Page 6 of Bad Blood Alpha

Chapter 3

Kira twisted out of Flynn’s arms and ran for the auxiliary bar. Below, she could see the hellhounds and their masters converging on both the spiral staircases, shoving people out of the way. They’d be on her in a minute.

If Flynn stayed out of it, they’d leave him alone. Hopefully he had that much sense. She’d just have to try again with him another time.

She shoved her way through the crowd by the bar, oblivious to the drinks she spilled or the indignant shouts that followed her. If the hounds caught up with her here, there could be collateral damage.

She vaulted for the bar, rolling across the top and missing the bartender by inches. Drinks scattered, leaving more spilled liquor and shattered glass in her wake.

Kira didn’t stop. She glanced behind her, but she couldn’t see how close her pursuers were through the crowd.

Just get to the emergency exit.

She ducked into the storage room behind the bar, and burst out the far door. She was in a bare hallway with several doors—offices, more storerooms.

She raced down the hallway. She could hear them behind her now, their footsteps slapping on the linoleum floor. There was no “Hey you!” or shouts for her to stop, like a normal person would give. Just the slap, slap of heavy boots, and a creepy panting, snuffling sound.

Damn. How had they found her here? She’d been so careful…

She slammed through a metal door and into a maintenance hallway, running the floor plans in her head. Down the end, around the corner, get to the fire stairs…

She could feel them coming up behind her. Faster, faster…there was no way they could catch up now.

She swung around the final corner and stopped dead. The end of the hallway was covered in scaffolding and construction equipment. The entrance to the fire stairs had been boarded up, and a sign said, ‘Please Use Other Stairs.’

Fucking seriously? This never happened to Black Widow.

They were getting closer. The footsteps had slowed—they knew she was armed, and they didn’t want to come rushing around the corner and get shot.

But if they bunched together and rushed her, then they could take her out before she could shoot them all.

And if they had magic, she was screwed.

She pulled a dental mirror out of the pocket in her sleeve and slipped it around the corner. In the tiny reflection, she could see them conferring. One of them was muttering an incantation, a fiery red glow around his hands; two of the others were definitely hellhounds.

Human form, but with those glowing eyes, bending and snuffling at the ground as if following her scent.

They formed into a tight group with the hellhounds at the front, getting ready to rush her just as soon as the sorcerer finished his protection spell.

She reached for her backup pistol in her boot top.

Overhead, just in front of her, a metal vent was punched out of the ceiling and swung down on hinges, like a trap door. Flynn’s head appeared in the opening, and he reached both arms down. “Come on!”

Kira shoved her gun into its holster, took two steps and jumped. Flynn clasped her forearms and hoisted her up into the ventilation shaft. She reached behind her and pulled it back into place.

She whispered furiously, “What are you doing—”

“Shut up! This way.” As silently as possible, they began crawling through the ventilation shaft. Thank god it was a large one, or Flynn wouldn’t have fit.

Below, she could hear the men rush her position, cursing in disbelief and frustration when they found her gone.

“Keep moving,” Flynn said. “They’ll figure out the ventilation shaft pretty quick.”

They made their way up a ladder to another service hallway, and back to the fire stairs, two floors above where they’d been blocked off.

They couldn’t go down. “Up,” Kira said. Flynn was already moving.

They raced up the stairs side by side and burst out onto the roof. The hot, muggy air hit her like a wall. Clouds obscured the stars overhead, and the air smelled like coming rain. The roof was lit only by a couple of dim emergency lights, but Kira could see fine in the dark.