She smiled and turned, directing her words to Kellen. “Mr. Chen would love for you to join him in the back when you’re ready for some real entertainment.”
Dante, the big idiot, gave the Vulcani a thorough onceover. Tall, busty, and with flaming red eyes, she attracted attention easily. She would burn hot, for sure. Smart Ravagers knew better than to flirt with a woman who could singe your fur off. So of course Dante flirted his way to her side and demanded everyone accompany him to the back.
Since Kellen hadn’t learned much on his own, he went with them. But he’d swear he felt someone watching him.
Trouble found me.He grinned to himself, eager for a fight to take the edge off.Too bad Kate and the pack aren’t here to soothe me.
But when he turned around to confront the stalker he could almost feel, he ran into the one person he never would have guessed he’d see again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Before Kellen could say her name, she narrowed her eyes and gave a subtle nod toward the shadows, where she drifted.
“Lemme grab another beer,” he said to Dante. I’ll join you in a minute.”
Dante grinned, still enchanted by their fiery guide. “Don’t take too long.” He turned to the Vulcani. “So, hot stuff, why have I not seen you around before?”
A few Ravagers near him groaned. One of them said, “Ten to one he gets his balls fried with all that horrible flirting.”
Kellen grinned, amused despite the danger. Of all the scenarios he might have envisioned since returning to Cross Step, running into his old friend, an assassin with a legendary track record for completing her kills, hadn’t been one of them.
She wore a different face, but then, she often did. But her eyes never lied. An intense black with flecks of green that came and went, Viper could blend into the shadows and disappear in an empty room. He thought she might be Xee, a rare race of Voiders he’d heard about before the Dekken had come. The Xee controlled energy in ways that could be deadly to a Ravager’sguer.
He’d been on his guard when he’d first met her, but since they’d been on the same side of a Voider extermination squad in Spain, he’d worked alongside her to crush a common enemy. In the process, they’d learned a lot about each other. She was the closest thing he had to a friend since coming through the Voids. Well, since before he’d met Kate and her pack, anyway.
After skirting a few people, he ducked into the shadows and let her yank him into a small room through a hidden door.
“What the hell?” he snarled and quickly shook her off.
The room remained dark except for a dim ceiling light which showed shelves filled with paper products. A storage closet, obviously.
He strained to see the small shadow in the corner. “Viper?”
“What the hell are you doing here, you jackass?” she hissed. “Shouldn’t you be in Lawless territory obeying your master?”
He cringed. Viper had never liked his association with his clan. Though he knew she had a point, he’d been loyal to his kind, never harming anyone who might prove a valuable Ravager ally. What his old prime hadn’t known hadn’t hurt him, because unlike Nev Lawless, Kellen didn’t feel comfortable hurting the innocent.
“The Lawless are no more.” He kept his voice as quiet as hers. “I’m part of the Savage clan now. Those Ravagers with me are Savage, so try not to kill any of them. I’d hate to have to kill you in retaliation.”
He saw the flash of her teeth as she grinned.
“Like you could.” She stepped out of the shadows, and he studied her. Instead of the goddess-like face, fluid lines, and graceful stance of the killer he knew her to be, he saw a tall Asian woman with short black hair, a mask of red makeup across her eyes and the bridge of her nose, and black painted lips curled in a sneer.
She possessed the same height but a slightly thinner build than she normally had, with hands a little too large, her nails too long and sharp for a skilled assassin to wield her many blades.
“You’re working,” he noted. “Who’s the target?”
She just watched him.
He grunted his exasperation. “I’m not going to interfere. I’m just here getting used to my new clan, keeping my eyes and ears open for word about Watchers and anything that might threaten Ravagers. Nothing more.”
She studied him. “You look good.” She smiled. “I missed you.”
He staggered back when she threw herself into his arms. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I missed you too.” He set her down and pretended his eyes weren’t as glassy as hers. “I thought you were dead.”
“I did too.” She sighed. “That last stint in Strasbourg nearly did me in. Anti-Voider group but not Watchers. They were local, can you believe that?”
“Man. They were brutal.” He’d just left town before seeing the news that several Voiders had been killed, a picture of Viper’s bloodied face and unseeing eyes making the headlines. Then again, he had a feeling that hadn’t been her real face then either. He had no idea what she really looked like. “Who are you now?”
