Page 106 of Silver Tongue Devil

“Dammit!” I barked, hating how easily she had stolen from me because my attention had been on Katrina. It was my fault, but it showed how weak Kat made me. How nothing else seemed to matter when she was around.

I was a chump.

Caramel huffed, rubbing his head into me like he was patting me on the back and saying,Yep, you’re a chump. What had happened to me? Once a legend of the sea, the infamous Silver-Tongue Devil, who could steal women’s hearts and panties along with their husband’s bank accounts, was now getting pickpocketed by a street urchin.

The barn door clicked softly behind me, and I heard people entering the barn.

The back of my neck prickled with alarm, and my muscles tightened along my shoulders, my hand going to the handle of my sword.

There was a moment, a single breath, before the calm serenity of the barn flipped. Swinging around and yanking my blade from the sheath, I took in the four men dressed in black, their faces covered, all holding huge Dadao swords, which were basically meat cleavers on the end.

Being robbed and attacked within minutes was no coincidence. They had come for more, possibly the horses.

“Look at you guys, all dressed like each other. So cute,” I mocked, silence rebounding back. “No introductions? It’s really hard to tell you guys apart.”

The men lunged for me.

“Guess not.” My blade clanked against one as I swung, kicking the stomach of another, flinging him back into a stall. “Fine, You’re Thing One, Two, Three, and Four.” I nodded at each one. “I know, not very creative, but somehow, it fits your cheery personalities.”

Advancing, deflecting, we moved through the small barn, startling the horses. They reared up, filling the barn with their frightened noises.

Thing Three let out a holler, swiping down for me. I darted out of the way as three more descended on me. I had no time to think, relying on my teachings. The hours and decades I had conditioned my body came back to me like breathing. Rotating, I countered a blow from Two while my elbow slammed into One, causing him to stumble back.

“Ni huì si!” You will die. One hissed in Mandarin, leaping back for me, his sword swinging.

The Dadao sword was swiped over me, kissing my spine, nicking my jacket.Fuck. This is one of my favorites.Dropping to my knees, I swung my leg out, knocking One off his feet as I jumped up, rushing Thing Two.

“Uhhh,” I grunted, slamming his spine into a grain barrel with everything I had as a figure came at me. The blade skimmed over my head when I ducked, piercing Two through his chest, the blade slicing all the way through him and sticking in the wood cask. Leaping up, I twirled around as the other two men pounced.

The space was too tight to use my longsword, so I grabbed the dagger on my belt. Yanking it out, I darted in close. Rotty’s blade sliced along Three’s neck. Blood squirted out, his body hitching over for air before falling to the ground. Four hurtled at me with a cry. Dropping the small blade, I flipped the longsword in my hand, smashing the hilt into Four’s face. The sickening crunch of bone and cartilage reverberated down my limbs, his body falling at my feet.

My attention was off the last guy for a moment. That’s all it took. A sharp cleaver went to my throat from behind, the serrated edge cutting into my skin.

“You will die tonight,” one said in English.

I swallowed. A simple drag across my neck, and he could decapitate me.

“What do you want?” I gritted. “You already robbed me. You want the horses?”

“No,” the man replied. “We’re here to kill you.”

“Did I sleep with your wife?” I paused. “Girlfriend?” I lifted a brow, trying to nettle him. “Boyfriend?”

“No,” he huffed in disgust. “This is not personal.”

“People keep saying that, but because I’m the one dying, I’m taking it kind of personally.”

“She paid for you to die. You die.”

She.

It had to be the sameshewho tried to kill us in Shanghai.

His hand started to move the blade across my throat. My lids squeezed together as a trickle of blood dripped down my neck. This was how the great pirate would die? Beheaded in a barn, surrounded by horse manure.

Fucking figures.

A click of a gun being cocked echoed in the space.

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