“I could, but we need to focus here. Now quit the attitude. Even if we weren’t working on a Friday night, you still wouldn’t be doing anything. So don’t be pissy with me because you can’t get a date.”
She glared. “Look, Romeo. Just because I don’t get it on with everything in pants doesn’t mean—”
“Your last date was over six months ago. Talk about a dry spell. Hel-lo, Sahara.” Sean chuckled until she slugged him in the arm. “Ow. All right, I’ll lay off. Keep to the plan. I’ll distract his people while you move in. Do what you have to, grab the ring, and we’re out of here. Just make sure he forgets who took it.”
“Sure thing. Easy.” Vicki huffed. “How the hell am I going to rip that rock off his finger if his tongue’s down my throat?”
“I didn’t tell you to sex him up. Just distract him. Bad enough you’re wearing that getup.”
“Youtoldme to wear something, and I quote, ‘provocative’. Hell, I didn’t think you knew any words longer than two syllables.”
He tugged her along after him. “Funny. Look, just work your mojo, knock him out and grab the ring. Give me the signal when you’re done. This place makes me edgy.” Sean stopped as if on alert.
She mentally reached out and felt him using his own mojo. “There he is.”
One man sat in a plush chair on a raised dais with his back to the wall, overlooking the entire space. Surrounded by shifty looking individuals, he fit right in wearing a ripped, sleeveless t-shirt and grunge jeans. But the clothes couldn’t camouflage his power. A tall, muscular Asian man in his prime, Tommy Chen practically owned the underground sector of Cross Step. Shaggy black hair, an arresting face somewhat obscured by a pair of dark sunglasses, and intricate tattoos covering both his arms lent Chen a dangerous first impression.
According to one of their contacts, the tattoos could take on a life of their own. A definite oddity, even in the world of Voiders.
As she stared at him across the loud, crowded room, Vicki had the sense he stared right back at her, but she couldn’t be sure. Unlike her namesake, Vicki couldn’t tell the future or read minds. Her talent, like Sean’s, was much more visceral.
A large, bruised hand settled on her shoulder. “Okay, Vicki. You’re next.”
Who is this schmuck, and how does he know my name?
“Damn it,” Sean swore.Ittook three guys bigger than the giant next to her to pull her cousin away.
“I’ll be fine,” she yelled over her shoulder as she was led to Tommy Chen.
Their target. Finally.
Chapter Two
Except Chen didn’t let her get close enough to touch him. The guard pulled her to within a few feet of him before Chen held up a hand. On his pinkie finger sat the thin black band she’d been hired to retrieve.
“Lovely form, Victoria. And such pretty eyes.” He pushed back his shades. Tommy Chen had eyes as black as night and sexy as sin. Up close, he had more charisma and animal magnetism than she would have guessed from the many surveillance photos she’d seen of him. “Winner takes all, baby,” he murmured, and his cologne drifted over her.
Her pulse raced and her body screamed for sex.
“What?”Down girl. Focus on his ring.
Before she could ask him about his alluring scent, the guard dragged her toward the empty stage and tossed her up onto it. She landed on her feet and waited, her fists clenched. The noise in the crowd subsided, and Vicki looked around her at Cross Step’s ugly underbelly.What the hell have I gotten myself into?
Chen stood, silencing the room. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have a real treat. Vicki Fox has challenged my best girl, Mei Lin, to a match.”
The crowd went wild. But where was Mei—
Mei Lin dropped out of nowhere to land a few inches to Vicki’s right. Dodging the blow aimed at her face, Vicki fought back, wondering how the hell this grab-and-go assignment had turned into a no-holds-barred grudge match.
Thankfully, as fast as Mei Lin was, she couldn’t meet Vicki’s speed or agility. Instinctively drawing on Mei Lin’s life-force, Vicki grew more powerful. A fighting spirit, her father liked to call her. A Conduit who absorbed energy through touch and heightened adrenaline—active combat. A freak of nature, like Sean.
Mei Lin kicked her in the stomach hard enough to crack a rib.
“That’sit.” Vicki knew her eyes glowed. Fierce passions tended to brighten her vision. With startling clarity, she saw every move Mei Lin intended to makebeforeshe made it. Irritated to be in the limelight, that her cousin had put her up to this, and that they still hadn’t nabbed Chen’s ring, Vicki took her hostility out on her adversary.
Minutes later, she stepped over Mei Lin’s bruised but still breathing body and jumped to the floor. No one stopped her.
“Congratulations, Vicki. You’re my new best girl,” Chen said with a chuckle.
