"Can we be certain he didn't?" Alexei turned to stare unblinkingly at Renata. "From now on, I trust no one. I would think you'd be as unlikely to risk his safety as I am."
"I follow orders," she replied. "Sergei said to find whoever was in town asking about him and bring him in for questioning. That's what I intend to do."
Lex's eyes narrowed under the severe brown slashes of his brows. "Fine," he said, his voice too calm, too level. "You're right, Renata. We have our orders. We'll bring him in, like you say. But what are we going to do while we wait out here for pickup?"
Renata stared at him, wondering where he was heading now. Lex strolled around to the side of the unconscious Breed male and gave an experimental jab of his boot into the unprotected ribs. There was no reaction at all. Only the soft rise and fall of the male's chest as he breathed.
Alexei peeled his lips back and grinned, jerking his chin toward the other men. "My boots are dirty. Maybe this useless baggage will clean them off while we wait, ah?"
At the encouraging chortles of his companions, Lex lifted one of his feet and let it hover over the unresponsive face of their captive.
"Lex - " Renata began, knowing he would ignore her if she tried to persuade him to stop. But it was at that precise moment that she noticed something strange about the blond male lying on the ground. His breathing was steady and shallow, his limbs unmoving, but his face...he was holding himself too still, even if he truly was unconscious. He wasn't.
In a split second of clarity, Renata realized without a shred of doubt that he was very much awake. Very much aware of everything that was happening.
Oh, Christ.
Alexei chuckled now, lowering his leg as he started to bring the thick sole of his boot down onto the man's face. "Lex, wait! He's not - "
Nothing she could have said would have changed the resulting explosion of chaos.
Lex was still in motion as the man brought his hands up and caught him at the ankle. He clamped down and twisted hard, sending Lex flying off him and howling in agony on the ground nearby. Not a second passed before the man rolled up onto his feet, fluid and strong, like nothing Renata had ever seen in a fighter before.
And holy shit - he had Lex's pistol.
Renata dropped the cumbersome duffel and grappled for her own gun, concealed in a holster at her back. Her fingers were still sluggish from her earlier mental exertion, and one of the other guards responded before she could free her weapon. He squeezed off a hasty round, missing his target by half a foot.
And faster than any of them could track him, the former captive returned fire, putting a bullet squarely in the front of the guard's skull. One of Sergei Yakut's hand-picked, longest-serving bodyguards went down on the pavement in a lifeless heap. Oh, Jesus, Renata thought in mounting worry as the situation rapidly headed south. Could Alexei have been right? Was this Breed male the same assassin who had tried to strike here before?
"Who's next?" he asked, one foot planted on the center of Lex's spine while he coolly swung the pistol from the other two guards to Renata. "What, no takers now?"
"Kill this son of a bitch!" Lex roared, writhing like a trapped bug under the heavy heel that held him down. His cheek mashed against the pavement, fangs emerging in his rage, Lex threw a slivered glare at Renata and his men. "Blow his head off, goddamn it!"
Before the command was totally out of Alexei's mouth, he was yanked up onto his feet. He screamed as his weight shifted to his injured ankle, but it was the sudden presence of his own pistol nuzzled behind his ear that really made his amber eyes go wild with panic. His captor, on the other hand, was as calm and steady as could be.
Oh, sweet Mother Mary.
Just who the hell were they dealing with?
"You heard him," Lex's captor said. His voice was low and unrushed, his gaze piercing even in the dark. He stared straight at Renata. "Bring it on, if any of you are man enough. Then again, if you'd rather not see his brain splattered all over this building wall, then I suggest you drop your weapons. Down on the pavement, nice and easy."
Beside her in the alley, Renata registered the low grunts and snuffles of transformed Breed males. Individually, any one of the vampires was physically far stronger than she was; as a pair, they might be stronger than Lex's attacker, although neither of them seemed willing to find out. A soft clack of metal sounded as a weapon was placed carefully on the asphalt. That left only one guard on backup with her. A second later, he surrendered his gun too. Both vampires retreated a couple of slow paces, surrendering in wary silence.
And now Renata stood alone against this unexpected threat.
He gave her a half smile in acknowledgment, baring his teeth and the tips of his emerging fangs. He was angry; those lengthening canines were evidence of that. As was the amber light that was beginning to fill his eyes as they too began to transform with his Breed features. His smile broadened, twin dimples appearing beneath his razor-sharp cheekbones. "Looks like it's down to you and me, sweetheart. I'm not going to ask any more politely the longer you make me wait. Put your fucking gun down or I'll waste him."
Renata quickly considered her options - what few she had at the moment. Her body was still as raw as an exposed nerve, the aftershocks of her mental exertion still battering her, beating her down. She could attempt another assault on his mind, but she knew she was operating on fumes. Even if she hit him with all she had, she wouldn't be able to take him down again, and once she was spent to that degree, she would be of no use to anyone.
Her only other option was an equally large risk. Ordinarily she was a crack shot, reflex fast and sniper accurate, but she couldn't count on either skill when it would take a great deal of her focus just to command her limbs and fingers to work. No matter what she did, right now it seemed pretty slim odds that Alexei might come out of this in one piece. Hell, the chances of her or anyone else walking away from this situation were looking nil.
This Breed male was holding all the cards, and the look in his eyes as he watched, waited for her to decide her fate, seemed to say that he was very comfortable in his power position. He had Renata, Lex, and the rest of them right where he wanted them. But she'd be damned if she'd go down without a fight.
Renata inhaled to gather her resolve, then she brought her gun around and leveled it on him. Her arms screamed with the effort it took to hold them out and steady, but she sucked up the pain, pushed it aside.
She flipped off the gun's safety. "Release him. Now."
The muzzle of Lex's weapon remained jammed up tight behind his ear. "You don't actually think we're negotiating here, do you? Drop. Your. Weapon."