So much for waiting for the cover of night to hide their dirty work.
“None of you wants to do this,” I said, adjusting the grip on my weapon. I cocked my head at Bowen. “See this guy? He’s killed thirty men.”
“Forty,” Bowen muttered.
“Really? That many? Impressive. Bet that doesn’t count the ones you burned alive.” I took a measured step backward, nudging Reid with me. “Or that time you used a meat hook.”
Bowen quirked an eyebrow at my choice of instruments. His lips twitched. “All right, make it sixty.”
“But who’s counting?”
One of the men slunk back into the shadows.
Bowen shrugged. “That guy, apparently.”
“Eh, who needs him? He’d make it sixty-one.”
The man with the rotting teeth let out a dry laugh. He angled his weapon toward me. “And what about you?”
I flicked my dagger with my wrist, its tip pointing toward my chest. “Me? Oh, no. I abhor violence. Nasty stuff.”
Bowen smirked.
Reid grunted loudly behind me and slurred, “He’s the worst of us all!”
A wolfish grin spread across my face as I waved the men forward with my free hand. “Guess my secret’s out.”
The first thug lunged. His club swung in a brutal arc, and I shoved Reid hard against the wall and ducked. The club whistled through the hot, sticky air as I slashed with my dagger. A howl tore from the man’s throat, blood spraying from the open wound in his forearm.
The second thug took a swing at Bowen. Big mistake. Bowen caught the club mid-swing. The man’s eyes went wide as he ripped the weapon free and smashed it into his jaw.
“Don’t move. Back against the wall,” I barked at Reid as I dodged another swing. Pivoting low, I drove my dagger into his thigh. Twisted the blade. He shrieked and dropped to one knee. I wrenched the club from his hand and knocked him out cold.
Bowen had already moved on to the third thug, leaving the one before face down in the street.
The fourth attacked from behind. I didn’t turn in time, and the wood struck me in the temple. White-hot agony exploded behind my eyes. I staggered, blinking through the blood trickling into my vision.
The gravel shifted under my boots; my balance off. I braced for another hit.
He swung again.
Bowen dove and dragged the man to the ground. They grappled in the dirt, the man's head snapping back from Bowen’s fist. I scooped up the fallen club, still dizzy from the throbbing pain, and tossed it to Bowen.
Bone crunched. Four down. One to go.
Except, I turned toward Reid, and he wasn’t where I’d left him.
My blood ran cold. He was hunched a few feet away, fumbling for his scattered papers.
“Reid…no!”
I couldn’t get there fast enough. The man with the blackened teeth grabbed Reid from behind and sank his blade into his stomach.
Reid’s eyes flared. His body jolted, and his knees buckled.
“No!”
I sprinted for Reid as he crumpled to the ground. The man ripped his blade free. A wooden disc slipped from his fingers, landing in the street. A symbol was burned into the surface; a calling card signaling his kill.
