Tied With a Bow

asked. “Don’t you trust me to protect you?”
    “I know you’re very capable, but we’re often pretty outnumbered.”
    “ I’m outnumbered. That need not be a risk to you, Kate. Go inside where you’ll be safe.”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because you’re very outnumbered, and Merrick’s extremely deadly.”
    Nathaniel blinked and then grinned. “You want to stay to help me? To protect me?”
    She glared at him.
    Nathaniel fought to banish his smile. “That you feel the need to assist me in a fight is both insulting and endearing, but you are out of your depth and are smart enough to know it.”
    She pursed her lips, still holding the dagger’s hilt. “How about a compromise? I’ll go inside and watch from the window. If you don’t get wounded, I’ll stay in the lobby. But if it looks like you’re losing, I’m coming out.”
    He glanced at her as they crossed the street.
    “Got that?” she asked. “Don’t lose.”
    “I have plans for us tonight, Kate. I won’t lose.”
    As Kate and Nathaniel reached the front of the sedan, Tamberi Jacobi stared at Nathaniel and said to her brother, “That’s him.”
    “You don’t have a line big enough to hook that fish,” Merrick said to the ventala who seemed to be in charge of the hit squad.
    “Why the hell not?” the ventala asked. “I’ve never even heard of this guy, and there are six of us and one of him.”
    Merrick shrugged. “Your funeral.”
    “What’s with you, Merrick?” Tamberi snapped. “You don’t butt into things that have nothing to do with you. Walk away.”
    “A gun battle in the street outside the muse’s holiday party will be trouble for everyone. Marco, who gave the order for you guys to come?”
    “It came from the top,” Marco said.
    “By way of what messenger?” Merrick asked, glancing at Tamberi and Cato.
    “Piss off, Merrick,” Tamberi snarled. “This is none of your business.”
    “It’s not syndicate business, either. I’d stake my patch of the Varden on that,” Merrick said coolly. Merrick’s dark eyes bored into the others. The stare was pure vampire. Challenge me, it said, and I’ll drown you in your own blood. Kate shuddered, even as she wondered, Why is he helping us?
    The ventala assassins looked around at each other. Marco cleared his throat. “Let me check this with the boss.”
    “ I am telling you!” Tamberi said. “That bastard has been killing ventala. Haven’t you?” she demanded of Nathaniel.
    Merrick leaned casually against the wall.
    “Ventala are not my natural enemy . . . but I’m flexible. There need not be a battle for me here, but attack me and I will answer in kind,” Nathaniel said, pressing Kate toward the doors of the Grand. She took the steps slowly, unable to tear herself away.
    “Go in,” Merrick said to Nathaniel. “You’re burning midnight. If the syndicate wants you dead, the fight will come to you soon enough.”
    Nathaniel spoke, but not in English. Then he strode up the steps to Kate.
    “And in they fucking go,” Tamberi snapped.
    “You bunch of gutless pussies,” Cato yelled. “Get out of my way,” he said, shoving the other ventala away from the car. “And, Merrick, you cross me again, you better grow eyes in the back of your fucking head.”
    “Sure, and I’ll buy a pair of boots so I can quake in them,” Merrick said flatly.
    Kate stifled a smile as the door closed, cutting off whatever Cato and Merrick said next.
    “You’re friends with Merrick?” she asked.
    “No, but we’re not enemies,” Nathaniel said, leading her into a glass elevator with shiny brass rods between the panes.
    “What did you say to him before we came inside?”
    “I was glad he suggested that I not waste the night waiting for a fight. I told him that his advice is worth more than it costs.”
    “There’s more to this story, isn’t there?”
    “I knew you would want more information. You always do,” he said, idly tapping the tips of his fingers together. “I don’t need advice on fighting, but my experience with the other parts of life is limited. Merrick’s experience extends beyond killing. He knows about . . .” Nathaniel extended a hand in a vague gesture.
    She raised her brows when he hesitated.
    “Women,” he said.
    She fought not to smile at the heightened color in his cheeks. “I’m sure he does,” she said dryly, finding it almost inconceivable that Merrick, black-hearted ventala enforcer, would offer advice to anyone about