I forced my mouth to move. “Good idea.”
The hunters fell into a defensive formation around me, the scarred leader in front, two people on the sides, and the female hunter covering the rear. We walked back to the Keystone Mall entrance.
“Do you often capture people for Mr. De Lacy?”
“We’ve done it a few times,” the leader said. “Mostly we’re given termination jobs.”
“Was Sigourney Etterson one of your contracts? It would’ve been last Sunday.”
“No,” the scarred man said without a pause. “We did a wet job last Saturday. Sunday we were dark. I got some killer fishing done.”
Killer fishing. He didn’t even realize what he’d said.
“Did you go out on your boat?” the hunter on the right asked.
“Naah. Went kayak fishing on Lake Anahuac. Got a six-pound largemouth bass.”
“Nice!” the hunter on the right said.
“Who did you kill on Saturday?” I asked.
“Some lawyer,” the leader said. “A clean, easy job. He came home, we put a gun into his mouth, pulled the trigger. Left him for the wife to find.”
“I wish they were all that easy,” the female hunter said.
“Ain’t that the truth?” the hunter on the left added.
The first set of escalators came into view, a pair of guards by it. My escorts snapped their weapons up. The guns spat noise and bullets, and two corpses hit the floor. As we moved past them, the female hunter kicked one of the bodies. “I never liked that guy.”
“What kind of work does Mr. De Lacy do? How did you end up working for him?”
“Technically, we work for Diatheke,” the female hunter said.
“I don’t know what he does,” the leader said. “All I know is we get a name, we show up, do our thing, and we get paid.”
“Yes,” the guard on the right said. “Do you have any idea how much a year of college costs? I’ve got two kids in elementary, and the wife and I already have to start saving.”
“Did the lawyer you killed have any kids?” I asked.
The guard on the right nodded. “Oh yeah. Two girls, both in Texas A&M. That’s some money, right there.”
The female guard snorted. “Hope he had insurance.”
“His kind always do,” the leader said.
It didn’t even bother them. Maybe it had at some point, but not enough to stop.
We reached an abandoned booth in the middle of the floor.
“Wait here,” the scarred man said.
My escort halted. The leader moved ahead along the wall and out of sight. His mind receded, tendrils of my magic stretching after him. Two twin bursts of gunfire popped. The scarred hunter came running back, a big grin on his face. “Never saw me coming.”
The woman chuckled. “Fucking amateurs.”
The leader smiled at me. “It was hard being gone. I was worried bad things might happen to you. I’m not letting you out of my sight, young lady.”
“Let’s go to the door,” I told him.
“You heard her.” He indicated the way with his index and middle finger. “Move out.”
We approached the escalator. A dead hunter sprawled on the floor, blood pooling around his body, a shocking vivid red on the once white floor. A pair of boots stuck out from behind the escalator rail. We skirted the first corpse, and the scarred hunter moved up the steps. The two hunters flanking me followed. I was next, with the female hunter guarding my back.
At the top we turned left. The food court came into view.
“Act natural,” the leader advised me. “Pretend you’re in our custody.”
We turned the corner. Four hunters guarded the entrance. They focused on us, guns raised.
The leader opened his mouth.
Alessandro shot out of the movie theater entrance, blindingly fast. A long piece of broken metal pipe appeared in his hand. He stabbed it into the closest hunter’s throat, turned, graceful, like he could hear music in his head, and drove his makeshift spear into the second man’s mouth.
Oh my God. “Hold your fire!” I snapped.
Alessandro yanked the pipe out, dropped it, and hurled the dying man into the third hunter. The woman stumbled, Alessandro darted around her, and she clutched her throat. Blood gushed out between her fingers. Alessandro lunged at the fourth gunman. A wicked-looking knife flashed in his hand. He caught the man’s HK with his left hand, pushed it aside, and stabbed the hunter once, twice, three times, his hand a blur.
The hair on the back of my neck rose.
“Damn . . .” the scarred hunter said, his voice too loud.
Alessandro whipped around, pulled a gun from a holster on his thigh, and fired four times. The hunters protecting me collapsed like puppets cut from their strings.
He did it again. He killed my source of information.
Alessandro marched up to me. His magic coiled and flexed around him, so potent I could actually see it. It shimmered like hot air rising from scalding pavement, flashing with orange fire that burst into life for the briefest of moments and melted back into transparent heat. He walked like he was a fallen angel, looking for someone to punish.
Breath caught in my throat. So much power . . .
He reached to grab my forearm. “We have to go!”
I stepped out of the way. The little dog let out a surprisingly vicious snarl.
Alessandro halted. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s my dog.”
“Fine, bring it, but we have to leave. Now.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Catalina, we can’t stay here. They called for backup when they got here. More of them are on the way.”
“That’s fine.” I couldn’t go anywhere with him. I had no idea how he was involved in any of this. “You go your way and I’ll go mine.”
“How? They shredded your tires. Your car isn’t going anywhere, you’re not going anywhere, your little dog isn’t going anywhere. Come with me.”
“No.” I jerked back from him.
“I’m trying to keep you alive!”
“I don’t need your help. I’m doing fine on my own.”
“Don’t make me carry you out of here,” he snarled.
“Try it.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
The little dog barked at him.
“We don’t have time for this.” He spaced his words out, speaking slowly and clearly as if to a child. “Why are you being . . . difficult?”
“You just killed eight people! I don’t even know why you’re here, how you’re involved in this or why, and you want me to just get into the car with you.”
He growled and thrust his gun into my hands. “Here, you can have my gun. You can point it at me the entire way.”
“No thanks. I have my own.”
“Cazzo.” He raised his arms. “Is there another elephant I can shoot to make you come with me?”
I shut up and ran for the door.
Chapter 8
I jumped into the passenger seat of a silver Alfa Romeo 4C and buckled my seat belt, the little dog on my lap. Alessandro slid behind the wheel and pushed the start button. The tiny car purred. He fastened his seat belt, put the Alfa into gear, and we sped off.
“You shot the elephant?”
The remains of my Element with bald wheels and bullet hole scars in the doors flashed by us.
“Of course I shot the damn elephant.”
At the other end of the parking lot another Guardian roared, coming up the street. Alessandro took a turn at an insane speed. The Alfa all but floated above the pavement. We circled the mall and shot out onto Old Post Road like a bullet.
“Who’s in that Guardian?”
“Celia.”
“What? Rose-gold Celia?”
“Yes. I told you to let it go. I told you to go home. And what did you do?” His magic pulsed with a flash of orange. “You flounced straight into that snake pit.”