Here Comes the Rainne Again (Invertary 6)

“No you don’t,” her brother said.

“Fine. I might not, but I watch a lot of action movies.”

“You’re telling me I was taken down by a woman whose only experience comes from action movies?” Dimitri shouted. Megan noted he was back to using a vague North American accent.

“Can I kick him again?” Megan asked her brother.

“Unfortunately,” Lake answered. “We need him. We have some questions that have to be answered.”

“He won’t answer,” Megan said. “He’s the one we were interrogating in the castle.”

Dimitri started to laugh, while still holding his balls. “That was an interrogation?”

“I really want to hit him again.” Megan took a step towards the guy, but Matt pulled her back.

“He’ll answer the questions I ask,” Lake said to Megan. His cold eyes were on Dimitri.

Yeah, she bet he would. Megan would answer anything Lake asked her too. There was something about his controlled, calculated stare that was chilling.

She cleared her throat. “He said they were after Claire. He told me to pretend to be her.” She looked at Grunt, who had gone eerily still. “He said they’d kill me if I told them I wasn’t Claire. They’ve been watching you for a while. That one”—she pointed at Reynard—“is being paid to take Claire to his boss. I don’t know who the boss is, though.”

Grunt stood slowly and seemed to morph into someone even bigger than his usual colossal size. He loomed over the men who’d attacked them, and Megan got the distinct impression he was a hair trigger away from turning their bodies into Swiss cheese.

Dimitri’s eyes were on Grunt. He wasn’t amused now. “I’ll tell you everything. Just as soon as I can stand. Buffy’s right—I’m one of the good guys.”

“We’ll see,” Grunt said. It was a clear threat. If Grunt didn’t like what he heard, Dimitri wouldn’t like the consequences.

Lake stood with a sigh. “Everyone back to the castle. Then we’ll sort this mess out.” He picked up the discarded weapons. Megan expected him to ask for the one she held, and was surprised when he didn’t.

“Just in case you need it, hotshot,” he told her.

Grunt bent over, lifted Reynard and tossed him over his shoulder as though he weighed nothing. He pointed at Dimitri. “You’re walking. Don’t try anything funny.”

Dimitri struggled to his feet. “Trust me, the last thing on my mind is anything funny. All I can think about is getting to an icepack.” Dimitri glared at Megan.

“Stop whining,” Megan said. “If you want ice, lie down and press your balls into the snow. You totally deserve the pain. I’d kick you again for caving after two seconds with Grunt, when I asked you questions for hours.”

“Face it, Buffy, the big guy is scary. You’re just amusing.”

Megan narrowed her eyes. “Now I really want to hurt you.”

Dimitri moved closer to Lake. “Keep her away from me,” he said as he limped towards the castle.

26

* Rainne and Alastair *

Alastair wasn’t out more than a few seconds. He came to, lying on the floor in the castle hallway as Joe was taking Rainne from his arms.

“Help, we need help,” Caroline shouted.

“She won’t wake up.” Alastair gasped for air. It was so damn hard to breathe. “She—”

“I got her, don’t worry. We need to warm her up.” Joe turned as more women rushed into the hallway. “Someone light the fire in the office. We need to warm them up. Caroline? Hot water bottles?”

“Of course. I’ll have to fill them from the hot water tap, but it’s better than nothing.” She rushed off.

Someone thudded to his knees at Alastair’s side.