Phantom Warriors: Linx (4 page)

He
screamed,
then
let out a flood of Russian curses as he
fell to the floor.

She
didn’t wait for him to recover. Instead, Tabby ran for the backdoor and pulled.
The door didn’t budge. She’d locked it…and her keys were in the living room.
Her gaze darted around the room. Viktor was already beginning to recover. No
way would she make it past him before he grabbed her.

She
could hear the pounding of heavy boots coming down the hall. Soon there would
be two of them and she’d be dead. Tabby scanned the room once more and spotted
the window above the kitchen sink. It was small, but she was sure she could
fit.

She
ran over to it and flipped the latch, unlocking the window, then pushed with all
her might. The window frame creaked,
then
began to
rise. Tabby climbed onto the sink and stuck her legs out the window. Viktor
struggled to his feet and rushed her.

Tabby
screamed, then screamed again, when she felt strong hands clamp down on her
hips and pull her outside. Oh my god, Alexei had her! She was as good as dead. Tabby
struggled, punching and kicking like a wildcat. His grasp loosened and she
nearly fell, but never hit the ground.

Instead,
Tabby found herself cradled against a hard chest. She looked up and saw Linx,
his expression grim as he ran. A multitude of questions flooded her mind, but
they could all wait until they were safe.

“We
need to get to my car,” she said.

“Where
is it?” he asked.

“On
the street.” She pointed to the green Honda.

“Keys,”
he gritted out.

Tabby’s
heart sank. Like the keys to the backdoor, her car keys were also in the living
room, hanging from a set of neat hooks. Then she thought about the other books
she’d read. Could she do it? Did she dare try? What if Viktor and Alexei caught
them before she could hotwire the car?

What
choice did they have? Linx couldn’t run all night, especially carrying her.

“We
don’t need the keys,” she said, praying that it was true.

*
* * * *

Linx
took Tabby to her car. His heart had nearly exploded in his chest, when he’d
heard her cry out. If she hadn’t managed to squeeze out the window, he was
pretty sure she’d be dead. He didn’t want to think about. If he did, he’d only
anger the beast. And he didn’t think Tabby would appreciate that side of him
after what she’d just been through.

Every
instinct told him to stand and fight. But he wouldn’t. Not if there was a
chance that she’d be injured in the process.

She
grabbed a rock and busted out the back driver’s side window of her car. Linx
frowned as she opened the front door and slid to the floor under the steering
mechanism. Tabby reached into a hidden compartment on the passenger side and
pulled out a metal instrument, then popped a piece of plastic off the column.

A
minute or so later, she’d combined wires and slammed the metal instrument into
the slot where the key normally went. She turned it a few times. On the third
try, the engine roared to life and her radio blared. Tabby shut the radio off,
then turned to look at Linx, her eyes wide with fear.

“Get
in. They’re coming.”

Linx
jumped in and Tabby sped off, barely giving him time to close the door. He
glanced over his shoulder and saw Viktor and Alexei run to their car. Their
headlights flashed and a low growling hum filled the air as they started their
vehicle. They spun the car around in a perfect three hundred and sixty degree
turn,
then
quickly gained on them.

“Hang
on,” Tabby said. “This might get rough.” She cranked the wheel to the right and
the cars back tires spun to get traction.

“Where
are you going?” Linx asked. If she just stopped the car, he could take care of
the men behind them. He didn’t mind given what they’d intended to do to her.

“The
police station. No way will they follow us inside,” she said.

Linx
wasn’t convinced. “They seem pretty determined. What have you done to anger
them so?” he asked.

“I
haven’t done anything other than try to get my sister away from that scumbag,
Sergei. What were you doing here?” Her face paled. “Did you come with them?”

Linx
wasn’t sure how to answer. Yes, he’d ridden in the vehicle with the men, but
no, he wasn’t
with
them.
At least not in the way that she was implying.
He couldn’t
exactly tell her the truth. He knew Tabby wouldn’t believe him. Linx needed to
find out what was going on. There had to be more to the story than she was
telling him.

He
pulled out his weapon and pointed it at the car behind them.

“What
are you doing?” Her head jerked to the side so she could see him. “You can’t
just shoot them. Someone will see you.”

A
car honked.

She
barely avoided a collision.

“Keep
your eyes on the road,” he said.

Tabby
did as he asked, though given the covert glances she shot his way she didn’t
want to. “We’re almost to the police station. If that’s a gun, you’d better put
it away.”

“It’s
not a gun. It’s a camera.” Linx aimed his magnetic pulse weapon.
Viktor’s
and Alexei’s engine died instantly. The car slowly rolled
to a stop. “You can slow down now,” he said. “They are no longer behind us.”

“What
did you do?” Her knuckles were white as she slowly eased her grip on the
steering wheel and relaxed her foot on the pedal.

“Recorded
their license plate,” he said. It was a lie, but a believable one.

“Can
I see it?” she asked.

“See
what?” He looked at her.

“The
camera.”

“I’d
rather you didn’t. It’s a very sensitive piece of equipment,” he said. “Now
let’s go somewhere that we can talk.”

*
* * * *

Tabby
knew he was lying, but right now she didn’t care because whatever he’d done had
gotten Alexei and Viktor off their backs. She tried to slow her breathing. That
had been close. Sergei was obviously done messing around. “You really should’ve
stayed out of this mess.”

“If
I had, you’d be dead.”

 
She flinched as the truth struck,
then
slowly met his eyes. “Sergei
Belovich
is a very bad man. He doesn’t forget, when someone wrongs him. And he never
forgives. If Alexei and Viktor saw you…”

“They
did. I made sure of it.”

“I’m
sorry.”

“I’m
not.” Linx looked at her, his gaze piercing her soul, then he slowly grinned.
Two amazing dimples appeared on his cheeks, making Tabby’s heart flutter and
her breath catch, but the warmth of the smile didn’t thaw the chill of his
stormy blue eyes. “Sergei and I have one thing in common, I don’t forget
either.”

*
* * * *

Chapter
Four

Tabby and Linx drove
around for another hour. It took that long for Tabby's hands to stop shaking.
Linx kept a wary eye out, but
Alexei’s
and Viktor's
vehicle hadn't returned.

"Pull over
there." Linx pointed to a brightly lit coffee shop.

Tabby parked the car,
but couldn't bring herself to turn it off. Linx reached over and twisted the
screwdriver sticking out of her steering column.

"You are safe for
now." He pulled the tool out of the ignition and placed it in the center
console, then opened his door.

No she wasn’t. Sergei
had made that abundantly clear.

Linx stood outside her
window. She noticed he was scanning the streets. Finally, he reached out and
knocked on the glass. "Unlock your door."

It took Tabby a minute
to do so. Linx opened the door and held out his hand. With trembling fingers,
she reached out. He pulled her up and held her until her wobbly legs steadied.

"Let's go inside
and get something to drink."

Tabby stared at the
passing cars, then allowed her gaze to trail up and down the sidewalk.
"Are you sure it's safe?"

Linx's blue eyes glistened
under the streetlights. "You are safe with me."

She so wanted to
believe him, but after tonight she didn’t think she’d ever feel safe again. He
walked her over to the door and held it open until she stepped inside.

The walls of the coffee
house looked as if the Sixties had exploded and dripped down them. Funky light
fixtures hung from the ceilings above the six booths inside. A smattering of
stools and low tables covered the rest of the floor. A narrow path led from the
door to the bar where orders were placed. The air smelled of rich coffee beans
and exotic spices.

Linx rested his hand on
the small of her back and guided her to the counter. Tabby knew she should pull
away. He was a stranger. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to.
The warmth of his touch chased the chill in her bones away, relaxing her tense
muscles in the process. She found herself leaning into his touch.

"Two cafe lattes,
please." She started to reach for her purse,
then
remembered that it wasn't there. Tabby sighed.

Linx dug into his back
pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. "Allow me." He dropped a few
bills on the counter. "Why don't you grab us a booth?"

Tabby nodded. She found
a booth that gave them a good view of the front door and the street beyond. If
Alexei or Viktor showed up, they'd see them coming. Part of her wanted to go to
the police. It was the logical thing to do. But Tabby knew if she did that,
Sergei might hurt Taylor.

Linx came over to the
booth carrying two cups of steaming hot coffee. He placed one in front of her
and the other on the table. Instead of sitting across from her, he sat down
next to her, forcing Tabby to move over. He might say he wasn't worried, but
that didn't stop him from wanting to watch the door.

He waited until Tabby
took a sip of her coffee, then spoke, "Tell me what's going on." His
voice was low, unthreatening, but there was a thread of tension running through
it.

Tabby sighed.
"Honestly, I don't want to get you involved."

"You might not
have noticed, but I'm already involved," he said, his frustration obvious
this time.

"There's still a
chance Alexei and Viktor didn't see you." It was remote, she knew. But
she’d take any chance she could get.

Linx laughed, but there
was no humor in the sound. "I told you that I made sure that they saw me."

“Why would you do
something like that?” Tabby took another sip. "This is my fight. Not
yours. If you're smart, you'll leave this city and never come back."

Linx's lips canted.
"Fortunately for you, I've never been accused of being bright."

She
shook her head. "Why would you want to get yourself killed over a
stranger?"

His eyebrow quirked.
"I have no intention of
dying."

"Nobody
does, until the moment comes." Her voice faded under the weight of sorrow.
Her parents had been so vibrant, full of life. One day they were there, the
next the police were knocking on the twins' door with news of the accident. From
that moment on, life turned into an endless blur of foster homes and distant
relatives, who wanted nothing to do with them.

The
second Tabby and Taylor graduated, they moved out and had been living on their
own ever since. It had been rough going those first few years, but eventually
Tabby graduated from college and landed a job at the library. Taylor had
drifted from job to job, boyfriend to boyfriend, trying to fill the emptiness
left behind from their parents' death.

*
* * * *

Linx
watched the pain flash across her face. Her throat worked up and down a few
times as she choked on it. He hated to see her like this. She’d gone from being
a fighter to being fearful and he didn't like it one bit.

She
was right about one thing. They were strangers.

He
wasn't foolish enough to believe that he knew the woman. Linx wasn't even sure
that he wanted to know her better, but he was a Phantom Warrior. And a warrior
never
turned their back on a woman in
need.

"Why
don't you start from the
beginning.
How did your
sister meet Sergei?" he asked.

Tabby's
knuckles turned white as she gripped the coffee cup. "We had a rough
childhood growing up. My parents died when we were in our early teens. Our home
life after they passed was unstable to say the least. I did my best to adapt.
Taylor rebelled."

“You
never wanted to do the same?”

“No,”
she said.

Linx
let the lie pass. He lifted his cup to his lips and took a drink. It tasted
bitter, but like all cats, he liked the cream. "How did she rebel?"
Linx was pretty sure he knew how, but he wanted to hear it from Tabby.