Dark Debt_ A Chicagoland Vampire - Chloe Neill Page 0,91
beside me, and I pivoted, lifted a hand instinctively to duck the pool stick one of Maguire’s goons was yielding like a club. I wrenched it away from him, shoved the blunt end into his gut, pushed him backward until he bobbled and hit the ground on his ass.
Stick in my hand, wielded like a weapon, I looked back at Maguire. “I don’t need anyone to kill for me.”
He put a hand on his chest in mock apology. “I guess I misspoke. We don’t want him to kill someone for you. He’s already fucked that up. But you, we can use. There are plenty in Chicago who want you alive, and who’d pay a pretty penny to keep you that way.”
“Using me to get King isn’t a very good idea.” Given Maguire’s sudden sneer, we’d guessed his plan accurately.
“Even assuming my grandfather knows where he is, he won’t give him up. He won’t negotiate, even for me.” I wasn’t one hundred percent confident my grandfather would make that choice, but I was pretty certain. He was an honorable man, and believed in duty.
“I’m willing to take that chance,” Maguire said. He gestured, and the man I’d pushed back barreled forward again. I gripped the pool cue, angled, and struck, intending to box his ears. But this time, he knew the blow was coming. He ducked to dodge it and aimed for my lower body, trying to grab me. I jumped backward to avoid him, my arms wide to keep my balance . . . and just within reach of two more humans.
One grabbed the pool cue. The other grabbed my arm, twisting it backward and nearly doubling me over. I kicked backward with the opposite leg, caught his knee. He bobbled, but retorqued my arm, sending shocks of bright pain from fingers to shoulder. I hit my knees hard, my arm high and awkward behind me.
“A little help here,” I said, trying to wiggle myself free without dislocating my shoulder.
“Little busy,” Morgan said quietly, and I glanced his way. Maguire had an enormous handgun, nothing you’d want to meet in a dark alley, aimed point-blank at Morgan’s head. That, I guessed, would be the kind of shot that even a vampire wouldn’t survive.
“Let her go,” Morgan said, hands in the air. “You don’t have any argument with her.”
“You’re wrong there, but then you weren’t part of our escapade yesterday. You were in your House, nice and comfortable, while your vampire was assaulted on the street. Just like Celina would have been.” Maguire’s smile was mocking. “Point being, you aren’t really in a position to make demands.”
Maguire had done his research, knew just where to push Morgan’s buttons.
“Neither are you, if you think her family will give you anything. Her father’s an asshole, and her grandfather’s a cop. She’s right; he won’t give up King, even to save her life.”
Maguire lifted a shoulder. “Once again, that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“You’d be bringing the wrath of the entire CPD down on the Circle, on you.”
He laughed haughtily. “You think the CPD can touch us? There is nothing that’s happened in this city for ten years that we haven’t approved. That includes your father’s little pet project.”
I might not have liked my father overmuch, but that didn’t mean I wanted him involved with the Circle. “Stay away from my family.”
“That’s quite impossible, since your family keeps jumping into my business. You may be immortal, doll, but we’re connected.”
“We?” I asked, and Maguire’s expression darkened. “You mean you aren’t running this little shit show yourself? Color me surprised.”
His eyes flashed with fury, and the man behind me offered the punishment, twisting my arm harder. I winced, but kept my eyes on Maguire.
“I don’t respect a man who doesn’t fight his own battles. And speaking of which, if you’re truly a ‘Circle,’ where’s the rest of your gang? Is it these guys? Because . . .” I glanced around, tried to look patently unimpressed.
The man behind me wrenched my arm again, this time maneuvering it up, forcing my head down, my cheek to the sticky wooden floor, littered with dirt, crumbs, and probably worse.
“You like to run your mouth,” Maguire said. “A pity, since I bet it could be used for so many other more interesting things.”
“Tell me about Balthasar.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We know the Circle’s paying for his condo. Why?”
“You think I have anything to do with that freak? No. He’s not my idea. He’s fucking nuts, is what