LITMIR.BIZ

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a dash for it, got only another few feet before a loud creak resounded across the room and the termite-riddled joints that held the beam up surrendered to the added weight. Daniela gripped a smaller beam over her head, but that too gave way and she found herself falling to the ground.

      She landed gracefully amidst the lengths of rotten wood. Dust hung about her and as she stood she looked up to find the five men, including Cradle, watching her. She slowly backed toward a stack of crates as they advanced. Her heart began drumming wildly when one of them pulled out a gun.

      “Well, well. What have we got here?” he said.

      “Looks like a little spy,” said another.

      “Or the police,” Cradle piped in.

      Daniela made an effort to keep her eyes averted from him. He’d never seen her face as she’d always worn her mask during drop-offs, but she didn’t want to take any chances. If by some twist of fate she did make it out of there alive, she didn’t want Cradle tracking down her friends and family.

      She eased back another few steps, but was halted when the gunman raised his weapon.

      “Stop right there,” he barked. “Who sent you here?” When she didn’t respond he cocked the gun. “I asked you a question.”

      Before Daniela could provide a response, an arrow zipped through the air and penetrated the gunman’s right shoulder. He cried out in agony and the gun toppled to the floor. All eyes turned toward the top of the stairway just in time to see Nicholas leap over the banister. He landed effortlessly on his feet then brought the hind end of his crossbow square in the face of the man nearest him. With a cry the man stumbled backward and into a stack of crates.

      It took the others only a few seconds to assess this new threat and one of the men snatched up the gun, aiming for Nicholas’s chest. Daniela intercepted his attack with a kick to the midsection that knocked the wind out of him. The gun went off and a sharp pain shot through her left thigh.

      The fight that transpired after that could only be described as chaos. The three men who remained on their feet charged at them, wielding anything they could get their hands on. Daniela quickly put her martial arts training into use while Nicholas fired off two more arrows, disabling another opponent. He discarded his weapon then and went at it fist to fist with his next attacker.

      Despite their present predicament, Daniela couldn’t help but admire the speed and agility with which Nicholas fought. He moved as a man who’d been well trained in the art of combat. His opponent was easily defeated and Nicholas snatched up his crossbow again, turning to watch as she finished her attacker with a blinding blow to the head.

      Their eyes met as she remained kneeled over the motionless figure, forcing her breathing to assume a steady rhythm. He stared at her for a few seconds longer, his gaze hard and indiscernible. It was all Daniela could do not to flinch. She didn’t fear him and wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of thinking she did.

      He didn’t bark orders at her as she’d expected. Instead, he turned and marched toward Cradle who was holding his wounded arm.

      With his boot, Nicholas rolled Cradle over onto his back. “The Rune of Moloch, where is it?”

      Cradle spat, sending a tooth bouncing to the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as he tried to sit up.

      Nicholas reached down and slipped an arrow from the quiver strapped to his leg. “It was given to you. Now where is it? This is your final opportunity to respond.” He positioned the arrow into the bow.

      Daniela looked at her left thigh. She’d been shot. A small hole had been ripped into her leather pants and blood seeped through. She looked around quickly and spotted a large canvas drape that was piled on the floor. She crawled toward it and used Nicholas’s knife to cut a length of it which she then fastened tightly around her thigh, grimacing as the pain intensified.

      She pushed herself to her feet and briefly considered another escape, but decided against it. Nicholas was clearly very skilled with the weapon he held. And with her injured leg she wasn’t likely to get very far. As for how a man of the twenty-first century had acquired such precision with an antique weapon, she couldn’t imagine. Nevertheless, his disposition was hardly one to be tested.

      Cradle had managed to drag himself a few inches toward a stack of crates. His brow was furrowed in suspicion and his eyes darted to her and back. Daniela quickly averted her gaze, silently cursing Nicholas’s tactless interrogation. Few people knew that Cradle had collected the rune and she only hoped that the number was large enough to exempt her from suspicion.

      Nicholas aimed his weapon and his finger eased on the trigger. A flash of lightning from outside illuminated the room and the lazy rumble of thunder quickly ensued. A storm approached.

      Cradle eyed the man above him warily and a lump forced its way down his throat. “Hey, I only collected the item. I don’t know where it is now.”

      “Who did you give it to?”

      “I took it to a campsite about ten miles on the outskirts of Bucharest. I’d never been there before and never seen the two women I gave it to,” he admitted.

      “Two women?” Nicholas questioned.

      “Yeah,” Cradle continued as he repositioned himself, supporting his obviously deformed wrist with his uninjured hand. “Two broads. Twins by the look of them—real stiff-lipped Addams Family rejects.”

      “And what were you given in exchange for the rune?”

      “Money. That’s all these jobs are to me—a paycheck. I don’t ask questions. I just do what I’m told.”

      Nicholas remained poised over the man for a few seconds then grunted in response as he stepped back. “Get up,” he ordered.

      Cradle crawled to his feet. Without a word Nicholas jerked his head toward a large crate that sat open on the floor. Cradle understood and although a look of reluctance crossed his face, he complied without question. With much difficulty he climbed into the crate and fell back into the packing grass.

      Nicholas set his crossbow aside and swung the heavy wooden lid up. “Your associates should be awake by sunrise. I am sure they will discover you here,” he told Cradle before setting the lid into place.

      He marched toward another crate and picked it up, putting it firmly onto the lid of the first, securing Cradle inside. Daniela exhaled softly. At least no one had been killed. She wasn’t quite sure of what to expect from Nicholas Drakon. Her relief was shortlived when he snatched up his crossbow and turned his attention to her.

      Propping the weapon up onto his shoulder, he sauntered toward her, pausing a few feet away. He stood there watching her, his eyes narrowed as they trailed the length of her. Daniela tried to still the racing of her heart, but couldn’t. The man simply looked dangerous with his long mane of dark hair spilling over his back and shoulders. With as much bravado as she could muster, she waited for his next move.

      His eyes dipped over her again “You have been wounded,” he said in a low voice.

      “It’s nothing,” she lied even as another sharp pain shot down her leg.

      “There are medications at the estate. We can treat it there,” he told her as he pulled the bow from his shoulder and began to disable it.

      Daniela blinked. What the hell was he talking about? He’d gotten what he wanted and it didn’t seem as if he intended to turn her in to the police. There was absolutely no reason for her to remain with him.

      “I’ve shown you what you wanted to see. I’d like to go now,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “Oh, and I need my phone back.”

      Nicholas’s hand paused on the crossbow and he looked up at her. Emerald eyes flashed. “Dawn is nearly upon us,” he said. “I intend to be back at the estate before the sun rises. I do not have the patience or the time to spare.” He motioned toward the main entry door with his crossbow.

      As

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