Blood and Fire (McClouds & Friends #8)(44)

“I’ve never given the whole sequence to any of my agents before,” he said throatily, stroking her cheek. “But you, my lovely Zoe, are special. A real treasure. So finish this business. And hurry back.”

Zoe scurried to comply.





10


“Pull over here,” Bruno said. “At the mall.”


“Here?” Alex Aaro scowled over his shoulder at them. “You’re being pursued by hit men, and you want an Egg McMuffin?”

Bruno exhaled through his teeth. He bitterly regretted having called the guy. Aaro was not his friend, nor even Kev’s friend. He was Kev’s brother Davy McCloud’s friend, an old Army Rangers buddy. He’d helped them out in the zombie masters debacle and gotten the shit blown out of his property in the process, so he’d racked up pity points to offset his terminally bad attitude. Plus, he’d helped the McCloud brothers and their friends on other strange exploits, the tales of which were so improbable, Bruno still couldn’t bring himself to believe them. Nutzoid McClouds. They baffled him. But Kev fit right in, even after an eighteenyear hiatus. Which, of course, only pissed Bruno off all the more.

Yep, Aaro was resoundingly not his friend, but that was what made this dickface the safest one to call, if Lily was to be believed about the apocalyptic surveillance bullshit. He had his doubts, but those attackers had been focused, trained professionals. Not drug-addled street scum. It was weird enough to make him very careful.

In spite of the explosions and the pitched gun battle at his remote forest home, Aaro had, amazingly, stayed out of the press. He kept a low profile, being freakishly paranoid, the McClouds said.

And that meant something, coming from those guys.

“We need clothes,” he said. “At the Gresham outlet mall. We’re a mess.”

“Retail therapy for the stress? What’ll it be, Victoria’s Secret?”

He was not rising to the bait. “Clothes,” he said evenly. “Normal, warm winter clothes. I can’t use my cards until I know what the f*ck is going on, so you’ll have to front me.”

Aaro swerved into the mall entrance. “Let me get this straight. You call at the crack of dawn with a story about bodies on the streets of Portland. You demand taxi service, because out of nowhere, the whole world wants to kill you and your schizo girlfriend, too.”

Lily bristled. “I am not schizo!”

“And now we’re going for a shopping spree at the mall, at my expense. Shall we get a latte and a ginger current scone at the coffee bar? An acupuncture treatment? A massage?”

Bruno stared at the guy. “I can’t drag her up to Tony’s cabin in a miniskirt and heels. There might be snow up there.”

“Bruno, he’s right. Stopping for clothes would be silly,” Lily said. “Let’s just save that for when we—”

“You’re spattered with blood!” he yelled. “Your coat is canvas, with no lining! You don’t even have any goddamn underwear!”

Lily jerked loose of his encircling arm. “You bastard!” she hissed. “I do, too!”

“That thong you’re wearing does not count,” Bruno retorted.

Aaro jerked to a stop and gave them a knowing look. “Glad to hear the hit men haven’t cramped your sex life any.”

“That was before!” he snarled back. “The hit men came after!”

Aaro flinched, lifting his hands. “Don’t give me the blow-byblow. God, look at me, in my sad celibate state. Forced to buy hot lingerie for Bruno’s bare-assed girlfriend.”

“Don’t bother,” Lily told him. “I’d rather die than wear it.”

Aaro turned his sharp, narrow gaze on her. “If death is what you wanted, your new fancy boy f*cked that up for you back at the diner. So what would make you feel like living again? Culottes? Tap pants? Stretch lace? Red satin? Go wild, honey. You like thongs?”

“Watch it, Aaro,” Bruno said.

Aaro’s eyes flicked to Lily’s crotch. It was hidden by the folds of her blood-tered canvas coat, but Lily’s battered knees still snapped smartly together. “Oh, I do,” he said. “Whenever I get the chance.”

She gave him a thin smile. “When hell freezes over, buddy.”

“Ooh. Scary,” Aaro murmured. “You tell her, man, because I’m way too intimidated to say it to her face, but she should keep her panties on in these dangerous times.”

“Up yours, *,” Lily retorted.

Bruno put his finger over Lily’s mouth. Anger had given her a nice rosy glow, which had to be a good thing, up to a point. He held up his hand to forestall whatever snide and hateful thing Aaro was opening his mouth to say. “You are out of line, man,” he said quietly. “Shut up.”

Aaro’s mouth tightened. “I knew it,” he said. “I knew, as soon as I saw who was calling, that this would be another massive goatf*ck with international implications. It always is, with McClouds.”

“I’m not a McCloud. I share no genetic material with those freaks!”

Aaro dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “You might as well be. The curse rubs off on anyone they hang out with. You’ve been exposed, so you’re already f*cked. And so am I.” He glanced at Lily, not without sympathy. “You too, from the looks of things.”