He didn’t deny it. As long as Naomi was in Cain’s crosshairs, Asher wasn’t about to take the target off himself. Not even to give the other male the truth. “You’re one to judge, considering who you work for. You’re taking Slater’s money. The only difference is you’re doing it with blood on your hands.”
Now, Cain’s face hardened. “We’ve both got blood on our hands, Asher, and it’s never going to wash off. But at least I never killed my own brethren.”
“We killed whoever Dragos ordered us to kill.”
Cain shook his head. “You know damned well there’s a difference between you and me.”
“Then prove it. Walk away, and don’t come back.”
“I can’t do that. Slater pays me to take care of his interests. And nothing interests him more than his money. He’s going to want it back,” Cain added. “If he finds out it’s been her repeatedly hitting him, there won’t be any stopping him. And he won’t send a bunch of clowns after her the way he did the other night.”
The newsflash that Cain just let slip took Asher aback. Slater didn’t know it was Naomi gunning for him? All of her disguises, her patient strikes spread out over time as she methodically separated Slater from a couple hundred-thousand dollars.
To say nothing of the million-and-change that Michael walked away with last night with her help.
And Slater didn’t know.
But Cain did, and that was equally dangerous—if not more so.
“Why did she do it?” the Hunter asked. “I’ve reviewed hours of surveillance footage. I’ve seen her operate. I know she’s clever and ballsy as hell. So, why keep provoking Slater? Tell me that much.”
As much as Asher needed an ally, he wasn’t going to kid himself that he’d find one in Cain. Nor in any of his other Hunter comrades. They had all been sired off the same Ancient bloodline in Dragos’s lab, but few of the former Hunters emerged from their enslavement with any bond of loyalty from their half-blooded brothers.
Least of all Asher.
He couldn’t stake Naomi’s life on the hope that Cain would give him that much consideration. But what other choice did he have?
“Slater killed her mother.”
Cain hardly blinked. “He’s killed a lot of people.”
“Well, this time someone’s come to collect on the debt.”
“She’s taken this shit too far. All she’s doing is digging her own grave. At some point Slater’s going to find out, and he’s going to tell me to put her in it.” At Asher’s low growl, the other Hunter stared at him for a long moment, considering him in silence. “Slater’s going to tell me to end her, and I’m going to do it because that’s my job. I’m sure you can relate to that, right?”
The jab shouldn’t have stung, but Asher had spent the better part of his life regretting everything he’d done at Dragos’s command. He’d relived the depth and breadth of his sins time and again, thanks to the curse of his unique gift.
Cain’s silver eyes narrowed. “The win last night at Moda—the big one on the slots. You were there with the woman. She didn’t have anything to do with that take, did she?”
Asher feigned confusion and shook his head. “From what I recall, the winner was some guy in a wheelchair. So, unless she’s one hell of a magician, I don’t know how you came up with that idea.”
Cain stared at him, menace in the sharp bones of his face. “If it turns out either of you are working with this guy—Michael Carson—it’s not going to end well for any of you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No,” he scoffed. “Consider it a warning, although I don’t know why you deserve one.”
“I don’t,” Asher admitted. “But she does. She’s a Breedmate, Cain.”
A look of pure shock swept over the immense male. That revelation was the one thing powerful enough to stop even an ice-cold killer like him. Every Breed male, even the Hunters, knew their entire race owed their existence—and their future—to women bearing the teardrop-and-crescent-moon mark. Without Breedmates, there would be no more Breed. That alone made Naomi and the others like her more precious than any man’s riches.
Still, Cain barked out a curse, looking more suspicious than ever. “This Breedmate. Is she yours, then?”
Asher wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he settled on the truth. “Not in blood,” he said. “But make no mistake, sheismine. And as long as I breathe, she is under my protection.”
“Under your protection? A soulless bastard like you?” Cain raised his dark brows on a deep chuckle. “Then God help her if you’re all she’s got to count on.”
Cain left him standing there in the dark, the stealth assassin fading into the night in much the same way he’d appeared.
