“Speaking of challenges…” Wylder raised his wine glass in a toast. “To putting the fear of Nobles into the Steel Knights tonight.”
“To taking them down completely,” Rowan added. “Tonight was only the beginning.”
With a bang that rattled my ear drums, the glass in his hand shattered.
The world slowed down as I watched three men storm into the restaurant, red bandanas on their upper arms. They cocked their rifles at us, and we all dove under the table on instinct. I fumbled for the gun tucked in the back of my jeans, glad I hadn’t left it in the car.
The Steel Knights opened fire. Their bullets careened across the table, a few hitting the waitress who’d just walked out of the kitchen. I flinched, horror welling up inside me as the young woman hit the floor, her head lolling.
These pricks were just adding to the list of how much they had to pay for.
“When they reload,” Wylder murmured, his expression grim, and the guys nodded. I flicked off the safety on my pistol, my heart thudding.
At the rasp and click of the men reloading their weapons, the guys leapt into action as if they’d always been prepared for this. I bobbed up from beneath the level of the table too, but our adversaries had already taken shelter behind the counter that held the cash register. Kaige fired a couple of shots anyway until Wylder hissed at him. No point in wasting the ammunition.
We exchanged a few shots back and forth, mostly staying below the table. My pulse was outright thundering now.
“What the fuck are they doing here in the City?” Rowan muttered.
“Has this ever happened before?” I asked.
“Never,” Wylder said, obviously seething. “Never have any of those two-bit gangs from the Bend tried to attack us on our home turf.”
Colt had gotten bolder than we’d imagined.
Wylder gritted his teeth. “We’re not accomplishing anything other than blasting all Rahul’s hard work to bits. We should be able to make it to the kitchen and head out the back without them getting in a good shot if we move fast enough. Ready?”
I should be after what we’d already been through tonight, but somehow I didn’t feel it. We’d planned to fight during the ambush. Being attacked during a moment of relaxation had shaken me much more. But I wasn’t going to admit that to Wylder. I had to be ready.
“Whenever the rest of you are,” I said.
“You two go first.” He tipped his head to Rowan and me. “Kaige and I will cover our retreat.” That last word came out bitterly. He dragged in a breath. “And… go.”
Rowan and I dashed toward the doorway to the kitchen, staying low. Kaige and Wylder hurtled after us, turned to keep their guns trained on the Steel Knights.
A bullet whizzed by over my head. The guys fired several shots, one of which struck its target from the yelp that reached my ears. Then we were bursting into the kitchen area where Rahul and a woman who must have been his wife were huddled by the fridge.
“We’ll pay for whatever damages those assholes caused,” Wylder called to the two of them as we sprinted toward the back entrance. “And we’ll make them pay for intruding here.”
We burst into the alley out back—just as two more Steel Knights charged at us from either side.
One of them collided with Rowan, grasping his gun hand. The other tackled me to the ground. My tailbone jarred against the cracked concrete, and pain shot up my spine.
I gasped and tried to wrench my gun around to aim it at my attacker, but he slammed my arm against the ground. It slipped from my fingers. I managed to yank my other hand free and clawed at his eyes.
When he jerked away from me, I got an opening to ram my knee straight into his crotch. He groaned and doubled over, but it wasn’t quite enough. As I heaved myself away from him, he swiped at me with a knife.
I threw myself backward just in time to save myself from being gutted. The knife still slashed across my stomach, slicing through the fabric of my skirt and drawing a stinging line across my skin.
My breath hitched, but the attack reminded me of my own other weapon. I snatched the knife in my pocket, dodged my attacker’s next jab, and jabbed my blade at his neck.
The knife sank in with a sickening burbling of blood and crunch of cartilage. The man toppled over to reveal Wylder just behind him, looking like he’d been on the verge of shooting him. The other Steel Knight lay bleeding in the alley, Kaige standing over him.
My eyes locked with Wylder’s. In that instant, I could have sworn he was about to slam me up against the back wall of the restaurant and fuck me until I was screaming my release, spectators be damned. Then his gaze dropped to the blood seeping through my torn shirt, and his expression hardened.
“Are you okay?” he snapped, making the question sound more annoyed than concerned.
I clapped my hand to the cut. It still ached, but it wasn’t deep. “Just a scratch,” I said, and couldn’t help adding. “This time I took care of myself.”
“Yes, you did,” Kaige said. “Now let’s all get the hell out of here!”
We dashed around the building and dove into the car. As Rowan hit the gas and the Toyota shot down the street, I sagged into the back seat.
It’d been a close one, but we’d gotten out. Somehow I couldn’t summon much sense of victory now.
Colt had crossed a line tonight, and I wasn’t sure where it ended or how far he’d be willing to go next.