Read Online Blood and Bone: (Royal Blood #6) by Amity Cross - Free Book Online Page B

hot-wire before I lost them, I spied a motorcycle propped on the footpath. It’d been a long time since I’d ridden. Last I’d seen of my bike was where I’d left it in the parking garage underneath my old apartment. The apartment Royal Blood had given me for services rendered. I wondered what had become of it.
    Glancing up and down the street, I was in the clear from prying eyes, so I sidled up to the machine and pried off the casing around the starter motor. As I was about to strip the wire to get the engine going, I was pulled back into the blind alleyway behind me.
    Thrust against the brick, I came face-to-face with a woman. Of all the likely scenarios this tail could’ve ended in, this was not what I was expecting.
    Her hair was an unnatural shade of black—much like Mercy’s—her eyes cool and calculating, her skin flawless and pale…almost translucent. Everything about her said she was skilled, but how skilled remained to be seen. She’d avoided being seen by me up until now, so she had that going for her.
    For the moment, I had a little more to worry about than her skill set. She pressed a knife against my throat, the steel pricking my skin, her green eyes blazing into mine.
    “Who are you?” she snarled.
    “I should be asking you the same thing,” I drawled, not fazed by the fact six inches of sharpened steel was pressed against my jugular.
    Thrusting my right arm up, I slammed my palm against her throat and grasped her wrist with my left hand, forcing the knife away. Her eyes widened in shock as she doubled over, her breath wheezing. The knife clattered to the ground before I could twist it out of her grasp, and I shoved her back against the opposite wall.
    Her head cracked against the brick as she snarled in frustration. She’d obviously met her match.
    “Let’s try this again,” I snapped, forcing my forearm against her throat and applying just enough pressure to make it uncomfortable to breathe. “Who are you, and what do you want with Bateman?”
    She struggled against my grasp. “You know, I could pull that same trick on you.”
    Lunging, she attempted to turn my technique back on me, but I was too quick. I dodged her blow, but she wriggled her way free and twisted. I was fast but not as light on my feet as she was, and her fist clipped me on the corner of my mouth.
    “He’s not here,” she said, backing out of reach. “If he was, I would’ve found him by now.”
    “Who? Bateman?”
    “Bateman is just the messenger.”
    I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know who else you’re referring to.”
    “Don’t play stupid with me,” she hissed, her accent slipping. So, she was maintaining an alias. Was she Intelligence? Certainly not British. Folsom would have mentioned if another agent was in the field.
    “Who the hell are you?” I asked, wiping my bloody mouth with the back of my hand.
    “ You cost me ,” she snapped, ignoring my question.
    Moltke wasn’t here at all. Not that it fucking mattered since I’d already lost Bateman’s tail because of this harlot. I hoped Mercy’s endeavor had been more successful.
    Quicker than I thought possible, she drew a gun she had hidden at her back and fired. Twisting to the side, I dodged the shot, and it sailed harmlessly past me. Not breaking form, I brought up my right hand and slammed it into her wrist, knocking her off balance. Bringing up my left, I wrapped my palm around the barrel and forced it out of her grip.
    Flipping it around, I aimed it at her head, but she ducked low, ramming her shoulder into my stomach. The air rushed out of my lungs, and my body instinctively bent over at the waist. The woman kept pushing, knocking me on my ass.
    Rolling, I shoved to my feet and jammed the gun against her head as she was about to strike again.
    Her lips curved into a smirk, and she pressed harder into the barrel. “ Boom .”
    Her hand shot up so fast I missed my chance to counter. Her left curled around the muzzle of the gun, and her right