Page 44 of Needed in the Night
“Then you should—” I began.
Behind Mikas, a red circle lit up on the wall. It blinked rapidly three times, then faded. My haze of pleasure vanished as if I’d been dunked in icy water.
Moving so fast that he nearly blurred, Mikas leapt to his feet, pulled me up off the sofa, and put himself between me and the door to the sampling room. His spines bristled, and he planted his feet shoulder-width apart as he braced himself to fight.
My legs shook and my slickness dripped down my thigh. If he hadn’t been holding me, I might not have been able to stay on my feet.
My wrist chronometer said less than an hour had passed. Had Nubo’s people stormed into the shop demanding to know where we were before Ycari had a chance to arrange our escape? Possibly so, if she had activated the warning instead of coming to the room herself.
Brae, I thought.What’s going on?
I’m not sure, he said, his voice in my head crackling with tension.Slug is still outside the shop, but a pair of human men just went in and are talking to Madame Ycari. They’re two of Nubo’s watchers we’ve seen before. They’re very angry. Are you on your way out of the shop?
We will be in a few minutes.I sighed aloud.We’ll be going out the back way. Together.
Good. I’ll keep watching and let you know if more trouble comes.
The situation called for a clear head, so I tried to slow my breathing and think about what needed to be done.
“Two of Nubo’s people are in the shop confronting Ycari.” I touched Mikas’s clenched fist, which nearly vibrated in fury. “Our time’s up. We need to go.”
His snarl made my skin prickle. “No one will lay a hand on you. I will not allow it.”
Part of me—the part that had taken care of herself for a long time without help from anyone but Brae—resented his words. But he knew I could hold my own, and it was nice to matter to someone so much that they would put themselves in harm’s way to keep me safe.
Still, I didn’t need him to be a hero right now. “Mikas,” I said, very firmly. “Look at me.”
He tore his angry gaze away from the door to do as I asked. His expression softened, though the tension in his body didn’t abate in the least.
“I understand your instincts are telling you to protect your mate,” I told him. “But I need you to listen to me and follow my instructions so we can get out of here.”
He snarled at the door. We heard nothing from the shop since this room was soundproof, but trouble would be headed our way soon if it wasn’t already.
“You said you trust me,” I reminded him. “Now I am asking you to keep trusting me.”
He bent his head to kiss my forehead. “I trust you, Isla.”
“Good.” I bent and picked up my dress. “We’re going to let Madame Ycari buy us time and leave out the back way.”
“But will she be safe?” he asked, his frown deepening. “If our employer has sent people for us, or decides to come himself, they will not have come alone or unarmed.”
“Ycari isn’t alone or unarmed either.” I couldn’t reveal everything about Ycari’s shop or allies, but I touched his hand and added, “If Nubo knows anything about her, he might try to demand she turn us over, but he won’t want his people to threaten her.”
That statement made Mikas’s eyebrows go up, but he picked up his shirt. “Then I will follow your lead.”
I put my dress on over my head. When I brushed my hair out of my eyes, it was just in time to see him stuff my torn underwear into his pants pocket.
“A souvenir,” he said at my look, with another toothy grin. “And we must not leave evidence behind.”
“True.” I slung my cross-body bag over my head and went to the counter, where my perfume waited, untouched. I put the bottle carefully in the fabric pouch, sealed it inside the wooden box, and put the box in my bag. Then I went to the blank wall perpendicular to the room’s only visible door.
I rested my fingertips where the warning light had been. Trailing my fingers along the wall, I took three steps toward the back of the room, slid my hand up six centimeters, and then took four more steps without taking my fingertips off the wall. I pressed my palm to the wall there.
A door slid aside to my right, revealing a narrow, well-lit passageway.
“Three, six, four. Ah, I see now what Ycari meant by that.” Mikas joined me at the doorway. He took my hand and squeezed gently. “I very much look forward to learning what your profession was before you became a singer in a bar.”
“I’ve had a lot of different professions.” I glanced up at himwith a ghost of a smile. His eyes gleamed in the low light. “Not many by my own choice. But this one—” I gestured at the passageway “—and being a singer, I chose. Watch our backs.”
