Chapter 8 #2
Sable grunted as the man reared backward and threw her off him.
Her slight body flew over the driveway to collide with the neighbor’s minivan, and she stifled a scream as she collapsed to the asphalt.
She’d hoped taking the thief by surprise would lend her the upper hand, but fear slipped between the cracks of her pain to poison her limbs.
This was why he never hid his face. Why no one ever went toe to toe with this man.
She’d had him pinned to the ground and helpless, yet he’d thrown her as if she were a rag doll.
Not every thief in this competition was supernatural, but as Cash’s stalker strode for her, she wondered what on earth he was. Humans didn’t hit that hard.
The thief took aim, but before he could deliver the blow, Sable swung her legs around and kicked him in the kneecap.
He bucked forward, and she lunged to meet his face with her brass knuckles.
Blood spurted from his mouth, and with a satisfied grunt, she rose to her feet.
This man was finally getting a taste of his own medicine.
“The girl from the museum.” The thief spat crimson into the grass as she settled into a protective stance.
“Does the security guard know his girlfriend is out here defending him? We should tell him to come outside so he can watch me kill you. Fear is my favorite, and he’ll be so much more fun to fight after he’s watched his pretty little thing get skinned alive. ”
“I won’t let you have him,” Sable growled, spinning the knife on her palm. “I don’t plan on dying either.”
Before he could alert Cash, she lunged forward, but when he moved to block her blow, she jumped onto the wall and launched herself sideways. Her speed drove her into his side, her brass-guarded fist slamming into his ear.
“She isn’t human,” the thief said as he stumbled backward. “This should make killing her so much more satisfying.”
Sable glanced at the street as her attacker lunged for her.
Where were the police? Why were they taking so long?
She wouldn’t last much longer in this fight.
The thief’s fist aimed for her face, but she ducked just in time, spinning out of reach.
Before she escaped his orbit, though, the man captured her hand and exerted unbearable pressure on her knuckles.
With a stifled shriek, she dropped the knife, and he kicked it into the lawn before punching her in the gut.
Sable doubled over, coughing as she fought the urge to vomit.
She vaguely registered his elbow raising, and she knew what he intended to do.
He meant to slam it into the back of her skull.
If he knocked her out, she was dead, and as she glanced forward at his legs, a wicked idea took root.
The rules said there were no rules, after all.
Before his elbow could collide with her exposed head, Sable coiled her arm and punched the thief in the balls, brass knuckles and all.
The man howled in pain as he stumbled backward, and with a flourished spinning jump she learned from her older brothers, Sable slammed her boot into the man’s chest. The thief grunted at the kick and tripped into the street.
.. where he crashed right into the hood of the passing police car.
Sable ducked behind the neighbor’s minivan as the squad car skidded to a halt, and two officers jumped out of the vehicle a second later.
“Sir, are you okay?” the driver asked, but the thief shoved him aside.
“Where did that little bitch go?” He snarled, but he only made it two steps before the cops shoved him against their car.
“Pushing an officer wasn’t a good idea,” the driver said as his partner scanned the driveway, presumably searching for the ‘little bitch’ in question, but Sable was one with the shadows, invisible to his gaze.
“There’s a minivan parked here,” the second officer said. “I think this is that lurker we got the 911 call about.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll release me,” the thief said.
“Shut the fuck up.” The driver pinned him harder against the hood of the car as he patted him down, uncovering the tools strapped to the thief’s belt. “What were you doing in this driveway? Kids live in this house. Were you peaking inside, you sick bastard?”
“Officers, is everything all right?” a familiar voice boomed, and Sable peered around the minivan to watch a shirtless and armed Cash step out of his front door.
“Woah, sir, lower your gun!” the second officer shouted, and Cash instantly raised his hands in surrender.
“Officers, there’s a badge inside that proves what I’m saying, but I am the head of security at the Merveille De L’art Museum,” Cash said, twisting so the cops could see his Fae ears.
“Due to the extreme risks of my position, I am licensed to be armed at all times, even when not on museum property. My son is sleeping inside, and when I heard the commotion, I feared someone had found my home.”
“Sir, please put the gun down,” the second officer said. “I won’t ask—”
“Wait, he’s telling the truth,” the driver said. “I’ve been to the Precieux Exhibit, and he’s always at the museum. Kind of hard to forget a Fae soldier that massive. You’re good, man. You can keep the weapon, but since this doesn’t concern you or the egg, you need to go back inside.”
“What’s going on?” Cash asked.
“One of your neighbors called 911 to report a man lurking around the neighborhood,” the driver said.
Cash stared at the cops and then glanced down at the seething thief.
“Officers, I would look into this man. I’ve seen him hanging around the museum,” he said, and Sable’s stomach clenched at the venom in the thief’s eyes.
If he escaped this arrest, he would hunt Cash down, even if the egg wasn’t in play.
“Be careful, guard,” the thief threatened as the officers recited the Miranda Warning before loading him into the back seat of their squad car.
“I always am.” Cash held the thief’s gaze with a challenge of his own, and Sable pulled out her phone, desperate to ensure this arrest’s permanence.
Sable
Peter, our problem has been arrested, and he needs to stay that way. Can you make sure his charges stick?
Her cell vibrated with a response seconds later.
Peter
Of course, but please don’t scare me like that again.
I’m sorry, but I saved the security guard’s life.
That’s great, but why are you so concerned about him?
IDK. I have a big family, and the thought of them dying is unbearable. I can’t let his only child become an orphan because of a competition. The game is to steal. Not murder a dad.
Her reasoning was only half a lie.
Yeah… I guess I get that. I love taking things. I hate taking lives. Okay, so we are making these charges stick. How sticky are we looking? Till the end of the competition, or forever?
100% Forever.
On it, girl.
The texts halted for a moment before Peter messaged again.
I’m glad that thief didn’t kill you. I like you so much that I sometimes consider letting you see my face.
Wow… that’s really sappy.
I know, right?
I love you too, friend.
And because I love you, I’m already inside the station’s system.
As soon as they book our friend, his records will be filled with warrants so alarming that he’ll never get out of prison.
The funny thing is, some of it’s fabricated, but most aren’t.
This is just the first time he’s been arrested by someone who isn’t on his payroll.
That doesn’t mean they won’t be soon, so be careful.
I’ll try to make these charges stick but there’s always someone slipperier than me.
I’ll be careful, I promise. Plus, I have my own personal guardian angel.
Damn straight, you do.
Sable tucked her cell back into her pocket, her stomach aching where the thief punched her, but the soreness was thankfully her only souvenir from this fight.
She watched the arrest from the shadows, and when the squad car finally drove away, she slipped from the darkness to search the grass for her knife.
The last thing she needed was for the cops to find her fingerprints at the scene.
Satisfied that Cash and Clover were safe and that all traces of her were gone, she stood to leave and tripped on the garbage can’s lid, careening into the metal trash cans before she could catch herself.
They toppled over, clattering across the pavement to announce her presence, and Sable cringed.
The entire neighborhood probably heard that, and she needed to leave before someone called the cops on her.
“Don’t move!” a male voice growled from the darkness behind her, and Sable yelped. Instinct forced her to spin around despite the order, and she came face to face with the yawning barrel of a gun.