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Blaze grinned. “Sounds like we need a distraction.”
I smiled back at him. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. We need to get the Hunter out the back door”—I tipped my head toward the hallway we’d entered through—"and knock him out so we can haul him away without him making a fuss. It’ll probably take three of us to manage that. The other two will create a little chaos to catch the bodyguards’ attention right when we want to strike. We’ll need him near the back hall to begin with so we don’t have to drag him far, but if we can manage that… I think we can pull the rest off.”
“I know we can,” Julius said firmly. “But let’s do this right. He might be getting on in years, but he can clearly pack a punch. Talon and I should stay with you for the hauling part. Distractions are more Garrison’s area anyway, and I’m sure Blaze can find his own special ways to be useful.”
Blaze had pulled out his phone and was tapping away on it. “Already two steps ahead of you.”
While he made periodic interjections, the rest of us spent several more minutes going over the finer details of the plan. Then we got up. Garrison and Blaze melded into the crowd in opposite directions, off to handle a few separate tasks before their paths converged. Julius, Talon, and I slipped into the short hall that led past the restrooms to the back door.
We stood with our backs against the wall, just far enough into the shadows there that we could only see the figures who passed right by the entrance to the hall. We’d know it was time to move when the Hunter entered our sphere of vision.
Talon rested his hand briefly on my shoulder. The man was rarely outright gentle, but there was a tenderness to his touch that brought a lump into my throat. He was saying without needing any words at all how much he supported me.
I’d had to put down the family that should have been mine, but my real family, the one I’d chosen, was right here all around me.
We knew something was happening because of the gradual shift in the sounds of the party. A particularly raucous round of laughter carried through the room. Then there was a chorus of little shrieks as if in dismay. Someone hollered at someone else, angry words that were mostly lost in the music. The celebratory air was starting to fragment.
My men did know how to sow their chaos well.
Right around now, Blaze would be dropping the digital bait and Garrison setting up the real-life evidence to draw the Hunter’s curiosity and then his actual self over to this end of the room. I could imagine him weaving through the crowd now, taking measured steps and skimming his gaze over his subjects.
His bodyguards would form a semi-circle around him, but their job was to protect him, after all. If they saw something that made them think there was a threat coming from a different direction, they’d have to divert their focus to deal with that.
My heart thumped in my chest, counting out the seconds. A grunt and a thump reached my ears from closer by than the earlier sounds. “Now, now,” the Hunter’s voice said. “You’d better get this all sorted out.”
“What aboutthat?” someone demanded, and the man we were waiting for stepped into view.
Another shriek reverberated through the room at the same moment as someone shouted, “Yahtzee!” That was our cue, our signal that the Hunter’s guards were temporarily diverted.
The three of us sprang forward together. I ducked low to sweep my leg against the Hunter’s ankles and knock him off his feet. Julius and Talon charged in on either side to yank him back into the hall the second he was off balance. One of them would hit him across the head hard enough to daze him, and then—
But we never got that far.
I swung out my leg, sure, and Julius and Talon lunged—but just as my shin smacked into the Hunter’s calf, unexpected figures hurtled at us from both sides. Guns jammed against the men’s temples. Another guy tackled me to the floor.
The Hunter had even more bodyguards than we’d realized. This bunch must have been blending with the crowd, watching him from more of a distance so discreetly we hadn’t realized they weren’t merely more revelers. They were dressed in similar dressy but more relaxed clothes like the other partygoers rather than suits like the official guards.
I lashed out, catching my attacker with an elbow to the throat and a knee to the gut, but even as he flinched with a loosening of his grip, I knew our chance was gone. The Hunter had pulled away from us, the bodyguards we’d identified rushed back to his side. We’d lost all element of surprise.
My attacker tried to pin me again, and I jabbed my fingers into his eyes. While he groaned, I managed to scramble up. Julius was just shoving his opponent backward into the crowd, Talon knocking the gun from the other guy’s hand, but the other bodyguards were pressing toward us now.
Shit. We’d have to make a run for it.
My gut sinking, I reached for my men, about to tug them toward the hallway with me when the Hunter let out a low, rolling chuckle. The sound was dark enough to send a cold shiver down my spine.
My gaze jerked to meet his, and instead of the rage I’d expected, I saw only amusement in his expression. And maybe even a gleam of… appreciation?
“Leave them,” he said in a commanding tone. His men backed up a step, braced for further orders. I paused, torn between wanting to run to relative safety and my need to see this confrontation out to the end, wherever that might lead me.
The Hunter considered me with his head cocked at a predatory angle that unnerved me even more than his chuckle. He shook his head, still with a small smile playing across his lips.
“Interesting,” he said. “You got closer than I’d have expected. Maybe even I underestimated your skills and determination—and your choice in allies.”
“I wasn’t looking for compliments,” I informed him. “I want answers, and I’m going to get them one way or another.”
“Hmm.” He looked me up and down and rubbed his jaw. “You know, I think I can spare a few minutes to talk after all.”
Seriously? My spirits leapt. I motioned to Julius and Talon, not wanting to draw attention to the other two crew members wherever they’d ended up in the crowd. “We’re ready when you are.”
“Oh, no,” the Hunter said. “There’s no ‘we’ in this game. This is between you and me, Decima. I’ll talk to you and only you. That’s your offer—take it or leave it.”
