Page 9 of Nicolette

Baring my teeth, I hissed at the vampire. Probably a dumb thing to do, but right then, I didn’t care. I needed to get to Nicolette before she lost too much blood.

“Oh, how cute,” Mortas patronized. “While normally I would enjoy playing with you, my little feline friend, but you see, my meal is just dying for me to get to it. Who knows, I might even decide to grant her a new life if she proves to be as strong of a fighter as everyone believes she is. What a soldier she would make with a body so sinful and a killer instinct. Now off with you. I prefer to enjoy my meals alone.”

The vampire picked me up by the throat and hurled me into the crowd. I crashed into a group of werewolves, which had clearly been done on purpose.

“Fucking cat,” a large wolf man snarled, kicking me out of the way, so I rolled across the concrete floor.

“So much for them always landing on their feet,” another of the group scoffed as they resumed their conversation.

Hands grabbed me, and I instantly fought back hissing, only to discover it was Polo. “What the fuck are you thinking?” Polo demanded, brushing off the dirt. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“That fucking fang face is going to feed off her,” I shouted, shoving him away. “If he takes too much, he’ll kill her, or worse. The walking corpse will turn her.”

Polo looked at me with a sad expression. “It might be her only option at this point. Marco, she was losing so much blood. If he truly does feed off her, neither one of us have the skills to fix that. If Nine was here or even Rambler being stronger than us in that area, she might have a shot.”

My caracal snarled at this wanting to lash out at his brother for turning our back on her. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why my feline side was so attached to her, but it was as if there was an instinct-driven emotion to protect her.

“You do what you think is right, but I’m not going to stand by and let this happen,” I told my twin and stalked to the double doors that would lead to the stairway up and out of this place. I needed to make a phone call, and it wasn’t going to work down here.

“Marco,” Polo called after me, but I ignored him.

I took the stairs two at a time and was quickly up and out in the crisp spring air. We wouldn’t have many nights like this left before the summer heat kicked up, making us all wish we hadn’t settled in this fucking place. Then again, you either picked extreme heat or a winter so cold you couldn’t go outside for days at a time. Personally, I’d take the heat. If we wanted to cool off, we could take a ride into the mountains, where it was always nice up in the foothills.

The Grid was named not only for how the gangs and crime lords divided up the slums but for the underground tunnel system. The Grid was born out of the oldest part of Poamald City. We, criminals, loved it with all the hidden entrances, basements, and tunnels connecting places together. If we didn’t want to be seen, then it was easy to make that happen, dealing our business under the feet of those who wanted to stop us. That tunnel system was the most sacred thing here. If you betrayed The Grid by sharing information, not only would it get you killed instantly, but you’d destroy everything. It was the one fucking thing all of us could agree on and protected with our lives.

Stepping into an alcove, so I wasn’t out in the open, I made my call, praying to anyone or anything that would listen for help.

“Marco,” Nine’s unmistakable smooth timber said in greeting. “Everything good?”

Polo and I had asked for the night off so we’d be free to finally interact with Nicolette. There was no time to flirt with the pretty fighter when on the job, and we’d decided enough was enough. Years we’d been watching this woman, it was time to make a move.

“Not really,” I shared. “Polo and I are fine, but a friend of ours is in a bit of trouble.”

“Go on,” Nine urged, telling me I had his full attention.

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for the answer I knew I was going to get. “Do you remember that fighter, Swurve Reaper, everyone’s been going on about the last few years?”

“I know the name from you two, but that’s all I know about the man.”

“Well… Swurve is a she, and since the day you sent us here to keep an eye on things, Polo and I have been keeping an eye on her,” I explained. “Swurve is human, but Nine, you should see her. She fights like a Supe. Sorry, not the point, but I’m just trying to explain why I think this will be a smart idea.”

“If you get to the part where you actually tell us the idea, just let me know. I don’t want to miss it,” Rambler, our vice president, grumbled. Apparently, I was on speakerphone.

“She’s been with The Broker for about ten years, and my guess would be she’s paid her debt to the rat already. Now that he doesn’t have that to hang over her head and control her, he’s decided to kill her off,” I shared, ignoring Rambler’s scoff in the background. “Nine, he made her fight a fucking ghoul, and she won with only a knife.”

“Impressive, but I’m still not sure why you’re telling me all this,” Nine pointed out.

I banged my head against a brick wall, frustrated as I tried to pull my thoughts together. “I want your permission to bite her.”

“The fuck did you say?” Rambler roared. “Did you just say what I think you did? Why the fuck would you even ask that?”

“She’s bleeding out, and neither Polo nor I are strong enough to heal her. Neither of you would make it in time if they’d even let you in the door, so what other option do I have?” I yelled, my chest heaving in anger. “Nicolette has literally been fighting for her life all her life. Now she’s getting fed on by Mortas Boudier, who might turn her into a fucking fanger.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone once I’d finished my rant. I had no idea what to make of it, but I wasn’t going to shove my foot farther in my mouth than I already had.

Polo was really the one who’d been given the position of treasurer for the pride, and he deserved that honor. He brought me on as his assistant since we were all we had left and didn’t want me to be left out of the loop. Truthfully, I had no place being part of the leadership for the pride, but I’d found I was a skilled negotiator, contrary to what was happening here.

“Marco…” Nine started but paused before letting out a sigh, “... I want to say yes, but if Mortas and The Broker are involved with this woman, I can’t risk bringing that back on our people.”