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The tall one tried me next, but after a flurried exchange, he had a fat lip and he hadn’t done more than clip one of my earrings.
“Leave us alone!” Tarryn shouted, no doubt hoping to attract the attention of other people leaving the club. “I’m calling the police.”
With what phone?
The three of them came at me, ignoring Tarryn’s threat. One grabbed my wrist, but I broke his hold and shoved him away, knocking him into one of his buddies as the third guy launched himself at me. The other two weren’t thrown off for long.
Block, block, block—it wasn’t easy to do more than defend the two of us when we were outnumbered, and I needed to protect Tarryn, but I was glad none of them could get behind me. They were all wider than I was, and one was significantly taller. If I hadn’t fought assholes for fun for a while, and I hadn’t been sparring regularly with my brother, his husband, and his brother-in-law Fidel, these idiots would have trampled me.
“Fuck the hell off already,” I growled, trying to hide that I was getting winded. Fights on TV always seemed to go on for ages, but real ones rarely lasted long.
“Let us have a little fun with your girl, and we’ll let you go.” The tallest one sounded short of breath.
Did they really expect anyone to take that offer?
“Touch her, and I’ll cut your fucking hands off.” I drew the hidden knife from my belt buckle. I allowed my civilized mask to fall away, and smiled too widely.
Let them see the pure fucked-upness they’re dealing with.
The closest one paused, spotting the glint of my short knife in the streetlight, not liking the escalation. The one next to him swiped at me halfheartedly, and I flicked the knife and cut him without hesitation, opening his sleeve from elbow to wrist. He bled beautifully. He yelped and stepped back, swearing and clutching his scratch like he might bleed out.
Behind me, Tarryn gasped.
My heart raced now, and I fought down delight.
The time for control had passed, though.
I barked in their faces, laughing, baring teeth that tasted like the blood from my split lip, and pacing defensively in front of Tarryn.
“Come here. It’s no time to be shy.” I spat blood into the street. They backed away as I eagerly beckoned them closer.
“Whatever. The bitch isn’t that special.” The one with the purpling eye slapped the one with the cut arm on the back. “Let’s go see if that flirty blonde is still outside the coffee shop.”
The three of them backed away, melting into the dark until they were shadows amongst the shadows.
My first instinct was to chase them down and make sure they didn’t do this to anyone else, but that would leave Tarryn unprotected. I watched them go, regretting not cutting them to ribbons and leaving their entrails goring the street.
“Holy shit, are you okay?” Tarryn pulled at me until I turned to face her.
She studied my face in the lamplight, and only then did I realize I’d forgotten to guard my expression. Her eyes widened. Even though I was still irritated about the need to let them go, I slapped my human mask back in place. My smile dimmed from feral, to something more reassuring.
“I’m fine, other than my face and some sore ribs.” My knuckles also hurt like hell, but the adrenaline was still running high. “Are you okay?”
“I was so scared, I almost pissed myself.”
“Do you need a washroom?”
She laughed, sounding slightly hysterical.
“No, it’s a figure of speech. I thought— I thought they were going to hurt us worse.”
“I would never let anything happen to you. I’d kill them first.”
She hugged me, and I stiffened, startled. My bloody knife was angled away from her, but I needed to clean it and put it away. After an awkward beat, I hugged her too, kissing her temple.
“Why do you have a knife?” she demanded.
“I always have a knife.”
