Page 60 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
“What do you want with me?” She played it cool, though she was starting to freak out. Even if they weren’t assassins, they were a criminal gang, and Mal had a price on her head. What were the odds they hadn’t heard of her?
“I don’t want to fight you,” the man almost breaking both her arms said calmly. “I want to release you so we can talk, but if you even think about—”
“I’ll slit your fucking throat!”
“Not a good start, kitty cat.”
He hadnotjust called her that. “I’ll slit all your fucking throats!”
“Better hurry this up, boss,” one of the men muttered. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of broad shoulders, turquoise eyes, and a long lizard’s tail. “We’re in the middle of the street, and this looks way worse than it is.”
The “boss” sighed. Malaikah prayed he wasn’ttheboss. Hopefully just some lackey in charge of this ragtag band of thieves. “Look, I will knock you out if you don’t cooperate. Then I’ll throw you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and take you somewhere quiet to talk. Or you can stop shouting threats, and we can talk here. What’s it gonna be?”
The idea of being carted around unconscious to an unknown location was not appealing. She grumbled and growled and then finally mumbled, “Fine. Let me up.”
“You won’t fight?”
“I won’t fucking fight.”
He released her, and she jumped up and spun around to face him, rubbing her aching arms. She glared at him, and he smiled back with fangs. Unlike the other guy, he had no tail or claws, meaning he was a snake Hybrid. The fangs were a dead giveaway anyway—of all Hybrids, snakes always had the longest, most impressive canines, and his were no exception.
If he hadn’t just beaten her in a fight and sorely wounded her panther’s considerable pride, she would have found him attractive. She liked a male with a good, lethal set of teeth.
His shaved head made it impossible for him to disguise his pointed ears. And why would he? Like Malaikah, there was no way he’d ever pass for human. His pupils were thin, vertical slits over startlingly green irises that filled his entire eye—no white at the outer edges. His golden-brown skin was textured by a pattern underlay of scales. Somewhat iridescent, they would flicker with color in the light.
“What’s your business in my district?” He didn’t sound cocky when he claimed the entire Underground as his.
Malaikah decided her best chance was to lie through her teeth. “Getting a drink at the tavern.” She jerked a thumb at the random bar behind them.
“At two in the morning?”
“Why not?”
“I heard there was a circus in town,” the snake said casually. He was half smiling as if this whole thing was a big joke. Except on his mean face, a smile just looked like a death threat.
“That so?” Malaikah cocked a hip. She could play it vague with the best of them.
“Yeah. You check it out?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Well, I did. Saw a really pretty kitty cat doing backflips, if you can believe it.”
Fuck.He definitely knew who she was. But did he know she was a wanted woman? “Sounds amazing.”
A few chuckles sounded from the wall of muscle surrounding them.
“It was.” The snake crossed his arms, the breadth of his shoulders straining the fabric of his jacket. “But get this. Ever since the circus came to town, I’ve been hearing wild stuff. Backflipping kitty cats ain’t even the worst of it.”
She balled her hands into fists. If he called herkitty catone more time… “That so.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“And what’s all this got to do with me?”
His little smile was gone, replaced with a look of cold intent that told her he wasn’t playing games anymore. “A few weeks ago, I heard a rumor about an Elemental being sold by flesh traders. Huge thing, void-like skin that could take on other colors, big-ass wings.”
Double fuck.He was talking about Raith. What did this guy want with Raith? To kill him? To use him as a weapon? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Remembering how she’d convinced Harrow to hide at the Ouroboros tavern made her want to kick herself. She should have known Salizar wouldn’t be the only one who wanted to get his hands on the rogue wraith.
