The bartender lumbered over and locked the front door, setting a metal bar across the entire thing.
Ah, shit. Bear lifted his wrist to his mouth. "We need backup."
No answer.
His shoulders shot back. "Lucas? Logan? We need backup." Nick and Garrett fanned out from his right, surrounding the table of wolves and putting most of the bar in their sights. Something had happened outside. Lucas would never fail to answer. As Bear watched, the wolf he'd thrown slowly stood, staggering, with blood sliding down his face. He engaged the locks on the back door and then pushed a metal rod into place so the door couldn't be breached.
"Am I the only one thinking this might be a trap?" Nick asked congenially, his body tense and his gaze sweeping the entire bar.
"No," Garrett said. "Logan? Call in. Now." His voice deepened, and he sounded much older than twenty-five.
No answer came from Logan.
Bear moved toward Garrett to cover the kid. "First things first. Let's handle this and then go find him. Lucas will protect him." If Lucas was still alive. Bear couldn't think about that. Not now.
"Logan can fight," Garrett said.
Bear cleared his throat. They were so outnumbered it wasn't funny. Not even close. Maybe there was a way out of this mess without spilling blood. He increased the volume of his voice. "So. We need information, and you need, what? How about a decorator?"
The bartender moved back to the bar and lifted a semiautomatic green weapon-one that no doubt shot laser bullets that turned into metal upon piercing flesh. "We like money."
"We have money," Bear said, sizing up the situation. Three of them, and about sixteen enemy-all wolves.
"The odds aren't so bad," Garrett said, dropping into a fighting stance.
The odds were fucking terrible. Worse yet, Bear had the king's nephew and the demon leader's best friend at his side. If either died, it'd be a diplomatic nightmare, not to mention the fact that he actually liked both of them. And at the moment, Bear's best friend and the demon king's brother were outside, alone and not responding to calls.
"I'd sure like to know how they knew we were coming," Garrett growled.
The bartender smiled, showing a gap between his front teeth.
"I'd rather find out later and get free of this fuckup now," Nick countered quietly.
"Agreed," Bear said, focusing on the bartender. The huge guy seemed to be more in control than the wolf who'd first spoken. "How about a civilized exchange? Money for a little bit of information?"
The bartender cocked the gun. "There's a mite of a problem, mate. We've already been paid."
"Now," Bear bellowed, backflipping over the table and taking three wolves down with him.
The entire bar sprang into life, and gunshots ripped through the melee.
Chapter 28
Nessa finished pouring another cup of tea for Simone and took it into the living room of the comfortable house. Beyond the dark windows, the river churned. Every once in a while, the clouds would part enough for the moon to shine down on the rapidly moving water. "They're all right, Simone."
Simone sat on the sofa, her legs extended on an ottoman, stacks of paper in her hands. "I know. They're all good fighters, and the wolves have no idea they're coming." She set the papers down to accept the tea. Her dark eyes glowed in her pale face, which looked even paler next to the thick waves of her black hair. The elegant witch wore light pants with dark high-heeled boots and a red tunic.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's after midnight," Nessa asked.
"Not until Nick gets back."
Nessa couldn't sleep, either. Every time she'd sent Guard members into battle, she'd wanted to join them, to protect them. But that wasn't her job. It wasn't her job tonight, either. She picked up a legal pad with names already scratched off. Who wanted her dead?
Her phone rang and she jumped for it. "Bear?"
"No. It's Jasper."
"Oh." She tilted her head at Simone's quizzical look. "What's going on?"
"You have a phone call from the king. I can transfer it to the river house if you'd like," Jasper said.
Nessa fumbled for the remote control that managed the wide screen above the fireplace. She pushed a couple of buttons. "All right. Send it to the main system. I think I can find him in here."
"Copy that." Jasper cut off.
The screen fuzzed for a moment, and then Dage Kayrs came into view. "Evening," he said, looking impeccable in a black dress shirt and black pants. His silver eyes blazed. "Simone. How are you feeling?" His gaze seemed intense.