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I huffed out a laugh. “Just make sure we don’t have any explosives on our hands afterwards. I don’t need the trouble.”

Remy gave me a smile that held absolutely no humor. “You know I never get anything on my hands, Boss. Leave it up to me.”

He turned and left without another word, ready to carry out my orders, just like he always did. And I tried to feel better about that cop dying for what he’d done. I tried to tell myself that it would be enough to hold me over until Jack got back to me and I knew whether we were going to war tomorrow.

I reminded myself that I needed to be patient, and that I’d get Saraya back the moment I had everything else in hand. I told myself that she was a smart girl who’d be able to take care of herself until I could get to her. That she’d been taking care of herself for years before I found her the first time.

But it wasn’t enough. Not even close. I wanted Saraya back where I could hold her, touch her, hear that laugh and see those eyes. I wanted to know she was safe from the likes of Devil. And every second that passed without that happening was a second too long.

Hell, I hoped she wasn’t doing anything stupid. I hoped she was laying low and waiting for me rather than putting herself in danger. She’d already been stupid enough this week to last an entire lifetime.

CHAPTER 4

SARAYA

I’D BEEN COLD FOR SO long, and so, so lonely, that for a long time, I didn’t recognize the feeling. Or... No, ‘recognize’ wasn’t quite right, because I’d never felt the feeling before. It was that I didn’t understand it. It didn’t make any sense to me.

But I knew that I liked it.

Then, after a long time, I realized what it was. I was warm. Warm and safe and so, so happy.

I smiled lazily and curled up, pressing back against the man behind me and pulling his arms around me. This was what I’d been missing for so much of my life. A strong, steady man right behind me, holding me tight and keeping me warm and safe. And not just any man. I focused on the body against me, feeling the ridges of his pecs and the hardness of his belly. My fingers curled through the long, steady fingers, and I reveled in the feel of his strength around me.

Warm. Safe. And so very happy.

They weren’t things I was used to feeling, but I could definitely get used to this. In fact, I had gotten used to this. Sure, we lived a life that was full of doubt and danger, every day potentially bringing violence with it, but even in the midst of all that, Knight was a steady, comforting presence. A promise that I had a safe spot to cling to, a home to sleep in every night. And a man waiting for me, who would never stop loving me or taking care of me.

A man who would never beat me, or sell me, or let his friends abuse me. A man who would kill anyone who dared to lay a finger on me.

A man who was... shaking me? A man who was muttering my name again and again, in a tone of voice that indicated not only stress, but also... fear?

Wait, what?

I came awake in a rush, the blurry pleasure of the dream disappearing so quickly it was as if it had never happened. And in its place, pitch blackness. The scratch of a cheap quilt across my skin, the scent of cigarette smoke. Bruises on my skin and acid in my stomach from not having eaten in I didn’t know how long.

Fear. Frustration. Terror.

No Knight.

Because I was in Devil’s house, now. Devil had me, and I still wasn’t sure how—or if—I was going to manage to get away.

“Get up!” the voice hissed again.

I jerked and finally looked down at the hand that was shaking my arm, trying to switch fully back into the real world. It wasn’t Knight who was shaking me. It was...

That woman. The one who’d been guarding me earlier and who I’d recognized but been unable to place. I glanced from her hand to her face and back, and noticed something I hadn’t seen before. A tattoo on the inside of her wrist. Nothing big or flashy, but a collection of lines put together to make something I couldn’t understand.

I’d seen that tattoo before.

Where?

“Wake up!” she muttered. “What’s wrong with you? Did they drug you or something?”

Oh, right. Wake up. She needed something—and she sounded like it was really important. I scrambled to a sitting position, noticing that the handcuffs on my wrist were finally gone, and looked around me. “What’s going on?” I whispered back. What time was it, and why the hell did this woman think she needed to come into the room and wake me up?

The woman put a finger to my lips to keep me quiet, her eyes enormous in the dim lighting. “I need to talk to you, and I needed to do it when no one else was paying attention,” she whispered. “They’re watching you like you’re the most important thing in the world, but this late at night...” Her mouth twitched with disgust. “They’re all passed out. Too drunk to know any better. Too drunk to watch me.”

Okay, this was weird. Earlier, this girl had acted like I was the enemy—at least outwardly. Sure, she’d given me that bedpan to keep me from peeing on the floor and I’d thought she might be an ally, but even so...