Addict (Hunter #2)(43)

“I don’t want trouble,” I said calmly. “Why don’t you go find this Martin person and yell at him about your pilfered hooch?”

Kall shrugged. “Screw the booze, honey. I’d rather spend a little time with you.”

“I don’t think Master Sloane would like that,” I said, remembering proper Dom/sub formality.

Kall laughed. “Nice. I wouldn’t worry about Sloane, though. He won’t be back for seconds. He’s on a mission to play with every athletic brunette in the Metroplex. Just between you and me, he’s pathetic.” He put his hands on the coat Sloane had wrapped around me. “I can take care of you, honey. I promise I won’t treat you like Sloane. I won’t tie you up and leave you unsatisfied. I’ll make sure you remember who your Master is.”

“Take your hands off her.” Jamie walked up from behind us, his feet sounding on the concrete. I knew he would have his semiautomatic in his hand, and it would likely be aimed at the demon’s head.

Kall frowned as he regarded my brother. “Who the hell is that? Do you have a pimp? Winter said we wouldn’t have to deal with pimps. We’re supposed to be able to buy the girls outright.”

Charming. I could add human…whatever trafficking to Julius Winter’s many sins.

My brother moved beside me. “She’s not for sale.”

“You can’t shoot him, James,” I pointed out with a sigh.

I wished that jerk Matt hadn’t taken my gun and knives. I wouldn’t be able to use the gun any more than Jamie could, but the knives might have come in handy. The gun would be too loud. Someone would come to see what was going on and then the fight would really be on. The knives, on the other hand, would have been nice and quiet. I hoped Marcus didn’t make me write a thousand-word essay on why a Hunter should never allow someone to take her weapons.

Kall was staring at my brother like he wouldn’t mind getting to know him, too. “Yes, James, let’s not be hasty. Why don’t the three of us go inside and have a chat. I think we can come to an agreement that suits all three of us.” He smacked Scott. “Get in there, slave. We’ll need a privacy room.”

Scott actually started to walk toward the door.

“Scott, you stay where you are,” I said in my best alpha voice.

Scott stopped on a dime.

Kall didn’t look pleased. “You have a problem with my orders, slave?”

“No, sir,” Scott said, avoiding his eyes.

“Then why are you standing here?”

“Because she scares me more than you do,” Scott admitted.

Kall threw back his head and laughed. He smacked Scott’s face. “Watch this, son. This is how you handle a whore.”

He reached out to grab me by the wrist.

“Do you have this, sis?” Jamie asked.

“I got it,” I said surely as the demon pulled me toward him. I heard Jamie click the safety back on the gun. Kall pulled me into the circle of his arms.

“This is more like it,” he said. I could smell the liquor on his breath. One hand held me by the wrist while the other started to make its way toward my ass. “You be sweet to me, honey, and I won’t hurt you. Well, too much.”

I made him no such promise as I brought my four-inch stiletto down as hard as I could on the bridge of his foot. It sank in about a quarter of an inch or so. I had to forcibly pull it out of his flesh. He started to howl, but that went counter to my game plan, which included a quiet and dignified exit. Also, I didn’t want security on my ass. I punched up and caught him in the jaw, effectively silencing that first shout.

“Heads-up. I found a two-by-four.” Jamie tossed it my way.

“Nice.” I caught the board. It was good to have backup. Jamie was kind of the perfect guy for the job because he simply let me work. I smacked dumbass Kall across the face with my handy two-by-four, and he hit the deck. Several body blows followed. Kall managed to get exactly one punch in. He managed to hit my shoulder with all the force of a thirteen-year-old girl slapping at someone who took her boyfriend. I kicked him in the balls. Demons totally have balls and they like them dangling and not shoved up into their body cavities just as much as the rest of the male population.

The whole time Jamie yawned and stretched and generally let me know that when I was done playing, he was ready to go. I took the hint and pulled Kall’s head into my hands. Marcus had taught me a neat way to internally decapitate an enemy. The loud crunch Kall’s neck made as it twisted and broke proved I was a quick study.

I took a nice deep breath of cold air and tried to find Scott again. I’d lost track of him during the fight.

“He ran.” My brother pointed toward the club.

Scott stood in the doorway. He stared out as though trying to make the decision to stay or risk running with me. His face was taut and his eyes downcast as he slowly shut the door.

Jamie shook his head and reached for my hand. “We need to go. You did your duty. You talked to him.”

“Yeah, you should go,” Kall said, looking up at me because he really couldn’t do anything else.

“You’re still alive?” That was disappointing to say the least. It goes to show you, if something seems too easy, it probably is. I kicked at him, trying to figure out if he was going to pop up and start chasing me. “Jamie, he’s still alive. What am I supposed to do?”