The man immediately crumpled, and Lukas turned to the next. This one had a large, ugly scar on his cheek like someone had taken a knife to it. Definite gangster vibes.
Lukas tilted his head with a taunting smile when the man eyed his fallen comrade. When it looked like the man was having second thoughts, he bawked like a chicken, snickering when it had the desired effect.
Scarface turned red and swung at him. The third guy was still lingering near the exit behind them, so Lukas focused on dodging and weaving, letting Scarface get a few glancing blows before jabbing him in the ribs.
He wasn’t too concerned about letting the fight drag on. He was still restless and antsy, and a fight was better than a run any day, even against a human. Surely they knew he was a shifter and that they stood no chance.
“Gonna tell me what you’re after?” he finally asked when Scarface started slowing with exhaustion. “Are you Savino’s men?”
Surprise flickered through Scarface’s scent. “You know Savino?”
“I wouldn’t sayknow—” His body moved before he fully registered the sharp tang of metal in the air, grabbing Scarface and yanking him around to use as a shield as the asshole at the entrance finally made his move and opened fire. Even if regular bullets wouldn’t likely kill him, he hated being shot.
Scarface jerked as several bullets hit him in the chest, before groaning and turning into literal dead weight.
Lukas snarled and tossed him aside as the gunner took off. “No you don’t,” he growled, racing after him. Shifter speed meant he caught up within moments, and he launched himself at the man’s back, driving him hard to the ground. He winced at the resulting earsplitting screech. “Shut the fuck up,” he snarled, shoving the man’s face into the sidewalk. “If you’re not Savino’s, who are you working for?”
When the man remained stubbornly silent, Lukas shifted, digging a knee into one of the pressure points in his lower back until the man screamed.
“Tell me!”
“You’ll kill me!”
“Tempting, but no. What’re you after?”
The man struggled beneath him, as if he really thought he could get away, before slumping with a pathetic whimper. “He wants the mage. Figured you’d be the easiest way to lure him out.”
“And who’s he?”
“Mr. Wright.”
“He got a first name?”
“Timothy.”
Lukas dug his knee in again as he pulled out his phone to do a quick search. He could already hear sirens in the distance, but he wasn’t worried. A few seconds later, he was staring at a picture of an old, balding white man who owned a construction company off Cherry Creek and was listed as a co-owner on a dozen others. “This the guy?” he asked, shoving his phone in the man’s face, and was rewarded with a nod.
“Can see why he’d have to get a mage by force,” he muttered, sending the information to Quinn as he ignored the man’s pleas to be let go. He sent a quick text to his CO so no one was caught with their pants down if the police flagged his name for something. Then he slipped his phone into his pocket and pulled out his ID as the cops finally arrived.
He held his hands up, offering his ID as he stood. “Corporal Hunt. I was assaulted by these three men,” he said, motioning to the tunnel. He contained his smirk at the man’s outraged snarl and resigned himself to a long morning of dealing with police.
Chapter 8
WATCHING MAXshoot Caius discreet glances full of confusion, awe, and longing was physically painful. The cautious ones Caius returned when Max wasn’t looking were almost as bad.
Quinn was saved by a text from Lukas. It was nothing more than a name, but he quickly escaped the resurgence of teenage hormones and awkwardness to his lair.
His multicomputer rig hummed to life as he sank into his chair and started his search. It didn’t take long to pull up some basic info on a Timothy Wright, one CEO of a mediocre construction company with his hand in several others.
He was digging into the numerous lawsuits and charges filed against him, ranging from discrimination to sexual assault to racketeering, when his phone dinged with an alert. “This is like some wannabe mob boss,” he muttered, pulling out his phone. Like they needed another one of those to deal with.
He stared at the message on his phone for a moment, sure it was a joke, because no way would the police have any reason to pull Lukas’ information. He’d hidden a couple of passive controls in the government databases while still enlisted to ensure he received a notification any time their names or files were pulled.
“What the fuck?” he hissed, switching to another computer and pulling up the security footage from Lukas leaving the house. He flipped through several feeds before he found the corresponding cameras on the path Lukas had taken, and then he was watching Lukas jogging through the park, the same guy tailing him since a block from their house.
He swore when Lukas disappeared into the tunnel and was out of his seat when three men followed him in. His heart nearly stopped when the man near the entrance fired his gun and took off, only breathing again when Lukas raced after him and drove him to the ground.
“Fucking hell,” he hissed, watching until the police arrived. Only when Lukas went with them without being handcuffed did he turn back to his original task, trusting Lukas could handle the police without Quinn interfering.
