Red. (Den of Mercenaries #1)(2)

Looking around, she asked, “Do you even know where we are?”

Niklaus dug out the street map he’d picked up after they had left the metro station, figuring it would be a good idea to find their way back to it. Even with the muted glow of the street lamps, it was hard to make anything out.

“We can’t be far from the station now, right? We’ve been walking for a while,” she said looking around them. “Maybe we can ask someone…” But there weren’t many people out at this time of the night.

“Let’s just call a cab. We can add that to our list of experiences—lost in the big city.”

Reaching the end of the block they were on, Niklaus dug through his pocket for his old, beat-up phone, hunting through his contacts for the phone number he had saved for the cab company they had taken from the airport. A woman answered on the fifth ring, and after giving her the street name they were standing under from the sign above them, he nodded at her answer and hung up.

“They’ll have somebody here in fifteen minutes.”

Sarah nodded at his answer, and when he noticed her slight shivers, he drew her back into his embrace, resting his chin on top of her head. She smelled of cinnamon and apples, probably from whatever holiday shampoo she was using.

“Hopefully you don’t freeze to death by then,” she whispered playfully, laughing when he tugged her hair.

Niklaus didn’t know how long they stood there, enjoying the silence of the night when he noticed the van pass them by. There wasn’t anything particularly notable about it, but this had been the third time he’d seen it pass by.

It was the logo of the clowns and bowling pins that stuck out to him.

He f*cking hated clowns.

He didn’t mention this to Sarah right away, because while he was suspicious by nature, she liked to call him paranoid.

But it wasn’t paranoia. Niklaus just didn’t believe in coincidences.

Despite standing beneath the light, Niklaus didn’t like that they were out in the open. “Come on,” he urged her, scanning the street once more for any sign of the van, but it had already disappeared around another corner. “Let’s sit over here and get out of the snow.”

At least then they wouldn’t be in plain view.

Of course, she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, so she dutifully followed his lead, oblivious to the sliver of anxiety that was steadily climbing up his spine. Before they could even make it a couple of steps, the van came screeching around the corner, the squeal of its tires growing louder as it sped towards them.

This time, Sarah noticed it, but Niklaus knew it was too late.

“Niklaus, why—”

He moved her behind him, even as he walked them backwards, watching the van screech to a halt, the side panel sliding open, two men in masks jumping out.

“Run,” he warned as he turned and pushed her forward, staying in place instead of following behind, wanting to give her a head start. She did what he asked without argument, taking off in the opposite direction, screaming for help.

Niklaus didn’t attempt to run, knowing that at the very least, they would have to get through him to get to her, and by the time they did, hopefully she would be long gone, or someone would have come around trying to see what the commotion was all about.

But…it almost felt like this wasn’t about robbing them as their attention seemed solely focused on him. From what he could tell, they had hardly looked in her direction.

When the one in front charged him, Niklaus swung out a fist, landing a solid punch to the man’s jaw that sent him flying back and cursing in a language Niklaus didn’t understand. The man recovered quickly enough, charging towards him like a bull, ramming his shoulder into Niklaus’ stomach, sending them both to the ground.

Niklaus had had enough practice fending off idiotic football players not to let this man get the best of him, but as he grappled with the man, he forgot all about the other one that was hovering nearby observing.

“Niklaus!”

Forgetting all about the two that were on him, Niklaus’ attention shot to Sarah as a gorilla of a man caught her, dragging her back to the idling van. He didn’t care what happened to him, but he couldn’t let her get hurt.

But just as he got free of the one that had taken him to the ground, the second came out of nowhere and struck him, sending him back to the ground, his vision blurring. He felt like he’d been hit by a cinderblock, his head bouncing off the concrete so hard he saw stars.

Niklaus was dazed, could almost hear Sarah yelling his name again, but before he could latch onto it, a shadowy figure loomed over him, and the last thing he saw before blackness stole him was a booted foot coming down at his face.





Chapter Two





Jolted awake by rough hands strapping him to a chair, Niklaus renewed his struggles, but there was hardly anything he could do to ward off what was happening now that his ankles were secured to the legs of the chairs with zip-ties, and his wrists were next. More than that, a headache pounded away in his head, the wound to the back of his skull throbbing in time.

He would have continued to fight if not for the soft whimpering across from him. He stilled immediately, jerking his head in every direction, trying to shake off the musty smelling black bag that covered his face.

It was only after his wrists were tied down did someone remove it.