Page 41 of Dangerous Rhythm

Lina pulled out her phone and read whatever message had come through. Maybe she’d tell him what was going on now. The residential street they were on wasn’t exactly empty, but it seemed pretty quiet.

“Is that Marcus?” Curtis asked.

Lina nodded as she typed in a brief message. “They tracked us. They’re more cunning than we expected. They used your fans to look for you.”

“My fans? How?” His forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“It must be that guy in the restaurant,” Lina spoke as if to herself. “Goddammit! I shouldn’t have let you out of the apartment.”

“Lina. How did they find us?” he asked again.

“They haven’t found us yet, but they know we’re here. They put up a prize for anyone who can spot you in Barcelona and post pictures of you onto social media with a hashtag #FindCurtis.”

“What?”

“People think it’s a game. They’re speculating if Canis Major is planning a secret concert here.”

“Fuck,” Curtis said under his breath.

“Most of the pictures aren’t you, but there was one from a half-hour ago just before we got to the market.”

Curtis blew a breath. “Double fuck.”

“Hey, we’re okay.” Lina stopped and turned to him. “We’re still ahead of the Stilettos’ people. We just need to keep moving.”

“But how do we stop them from finding me?” Curtis demanded. “Wherever we go, someone could spot me.”

“We’ll go somewhere they won’t suspect,” Lina said. “Ken’s cyber team is working on stopping the game. We just need to focus on the now. You’re with me?”

Curtis looked at her determined face and swallowed, though his mouth felt dry. A glint of light made him look up from her face, and he almost had a heart attack. Instinct took over within a split second.

“Watch out!” He shoved Lina to the side and charged forward. An assailant wielding a knife had silently come out of nowhere and was almost on top of them. Catching the man’s knife hand by the wrist, Curtis used all of his body weight and momentum to try to bring the attacker down. But the man was built like a fucking bull and barely budged.

“Curtis!” Lina’s voice fell away as another assailant accosted her from the side.

He didn’t see what Lina did to her assailant as he was trying to keep the big guy from turning the knife toward him. Curtis might’ve been fast at stopping him from stabbing Lina in the back, but when it came to muscle power, the bull outmatched him.

Think, Curtis. You’ve trained for this kinda shit!

But before his brain came up with an idea to get out of his situation, a blur went past him and snapped the man’s wrist the wrong way, making him drop the knife with a scream. And before the knife even touched the pavement, Lina leapt and landed her heel forcefully on the back of the man’s knee.

A crack of a bone breaking followed by a pained howl filled the night. The man fell to his knees heavily and cried even harder.

Curtis stumbled back and fell against the wall of a building. Under the dim light of a nearby street lamp, he watched as Lina spun and executed a flawless round kick to the bull’s head. The man went down with a thump.

Breathing hard, he thought his eyes must’ve dilated fully because everything seemed so bright. An unmoving body lay face-planted on the sidewalk in front of him. Another knife—a stiletto—lay near Curtis’ feet.

His blood pumping hard, he could hear it rushing in his ears and nothing else. His muscles were rigid from the shock.

“Curtis, get up!” Lina’s sharp command snapped him to attention. Her eyes, full of fire, bore into him like a tractor beam. “Now!”

Scrambling to his feet, Curtis came up running, keeping up with Lina, without looking back at the two unconscious people who’d just tried to kill them.

eighteen

Curtis stumbled into the apartment, sweating under his coat. He quickly shed the outer layer of his clothes as his body, still running on adrenaline, burned like a furnace. Behind him, Lina locked and bolted the door.

She fished out her phone and pressed a button as she threw her light jacket on a nearby chair. She went to the window and watched the street outside.

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