Avenger: A Halflings Novel Part 4

The guy opposing him had dirty jeans, long hair, and enough tattoos that a kid with a Matchbox car could drive forever along the green paths on his muscled body. A scar marred his face from cheek to jaw, and when he turned his head to spit on the ground, she saw the scar ran the length of his neck too, hiding beneath the collar of a soiled T-s.h.i.+rt. Guess they grow them tough down here.

"Look, Skully, I don't need any problems right now. This is important."

Skully stiffened. "Important? Like you told my sister she was important?"

Uh-oh. This could get ugly.

Raven moved and slid Nikki behind him.

Frank shot a glance back to his guys and winked, which led to a few snickers.

Nikki rolled her eyes. Ugh. Could guys ever resist being ... guys?

"Tell her I said hi."

"You can tell her after I'm done with you." Skully rolled his shoulders, hiked his jeans a little, and readied to fight.

And so did the rest of the guys. Both sides.

Raven stepped forward, between Skully and Frank. "Look, I can appreciate this little fight over your sister's honor, but we don't have time. Someone needs to tell me where to find Solomon. Right now."

Yep, that's more like Raven.

Skully dropped his hands and scoffed. "Who's the newbie?" He nodded in Nikki's direction. "And what's up with the banana costume?"

Nikki kept her head down, not making eye contact. She probably did look like a giant piece of fruit. But at least she didn't look as if she'd been stamped like a package of USDA beef.

"My name's Raven, and you're wasting my time. Where's the Owl?"

Skully stepped until he was inches from Raven's toes. "I guess you're confused about how things work down here. First of all, no one orders me around. And second, you're probably just scared to fight because you know we'll slaughter you."

Raven fisted his hands around Skully's s.h.i.+rt and lifted him off the ground. "And apparently you're confused about what I said. But since I'm still in a relatively good mood, I'll make myself clear. Tell me where Solomon is, or I'll use your head to carve a new tunnel."

Nikki swallowed, watching as her dark Halfling dangled a huge, muscled man six inches off the ground without breaking a sweat.

Frank stepped in, placing a hand over Raven's in a silent plea to put Skully down. Raven flashed Frank a look then slowly lowered his prisoner, who practically collapsed when his feet touched the floor ...

After a few tense moments and stares from the other dungeon guards, Frank broke the silence. "Just let us pa.s.s, Skully. I'll be more than happy to pick up our dispute later."

Skully crossed his arms over his chest, but not before taking a step back. "Can't do it."

Frank swept a hand toward his guys. "You know you don't want to fight us."

"And what would it do to my reputation if I just let you through? I owe you, Franky."

Frank huffed a breath. "You do." He pointed a finger at Skully, then a thumb at himself. "You and me then. If I win, we pa.s.s. If you win, we leave."

Raven's hand slapped against Frank's chest. "I'm not going anywhere. And I'm not trusting our fate to a guy I've never seen fight."

Frank started to argue, but Skully cut in. "You choose a fighter from our side to represent us, then. We'll choose one from yours."

Raven shook his head.

Skully shrugged. "Fine. Try to work your way through us, but you're only burning hours. I'm merely giving you a way to save time. If your man wins, we let you pa.s.s. If ours wins, I'll listen to your reason for seeing Solomon."

Power games. Gah! Why can't guys find a better way to settle disputes?

Skully walked back to his group and Frank walked toward his, then motioned Raven to his side. Raven put his arm behind Nikki so she would follow. Always keeping me close.

"I know these guys," Frank said, in a hoa.r.s.e whisper. "Skully will pick you to fight. You're the new guy and you insulted him."

"I also lifted him off the ground."

Frank nodded. "Yeah, even more reason for him to choose you. He's a cage fighter, so he knows his close combat. You can't grapple with him down here; he'll be all over you. The guy's like a monkey with a thousand arms and legs once he's on the ground. If he gets you in a sleeper hold, it's lights out. I hope you've got plenty of stamina, Halfling. You're gonna need it."

Nikki's heart was racing. Raven was a great fighter, but this guy sounded like a pretty tough opponent - even if he was a human. She looked down and saw Dane was still clutching her hand under the yellow slicker. She'd forgotten until he squeezed.

Frank leaned in, clearly as oblivious to his brother's presence as she'd been. "Look, I know you're a Halfling, but I'm telling you, strike fast, strike hard. He won't go down easy."

"Got it," Raven said. "Let's just get this over with as quickly as we can."

Skully's sharp voice prevented any further strategy. "You ready to choose, Frank?"

"Yeah." He stepped forward until he was a few feet away from Raven and Nikki. Then he looked at Raven, then frowned, then focused his attention on a thin, sickly guy hovering near the back of Skully's crew. Nikki wasn't sure whether his pensive expression was good or bad.

Raven must have noticed too, because his eyes shot to Frank. "Don't do it!"

Raven lunged forward and placed a hand on Frank's shoulder to spin him around, but Frank's voice already filled the room. "We'll take the guy in the back."

Nikki felt intense anger fly off Raven in waves. She just couldn't sense why he was so irate. Skinny-boy didn't look nearly as tough. Maybe Raven figured Skully would still attack Raven as retribution.

Then the skinny guy made his way to the front of the pack and paused by Skully. Once closer, Nikki could see the vines of knife wound scars layered on his arms.

"No weapons," Frank said, face draining of color. Nikki worked to keep herself steady as well. She knew from her karate training that undersized opponents often find creative ways to compensate for their size. And what better way than to master something no body can withstand?

Skully held his hand out while a variety of knives were handed to him. The thin guy's eyes were cold and calculating, not a hint of fear in his posture. He leaned over and whispered something to Skully and they both smiled at Raven.

Skully nodded toward Raven. "We'll take the new guy."

Raven stepped out.

"Not you. The one in the raincoat."

Chapter 4.

This is stupid. Completely stupid. Here we are running for our lives, trying to hide from a creature so evil and so destructive it could rip all of us apart, and this group of guys just wants to puff out their man chests. And they think they're so clever, picking the poor kid in the raincoat.

"No." Raven said, turning toward her.

But it was too late. Nikki stripped off the coat and threw it to the floor. She felt her hair fall in a cascade down her shoulders and heard the gasps from the onlookers. Huh. Gasps from guys. Go figure.

She stomped out from the side wall where she'd been gathering her frustration. She felt like her body was engulfed in empowering flames, and her eyes must have turned to molten lava, because Skinny's brows rose slowly as he stared.

She could hear laughing from the back of Skully's group.

Typical immaturity. Always having to fight to prove who's tougher. Always quick to pound someone into the ground. Nikki's adrenaline rose, coursing through her veins, filling her with righteous anger. They need to be taught a lesson in a language they understand. Not that she wasn't quaking a little on the inside at the prospect. Skinny Boy undoubtedly knew how to fight. But so did she. And the longer they stood sizing each other up, the closer the seeker came. Which made this whole show of caveman strength even more utterly ridiculous. Nikki growled in frustration.

Skinny rocked back on his heels, making her even angrier. So much so she fisted her hands and yelled at him, "Come on!"

More laughter. Ugh, when this was over, she was going to kill them all. One by one. Then she'd dress them in evening gowns and hang them from the Eiffel tower. Where'd that come from?

"A girl?" Skinny said with a thick French accent as he lumbered nonchalantly toward the center. "Please, Skully. You insult me."

Nikki surged forward, catching him by surprise, and landed a power-packed back fist to his face. All that anger, all that frustration released in a single blow.

Skinny staggered, one step back then another. His head bobbed once, eyes going gla.s.sy, before he dropped like a leaf from a tree, his limbs wavering and folding as he went down.

Silence.

Then a roar of laughter. It came from all sides and filled the room, scattering the tension. Nikki turned to face a smiling Raven. "Will taught me that."

Raven winked at her, his eyes animated and sparkling in the dim cavern light. "It's definitely effective."

She rubbed her palm over her fist as she walked back to him.

Raven took her hand in his. "You okay?" His tone dropped to that purr he reserved for only her, and his fingertips trailed over her skin, causing goose b.u.mps to materialize on her arms.

"I'm fine. Bleeding a little," she said, trying to ignore how his touch made her feel. "Must have caught one of his teeth on my knuckle."

Around them, people were trying to help the wobbly, skinny knife fighter to his feet.

"Don't move!" someone yelled from farther in the corridor. The crowd cut a path for the voice until Nikki could see an older man rus.h.i.+ng toward her. Dane had interlocked his fingers with the man's, but the man was trying to get away. Dane did that slick-as-an-eel thing he did and clasped tighter.

"No, no!" the man yelled down at him, and Dane let go.

"Solomon?" Raven leaned over and asked Nikki.

"Guess so," she answered. As the man approached, all she could think was cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo - especially when he s.n.a.t.c.hed a do-rag off one of the boy's heads as he pa.s.sed by. Two fully functioning hands - now free of Dane - tied the bandana into a loose knot. Solomon grabbed Nikki's hand, mumbling about blood, and wrapped the fabric around her fist.

All this for a tiny cut?

He squeezed hard, pinching her fingers. "It's the blood," he said, pulling her close to his plump face. His breath wasn't all that fresh and his eyes weren't all that clear. Cuckoo, cuckoo.

Nikki leaned back.

He leaned forward. "The seeker tracks your blood."

Instinctively, Nikki slammed her free hand over the wound. Her heart kicked up, this time beating out of more fear than anger.

"Did your blood touch the ground?"

"No," she said.

He grabbed her arms and squeezed. "Don't let your blood touch the ground. The blood cries out. That's the easiest way for the seeker to find you."

Over Solomon's shoulder, she watched Skinny wipe his mouth as if removing the Nikki-blood plague, then step farther and farther away until his back b.u.mped the wall and there was nowhere else to go. He continued staring at her like she was the reaper come to collect his soul.

No one laughed now. Raven eyed Dane, then Solomon. "How'd you know?"

Solomon ruffled Dane's hair. "He came and found me."

Raven's gaze narrowed. "Dane didn't know it was a seeker. How'd you figure out a seeker was involved?"

"It wasn't that difficult. Dane said you were being hunted. Something worse than demons and hounds. That narrowed the options. When he told me you came with a question about why a creature would track you to a place you'd barely been rather than finding you at your customary dwelling, the answer had to be spilled blood. A seeker."

Customary dwelling. He must mean Viennesse.

Raven's shoulders dropped a degree, and Nikki was reminded Raven didn't trust anyone. Well, he's still alive, so you can't argue with success.

"You know about seekers? Do you know how to defeat one?" Raven said with enough encouragement in his voice to lift Nikki's spirits.

"Oh, no." The man shook his head.

Hopes dashed.

"I don't even know how to fight a seeker, and I'm not sure anyone ever has successfully."

Okay, that removed all hope.

"I can tell you what I know about how they track, what they do to their victims." Gray eyes found Nikki. Wrinkle lines framed Solomon's watery gaze as he tried to force a smile. "But it's best not to dwell on that if you're trying to stay ahead of one."

"Stay ahead?" Raven spat. "What, for eternity? We have to figure out a way to stop this thing, not keep running from it."

The old man grabbed Raven by the shoulders and yelled, "I can't tell you what I don't know, half-man."

Dane grabbed Nikki's unbandaged hand and mouthed "cuckoo."

Solomon let go. "I'm sorry."

"Right." Raven's eyes slowly went from saucer size to normal. "We'd appreciate all the help you can offer."