“Anything,” she said.
I told her what I needed.
When I finished, she said, “You better live then, because if you expect me to do this, I’m definitely cashing in on that date.”
“It’s not with Xander, remember. It’s with me.”
Dakota bit her lower lip and shrugged. “I think I’m okay with that.”
That set a hot lump in my throat and made my stomach tingle. “You might want to rethink that opinion. Remember, I don’t have any money. So, technically, you’ll be taking me to dinner. I also don’t have a car, so you’ll need to pick me up. And my only clothes“—I glanced down at my now tattered and bloodied outfit—“are ruined. Other than that, I’ll treat you to a good time, my lady.” I grabbed the handle and opened the door.
“Joey,” Dakota said. She leaned across the center console and kissed me.
16
As I staggered up the lot, I made out Gladas’s car parked in the warehouse. I forced myself forward, grimacing with each step. The injuries throughout my body, along with my drained reserves of energy, had compounded into one vicious mockery of life.
I reached the chain-link fence that surrounded the property and gave it a shake, rattling the metal and drawing attention. “Hello!” I called into the night. “Anyone home?” Closing my eyes, I set my forehead in a diamond gap and waited for the bad guys to take me away.
It didn’t take more than a minute for a handful of them—all clad in black—to appear from the darkness. They trained their assault rifles on me, one of them stepping forward. I squinted through the night to decipher anything strange about him—talons or fangs—but I didn’t notice a thing.
“Hi,” I said, wriggling my fingers through the holes in the fence. “I’m Joey.” I sighed. “I was hoping to get a meeting with Circe. You know her? Three sets of tits, one way smaller than the other two bazookas. She has bird feet and smells like snail juice.”
“Hands on your head,” the lead man said as he advanced, not once taking his aim from me.
I lifted both of my hands and set them on my head. “She’s expecting me. Said she needed some real men to service her, if you know what I mean. Said the dogs in black were too… insignificant for her needs.”
The man tightened his grip on the gun’s frame. Had I struck a nerve? Had I insulted his love or his master? Or his ween? As a Demi, Circe could curse humans, but she couldn’t control them. I doubted she cursed her followers, as it decayed their minds and made them less reliable, especially without the ability to control them. So, were these soldiers part of some harem, and she paid them with more than a little coin? Or were they just hired muscle? I doubted any Nephil—and Circe was once a full-blown Nephil—would stoop to hiring security services. They prided themselves on control and manipulation. I was sure of it.
I meant to expose that truth and press that button over and over again, until the men snapped. Why not? I would rather fight someone out of control with rage than someone with the peace of mind to string a logical thought together.
“She told me she has you on a leash and throws you the occasional bone, just so you’ll keep sitting when she tells you to sit. Me, though,” I shook my head, “she gives to me freely. Begs me for it. Tell me, dog, has she ever fallen to her knees and begged you to give it to her? Or do you just beg her for everything?”
The man had unlocked and opened the gate, now standing in front of me with his gun breathing on my face. I ventured around the layer of thick ice and looked for an opening—something that would provide me with a jolt of energy and strength. I found a tiny crack and placed my lips to it, breathing the power in. It filled my body with a red-hot energy.
In a blur, I reached out with my left hand and gripped the barrel of his gun, jerking it to the side. Pulling him close to me, I struck him across the face with my right elbow and disarmed him, turning the weapon over and spraying the other four men before they could comprehend what happened. As they wet the asphalt with their blood, I flipped over the assault rifle again and battered the lead man in the skull. Something cracked, and I doubted it was the composite butt of my new toy. The man crumpled to the ground. I dropped the assault rifle, scampered through the gate, and grabbed another weapon. The bad guys—unlike Xander—didn’t play by the rules, either, equipping their assault rifles with drum magazines.
“Beautiful,” I said, admiring the M4A1 carbine I’d picked up.
From inside the hangar, I noticed a dozen more men filing outside toward the source of the noise—and me. Taking a step, I staggered, nearly falling. I caught my balance at the last second, as the world spun around me. I had no energy at all. The boost my power had provided had taken more than the reserves I had left. Forcing another lurching step, a bullet whizzed past my ear with a high-pitched whistle.
The men had reached me. One of them punched me in the shoulder, though no one stood within twenty yards of me. How was that possible? Another one punched me in
