According to one of their contacts, the tattoos could take on a life of their own. A definite oddity, even in the world of Voiders.
As she stared at him across the loud, crowded room, Vicki had the sense he stared right back at her, but she couldn’t be sure. Unlike her namesake, Vicki couldn’t tell the future or read minds. Her talent, like Sean’s, was much more visceral.
A large, bruised hand settled on her shoulder. “Okay, Vicki. You’re next.”
Who is this schmuck, and how does he know my name?
“Damn it,” Sean swore. It took three guys bigger than the giant next to her to pull her cousin away.
“I’ll be fine,” she yelled over her shoulder as she was led to Tommy Chen.
Their target. Finally.
Chapter Two
Except Chen didn’t let her get close enough to touch him. The guard pulled her to within a few feet of him before Chen held up a hand. On his pinkie finger sat the thin black band she’d been hired to retrieve.
“Lovely form, Victoria. And such pretty eyes.” He pushed back his shades. Tommy Chen had eyes as black as night and sexy as sin. Up close, he had more charisma and animal magnetism than she would have guessed from the many surveillance photos she’d seen of him. “Winner takes all, baby,” he murmured, and his cologne drifted over her.
Her pulse raced and her body screamed for sex.
“What?” Down girl. Focus on his ring.
Before she could ask him about his alluring scent, the guard dragged her toward the empty stage and tossed her up onto it. She landed on her feet and waited, her fists clenched. The noise in the crowd subsided, and Vicki looked around her at Cross Step’s ugly underbelly. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
Chen stood, silencing the room. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have a real treat. Vicki Fox has challenged my best girl, Mei Lin, to a match.”
The crowd went wild. But where was Mei—
Mei Lin dropped out of nowhere to land a few inches to Vicki’s right. Dodging the blow aimed at her face, Vicki fought back, wondering how the hell this grab-and-go assignment had turned into a no-holds-barred grudge match.
Thankfully, as fast as Mei Lin was, she couldn’t meet Vicki’s speed or agility. Instinctively drawing on Mei Lin’s life-force, Vicki grew more powerful. A fighting spirit, her father liked to call her. A Conduit who absorbed energy through touch and heightened adrenaline—active combat. A freak of nature, like Sean.
Mei Lin kicked her in the stomach hard enough to crack a rib.
“That’s it.” Vicki knew her eyes glowed. Fierce passions tended to brighten her vision. With startling clarity, she saw every move Mei Lin intended to make before she made it. Irritated to be in the limelight, that her cousin had put her up to this, and that they still hadn’t nabbed Chen’s ring, Vicki took her hostility out on her adversary.
Minutes later, she stepped over Mei Lin’s bruised but still breathing body and jumped to the floor. No one stopped her.
“Congratulations, Vicki. You’re my new best girl,” Chen said with a chuckle.
Noise erupted in a cacophony.
Chen reached for her even as she reached for him, which startled her.
Snagging her in an unforgiving embrace, Chen took her breath away in a punishing kiss. This man, responsible for half the crime in the city including murder, drug running, and thievery, had his lips—and hands—all over her. Damnation, but the bulge prodding her belly felt huge.
Ignoring the disconcerting need to explore said bulge, Vicki twisted the energy snaking between them and caught Chen’s forearms.
The flesh beneath her palms shifted with a life of its own, freaking her the hell out.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Chen asked, caught in the mire of power between them.
“I want your ring. Give it to me, sweetie, and I’m yours,” she whispered and nibbled on his earlobe. “All fucking night long.” She channeled a blast of his own sexual energy back at him, throwing him off balance.
He groaned and stumbled back, still clutching her, much to the amusement of his friends. To all outward appearances, Vicki and Chen were getting it on. As if she’d make it with an uber-criminal in front of this sleazy audience.
Chen pulled off his ring and shoved it into her front pocket, digging his fingers down toward her crotch. Annoyed because she liked the feel of him there, she mentally smacked herself upside the head. I am so getting laid when we finish this job.
Ripping herself from Chen, Vicki tried to catch her breath. Chen looked like a well-fed cat. His lids were shuttered as he stared at her, his shirt half open, revealing a smooth, muscular chest. The tattoos on his forearms writhed and hissed as he reached for her again.
Hissed? Time to go.
Chen shook his head and flexed his fingers, a puzzled look on his face. His eyes widened in understanding just as a commotion from the other side of the room drew his attention.
“Salinas!” someone yelled. Cops.
Sean suddenly appeared at her elbow and yanked her from Chen, but not before pounding a fist into Chen’s belly.
Wishing she had done the same, Vicki ran with Sean and the other panicked occupants toward the far exit into the night.
“Were you going to fuck him or what?” Sean huffed with disgust.
“I got the ring. Gimme a break.” I made out with Tommy Chen. Oh my God. I must be out of my freaking mind.
More Salinas rounded the corner, what looked like a battalion of them.
“Shit. We need to split up. Keep the ring and go three streets over. I’ll meet you at MacT’s.” Sean jerked them to a stop.
“What—?”
The jerk tore back down the street and slammed into three Salinas, taking them down. He waited to draw more of the cops’ attention before running off away from her. Using the distraction, Vicki made several unplanned twists and turns to shake the Salinas still on her trail. Damned if she didn’t also recognize a few of Chen’s men getting closer.
Darting down a narrow side street, Vicki frantically looked for MacT’s. Sean would have to suggest the one place she’d never been. Not that she came into this area much anyway, but in her zest to create a life for herself, she’d begun frequenting the clubs downtown. Twenty-seven, by anyone’s standards, was too young to vow eternal celibacy. Vicki couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex with anyone other than her well-used vibrator. No wonder she’d wanted to hump Chen. He was a definite hottie, if one could overlook his psychotic criminal tendencies.
Swearing under her breath at her stupidity, Vicki spotted what looked like a neon M when she heard footsteps growing closer.
She raced toward the M and shuttled down the set of stairs leading to the almost pitch black entrance. “Nice ambience, Sean. A mixture of creepy, seedy, and…locked door.”
Pissed off, Vicki released her anger and anxiety on the lock. A few seconds later, the bolt broke, and she turned the knob with ease.
Finally.
Entering, she made a beeline for the darkest corner of the room, noting the one and only hallway on the first floor, the billiards in the back of the bar, and the stairwell leading to a second floor. She sat with her back to the corner, pleased at the dim lighting keeping her in shadow.
The cozy bar was crowded but not overly so. It smelled of beer and had an almost pleasant tang she couldn’t place. The tempo was more sedate, the rock music not too loud. Conversations continued in low tones and then stopped.