Amy Blankenship - Death Wish

“Don’t ask questions, just read,” Nick said hurriedly as he handed the envelope over to Ren.

Ren opened it and took out the invitation, reading over it thoroughly. The muscles in his jaw flexed as he fought the urge to crumple the paper in his fist. His body relaxed when he suddenly changed his mind and glanced over his shoulder at Lacey who was watching them closely.

“It appears we’re going to an auction,” Ren informed her.

“An auction,” Lacey repeated as she leaned back on the sofa and pretended to think about it for about two seconds before turning him down. “I’m not in the mood so no thanks.”

“You don’t have much of a choice,” Ren stated looking back at the invitation. “It seems the main item on the auction block is a marked soul and the opening bid for that marked soul is a soul orb. The auction is taking place tonight at midnight… right down the road from here.”

He could already smell her fear spiking but he had no intentions of putting her at risk. Her part in the thievery ring would end tonight… he would make sure of that.

Lacey felt like she was walking on legs made of rubber as she approached Ren and took the paper he was offering her. Her gaze was immediately drawn to the symbol at the bottom where a signature would normally be and her heart sank into the pit of her stomach with dread. She quickly lifted her gaze and skimmed the words.

“Well to hell with that. If I don’t leave this building, then they will be missing their main item and their little auction is going to be a flop,” Lacey said handing the paper back to Ren. “You see that seal at the bottom? That’s the seal of the ring I worked for. If I go to this auction… they will kill me.”

“Lacey,” Ren said calmly, knowing she was scared silly at the moment. “If they’re this close, then they already know where you are. You can’t hide in here forever. Besides, it seems that we have something they want.”

“Yeah… me,” Lacey said not bothering to hide the fear in her voice as she glared up at him. “I already know they’re going to kill me but that doesn’t mean I have to make it easy for them.”

Nick turned and started back up the stairs not wanting to leave Gypsy alone for too long with the stranger. Without looking back he told them, “When you decide what you’re going to do, there’s a British guy upstairs waiting on the reply and two demons waiting on him outside the shop.”

Ren lowered his gaze to Lacey when he heard her heartbeat suddenly start racing and she took off up the stairs behind Nick. His expression and thoughts darkened. That stranger had better not be the British bastard who had gotten her into all of this trouble in the first place.

Lacey rounded the corner into the main room only seconds after Nick did. Her lips parted seeing Vincent calmly standing there looking at Gypsy from across the counter. Her gaze lowered seeing the gun in Gypsy's hand and she wanted to snicker at the uselessness of the threat but refrained knowing she would be the only one to get the joke.

Vincent turned his head and locked his gaze on the girl he’d been looking for. “There’s the lass now,” He breathed realizing he’d missed her more than he’d meant too.

In seconds, Lacey had her arms wrapped around Vincent’s waist and her face pressed into his chest.

He returned her hug and refrained from looking back at the demons outside knowing they had already seen her, though he did turn her so that he was blocking their bloody view.

Gypsy blinked at the affectionate reunion and lowered the gun thankfully. He couldn’t be all bad if the way his eyes had softened the second he’d seen Lacey was any indication. She handed the gun back to Nick when he joined her behind the counter. A customer chose that moment to come up and ask her a question and she looked at Nick not sure if she should leave just yet.

“I can hear Ren coming so you can relax, we will take care of this,” Nick said, assuring her that it was alright if she needed to go about her business.

Nodding, Gypsy slid past Nick and gave Ren a wide breadth when she noticed the furious look on his face as he came out of the back room. She watched as he shot the demons a dark glare before dismissing them completely and turning his attention to the counter.

“Go keep an eye on who Gypsy invites in this place. Leave this one to me,” Ren demanded coming up behind Nick.

Nick felt a cold shiver race up his spine and quickly headed toward the front of the store. Even the jaguar within him was glad that he wasn’t the one with his arms around Lacey right now. Ren had played dirty when it came to competition over Gypsy, but he had a feeling that had been nothing compared to the hell this British guy was in for.

Vincent glanced up seeing the intimidating looking man coming toward them with brisk, angry strides. The first thing he noticed was the way the man wasn’t really looking at him… he was looking down at Lacey's back where his arms were wrapped securely around her.

He may not have any supernatural powers, but after living for so many centuries, he could spot a jealous man a mile away. Vincent inwardly smirked wondering what Lacey thought about the relationship… if there even was one. For the last year, he’d been the only man to touch her and they hadn’t been separated long enough for her to just give herself away to another lover. She was way too picky for that.

With an annoyed smile pulling at his lips, Vincent tightened his hold just a touch to see if the other man would object. After all… his favorite hobby was pissing people off.

He knew his little partner in crime well enough to know that her idea of obsession and possession was reserved only for the trinkets they were in the habit of stealing… not the opposite sex. That was one of the things he liked about her, the fact that they both favored the no strings attached clause.

Knowing he couldn’t just jerk her away from the other man, Ren forced himself to stop less than two feet behind Lacey, which was snatching distance if the need arose. He already disliked this idiot but was smart enough to restrain his impulse to strangle Vincent so that he could hear why the man had brought demons here.

Ren slid his right hand into his trench coat in order to hide the fact that it was fisted so hard he could feel his fingernails biting into his palm painfully. If Vincent thought he was taking Lacey back to that demonized circus they called a thievery ring then he’d damn well give the punk something much more painful to think about.

“I was so worried about you,” Lacey murmured into Vincent’s shirt trying unsuccessfully to hold back the grateful tears from seeing him in one piece. The nightmares she’d had of him being buried alive somewhere or worse lost their power over her as she clung to him… her friend that had died so many times. Her heart had stopped that night and the memory still had the power to make her shudder.

She balled the material of his shirt up in her fist, “Masters… that damn bastard’s hand went all of the way through you. How did you get away?”

Hearing the slight tremor in her voice, Vincent dismissed the enraged man behind her and gave up his antagonizing hug so that he could palm her upper arms. He gently pushed her back and gazed down at her wet cheeks. Damn it… he’d told her to never worry about him… much less cry.

He hardened his voice, “You’re forgetting love… I enjoy it. All of it. Dying is nothing more than a game to me.” Her stupid tears had the power to hurt him worse than a hand through his heart. “So save your infernal tears for something that’s worth it,” he snapped knowing that was the fastest way to dry her eyes… piss her off.