I had one shot at this.
I glanced at Wes. “You know Albert’s going to kill you, right?”
Wes sneered at me as he picked up the heavy glass paperweight on Albert’s desk, idly examining it. “Silence, whore.”
I yawned. “You sound like an echo of Bruce. That’s embarrassing.”
He glanced up. “He’s right. You’ve always been Keigan’s favorite. A good for nothing bounty hunter who happened to fuck a demon. You know what?” Wes reached out with one hand, grabbing my t-shirt so he could get right up in my face. That meant that he only had one hand for my gun.
I let my body go limp, sliding off the chair as he leaned closer. It pulled him a fraction off balance.
I struck.
My foot hit his wrist with enough power to send my gun flying. His arm swung toward me but I slid beneath it, leaping at him.
I wrapped the Naud Chains around his throat.
Wes pushed at me, but I had the leverage, my arms crossing the chains behind him as I hooked my right arm around his neck andpulled.
He drove his fist into my ribs. Once, twice. I screamed as a sharp pain took up residence in my side. But if I let go, I was dead.
He clawed at his throat and I pulled the chain tighter. His neck muscles strained, and he dropped his hand again this time burying his fist in my gut.
I’d tensed my stomach muscles but not fast enough. My hands automatically let go as the air exploded from my lungs. I gasped for breath like a fish suddenly on land.
He tripped me, following me down to the ground. “Your turn to learn how that felt,” he snarled, one hand wrapping around my throat.
What little air I’d managed to suck up disappeared instantly. My arms were still tangled behind his neck, and I slipped the chain back toward me. I needed the slack.
My right hand groped beneath the desk. Wes smiled at me, clearly enjoying himself.
My fingers brushed the cool glass of the paperweight. I strained, inching toward it.
There.
I slammed it into his face and was rewarded with a sickening crunch. Wes screamed, and I hauled back, hitting him in the back of the head. And again. Air whooshed into my lungs, only to be cut off again as the asshole collapsed on top of me.
I pulled the knife from the small of my back and held it to his throat as I wiggled out from underneath him. No movement. I made it to my knees and gasped at the pain in my side. He had fists like goddamn sledgehammers.
The closet. Get to the closet, and break into the chest. I could do this.
I found my feet and opened the closet door, pushing the blanket off the chest Albert kept in here. My hands shook as I pulled out another blanket and gaped at Albert’s hoard.
Weapons, jewelry, cash, and passports.
I recognized some of the weapons, but I dumped them on the floor. My hands shook, my mouth so dry I’d give just about anything for some water.
Bruce was getting the car. Ben would be here any minute.
“Keys, keys, keys, keys, goddamnit!”
Nothing. I choked out a sob. Where the fuck would Albert keep the keys to the Naud chains? My hands touched something soft and I froze.
I pulled the pelt out. It was about the size of a coat, and somehow as smooth as silk, and yet it felt almost like fur. I wrapped it around my neck like a shawl. Then I stepped over Wes, picked up my Colt, and opened the door, peering down the corridor.
Wes groaned and I glanced at him. “Don’t make me regret leaving you for the demons,” I snarled. He wasn’t moving. I took a deep breath and that breath caught in my throat at the pain from my ribs. Okay, I’d try not to do that again.
I just had to get to the 6thfloor.
