hadn’t wanted to leave my expensive laptop sitting around the hotel, there was plenty of oomph behind the blow. Blake grunted in surprise as he flew forward—right into the two punks.
I didn’t wait to see what happened. I whirled around, shoving my arms back into the straps of my backpack, then ran for all I was worth. There was a lot of yelling behind me, but I ignored it, my arms and legs pumping for maximum speed. I probably should have dropped the backpack so it wouldn’t slow me down, but it had my wallet, my gun, and my laptop in it, and I wasn’t willing to part with it.
I whipped around the nearest corner, sneaking a glance behind me as I turned. One of the punks punched Blake right on that luscious mouth of his, but it didn’t seem to bother him much. He shoved the guy away hard enough to send him to the pavement.
I kept running at top speed. There was a parking garage a few yards ahead of me and another street a few yards past that. If Blake managed to get away from the punks—which I suspected he would soon, if he hadn’t already—he was going to catch up with me quickly. I’m a relatively fast runner given my size, but at five-two, my stride is pretty short.
I ducked into the garage, hoping Blake would assume I’d run all the way to the corner before turning.
My breath was coming in frantic gasps, the muscles in my legs burning like hell. There was a fair amount of activity on the ground level of the garage, people cruising for spaces or trying to remember where they’d parked. A few of them glanced at me curiously as I blew past, but no one seemed particularly alarmed.
The muscles in my legs complained even more as I forced them to carry me up the ramp to the next level of the garage. I was still hoping Blake would run right past the place, but with my luck these days, I wasn’t counting on it. If he found me, he could use his special power to force me to go with him, right under the noses of any number of witnesses, and they would never know anything was wrong. I, however, would need my gun to defend myself, and that meant getting away from potential witnesses.
There were fewer cars on the second level, but there was still enough activity that I didn’t dare draw the gun.
My pace wasn’t much faster than a brisk walk as I forced myself onward, climbing the ramp to the third level. There were only a handful of cars up there, and no people.
Finally allowing myself to slow down, I examined my options as I sucked in air. If Blake managed to follow me up here, I’d pretty much run myself into a corner, but that wasn’t entirely by accident. Best to be in a place where I could keep an eye on all the entrances.
There was a bank of elevators to my right, and a stairwell to my left, but other than the ramp, those appeared to be the only two ways up to this level. If Blake was following me, he’d have to use the ramp, otherwise it would be too easy for him to go right past me in the enclosed stairwell or the elevator.
I crossed the garage at a halfhearted trot, my legs feeling like they weighed about ten tons each. I can jog for miles if I have to, but the all-out sprint with the extra weight of the backpack had exhausted me.
When I reached the cluster of cars near the stairwell, I ducked down between them and crept forward until I was crouched between one car’s bumper and the wall. I then quietly u
nzipped my pack and pulled out the gun. If Blake cornered me up here, I’d have to find the guts to shoot him. I didn’t want to shoot him, but I doubted I’d have a lot of options if he found me. I couldn’t risk letting him use his nasty special power on me.
I crouched in the shadow of the car for what felt like forever, my body practically vibrating with tension. The day wasn’t particularly cold, but the air still felt icy against my sweaty skin. I was finally beginning to catch my breath after the long run, but my heart was still tripping on adrenaline.
It was all I could do not to groan when I saw Blake’s silhouette as he stalked through a patch of sunlight. Goddammit! Why couldn’t he have just kept on running? Or better yet, given up the chase? I should theoretically have had enough of a head start that I could be anywhere by now, so why was he here?
I carefully slid over so that I was in the deepest pool of shadow available. I kept my entire body hidden behind one front wheel—the driver hadn’t bothered to straighten out once he’d pulled in, so the wheel gave me a gratifying amount of cover—and peeked from under the bumper to monitor Blake’s progress as he approached.
He was moving slowly, staring at something in his hand. At first, I had no idea what he was doing, but when he got closer, I could see he was looking at the screen of a phone. I didn’t think he was checking his email or surfing the Internet.
I mentally let out a stream of curses as I remembered Jack handing me my pocketbook. The purse itself had been ruined, but when I’d gotten home, I’d transferred its contents into my backpack. Evidence suggested there’d been something in that purse that wasn’t mine. Like, say, some kind of tracking device.
I was sure the jig was up, but even so, I remained stubbornly hidden. Blake was so close now I could see the thin, angry line of his lips, and the dangerous intensity of his eyes. He stood at the top of the ramp and turned a full circle, looking back and forth between the phone screen and his surroundings.