if he’d touched a hot stove. Out of sheer self-preservation, he shifted his gaze to her two companions.
Maya was short, compact and curvy, with warm brown skin and black hair that cascaded over her shoulders in a mass of sleek braids. Street gossip had given Knox her name, though he doubted it was her real one. Conall hadn’t been able to find any trace of a Maya matching her description in any TechCorps system, but she’d spoken about his implants with the confidence of an insider. Maybe she was one of the rare genetic modification experiments to slip through their fingers.
That was the problem with creating people with superhuman abilities—they were hard to contain, which was why the TechCorps tended to build in contingency plans. Like the kill switch counting down to detonation in Knox’s brain.
Dani was even more of an enigma. The pale blonde had an icy quality that made Gray seem downright cuddly, and something about the way she moved made Knox’s instincts scream. She felt like a snake coiled to strike, and somehow he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough to get out of the way if she did.
Even if Maya hadn’t been modified, this one definitely was.
Reluctantly, he returned his attention to Nina. She was staring at him now, her eyes sparking with challenge from all the way across the bar. She was dressed simply, in utilitarian cargo pants and a black T-shirt not so different from his own. The rich color of her leather jacket complemented her golden skin, dark hair, and warm brown eyes.
She was hot. Hell, they were all hot.
And dangerous. They had to be, because in a bar full of drunk thieves, con artists, and thugs for hire, no one was giving them shit or trying to hit on them.
Nina waved them over with a nearly full bottle of whiskey. “They’re with us, Clem.”
The bartender snorted and shoved a few more empty glasses at them before pinning Rafe with a look. “Guess our love just wasn’t meant to be.”
“Don’t give up on me yet.” He used one giant hand to sweep up all four shot glasses. “I’ll be back for a bottle to go. Pick me out something real good, eh?”
Knox shot him a quelling look before threading his way through the jumble of tables. He felt the eyes on him as he passed rough men and women decked out in leather and chains, their weapons on prominent display, but Nina’s loud claim had dispersed the worst of the tension.
Whatever she was, they trusted her in this neighborhood.
He stopped a few steps short of her table. “Nina.”
“Knox.” She lifted her glass in salute. “Any trouble finding the place?”
“Nope.” He inclined his head. “Maybe we should do official introductions this time.”
“By all means.” She pointed carelessly. “This is Maya, and that’s Dani.”
He gestured to his men. “Rafe, Conall, and Gray.”
Dani flipped a knife from one hand to the other, then pointed the tip of the blade at each of them in turn. “Let me guess—muscle, tech, and bullets.”
Rafe quirked an eyebrow at her. “Charm, brains, and taciturn silences. But you were close.”
“Hmph. I think I was right.” She stabbed the tip of the knife into the table. “And save the flirtation for Clementine, would you? No one here is interested.”
Knox fought a smile at the affronted expression on Rafe’s face. But the brawler shook it off and set the glasses on the table. “Have a drink. Maybe I’ll get prettier.”
“Pretty isn’t your problem,” Maya grumbled. “You’re too pretty. No one around here trusts too pretty.”
“Or too quiet, or too fidgety,” Dani added with pointed looks at Gray and Conall.
Gray broke his silence with a low chuckle. “So what do people around here trust?”
“For starters?” Dani flipped the cap off the bottle and started filling their glasses. “A voice like that.”
Nina rolled her eyes and jerked her head toward the other side of the bar—and an empty pool table. “Do you play, Captain?”
Their old barracks had a pool table. Knox had spent hours running the table, as the clack of the balls served as his own brand of meditation, a way to sort through possibilities and outcomes and nail down his backup plans. “I dabble.”
“Sounds like a yes.” She slid off the cracked vinyl seat, grabbed her drink, and murmured, “Mind your manners while I’m gone.”
Knox wasn’t sure if she was talking to her people or his—and it didn’t matter. He gave Gray a significant look that was their long-standing code for keep those