Elijah was about halfway across the room to him when there was a disturbance at the front door. Gedeon spun toward the sound and saw a young shifter clutching at Meiling’s diminutive form, holding a gun to her temple.
Gedeon exploded into action, using gifts he rarely showed other shifters. He launched himself at Elijah with blinding speed, using Timur’s taller form to go over the top of Joaquin and Elijah. He landed behind the notorious head of the crime family and had a gun to his temple.
“I’ll fucking end him right now if you don’t drop your gun now.”
There was instant silence. Fyodor cleared his throat. “Gedeon . . .” he began cautiously.
“Don’t talk to me. You know me. I’ll kill Elijah, Timur next and then you if that asshole doesn’t drop his weapon now. You fucking betrayed us, Fyodor. I don’t take that lightly.”
“This is bullshit,” Meiling said. There was a flurry of movement, and the young shifter was on the floor and Meiling had the gun in his mouth.
“Wait,” Elijah said. “Don’t kill him. He’s a kid. He’s just training. Seriously, don’t kill him.”
“Get moving to the door, Elijah. Meiling, back out of here. I’m coming to you.” Gedeon’s cold blue eyes met Fyodor’s. He wanted him to see he meant what he said. Fyodor would be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his days. Elijah and Timur too. They’d come after him. So many others had. He was still alive—they weren’t.
“Gedeon, this wasn’t a trap,” Fyodor said. “I can see that it would look that way. We brought the men who helped you to show Elijah you weren’t in this alone. That’s part of the reason there are so many here tonight. It wasn’t for security reasons.”
“Yurik is a cub, still learning the ropes,” Elijah added his voice. “I don’t betray my friends. Fyodor told me there was a child involved and they couldn’t give me a heads-up, and I believe him.” He moved toward the door with Gedeon, waving Joaquin and Tomas back. “Was I pissed that I wasn’t in the know? Hell yes, but I understood.”
Gedeon continued to make his way through the crowd of shifters. They reluctantly parted for him. Meiling crouched in the doorway, eyes continually moving, scanning the crowd of shifters.
“You can hear lies, Gedeon,” Timur snapped. “You’re starting a war.”
“You fucking started a war. I kept my word. I always keep my word and you counted on that.”
“Hear us out,” Elijah said. “You can’t think I came here to kill you and your partner for rescuing a kidnapped child. A favor, Gedeon. I offer you a favor for staying and just talking.”
“A favor from me as well,” Fyodor offered. “You deal in favors, Gedeon.”
“And me,” Timur added. “We don’t go back on our word.”
Gedeon went still inside. His eyes met Meiling’s. What these men were offering was huge. Huge. They were some of the biggest names in the business and they’d made the offer in front of their men. If they lied, they would never save face.
Meiling’s nod was imperceptible. Very slowly Gedeon lowered the gun and made a show of indicating to Meiling to do the same. She pulled the barrel from the kid’s mouth and stepped back to give him room to get up.
“I don’t like anyone putting their hands on me without permission,” she said in a low tone. They were all shifters and all of them could hear her, which was her intention. She smiled sweetly at the kid and waited by the open door for Gedeon to give her an indication of what he wanted her to do next.
Gedeon released Elijah from his grip. He was abnormally strong, even for a shifter, and he knew the moment he was out of their sight, Elijah, Fyodor and Timur would be discussing how he had managed to get over the tops of Joaquin and Elijah and manhandle the crime lord so easily. He hoped they would be so intrigued by his abilities they wouldn’t wonder how a woman as small as Meiling was able to throw a grown male shifter to the floor and take his weapon away from him. He didn’t want them thinking too much about her at all.
Fyodor indicated a table with six chairs. “Gedeon, please come to the table and allow me to explain.”
Timur shifted his gaze to Meiling, who watched the young shifter, Yurik, slowly climb to his feet. Yurik glanced warily at her and then at Elijah as he worked his jaw back and forth.
“Join us, Meiling.” Timur issued the invitation, completely ignoring the young shifter.
She looked to Gedeon. If both sat at the table, it would be much more difficult to fight their way out. He doubted they would have to. He gave her the signal to come join them. She flashed Timur a heart-stopping smile.