"To see Rune."
Now Kellan bristled. He knew that name, knew it belonged to a denizen of Boston's underground, someone feared even by the city's most dangerous criminal circuit. More specifically, Rune was a brutal Breed fighter reputed to have never lost a match. It was a well-known fact that some of his opponents had forfeited their lives to him in the cage.
"Fuck no. You're not going anywhere near that guy." It was a command, spurred by pure masculine possessiveness, and Kellan couldn't bite it back. No more than he could keep his hands from going even tighter where he now held on to Mira.
The answering curve of her lips seemed equal parts pleased and annoyed. "I'm a big girl, Kellan. I can handle myself. We need intel, and Rune might have some." She came up on her toes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "But I kind of like seeing you all growly and protective."
She didn't give him a chance to argue, which he damn well would have. Pivoting away, she resumed her trek down the corridor and paused in front of a battered, unmarked door. She dropped her fist on it a couple of times, the hard raps echoing like gunfire in the narrow passageway.
"Fuck off." A terse, snarled reply.
Mira knocked again, glancing to Kellan as he took his place beside her, battle instincts at the ready.
"Holy bleeding Christ." The voice was deep, all gravel. A more menacing snarl from the other side of the door, before heavy footsteps approached at an impatient gait. The old door squealed on its hinges as it was forcefully yanked open. Then roughly six-and-a-half-feet, three-hundred-plus pounds of bare-chested, pissed-off vampire stood in front of them. "What part of 'fuck off' do you not fucking comprehend?"
"I need information, Rune. It's important," Mira replied, speaking over the low growl that had crept up Kellan's throat. His response was automatic, an alpha reaction to the potential threat this other deadly male presented to the Breedmate standing in front of them.
My Breedmate, Kellan's every instinct declared.
He faced off against the dark-haired fighter, chin lowered, eyes fixed on him in silent warning.
But Rune didn't appear to be in the mind to test him. His midnight blue eyes slid only briefly from Mira to Kellan, and when he spoke, his tone was gruff, uninterested. "Not in the business of providing information or anything else to anyone. Least of all the Order." He eased off, started to close the door.
Mira's palm went flat against the scarred wood panel before Kellan could pull her back. "If you can help me," she ventured, unfazed by the fighter's curt dismissal, "I promise I'll see that you're compensated."
Sparks leapt into the darkness of his narrowed gaze, and the gravel of the fighter's voice took on sharp edges. The tangle of dermaglyphs on his chest, which had been infused with dark color when he first appeared in the doorway, now churned with menace. "Do I strike you as the kind of man who can be bought - at any price?"
"The lady is asking for your help," Kellan interjected, subtly stepping in to put himself between the partially open door and Mira, now standing behind his shoulder. "You going to give it to her or not?"
"Lady," Rune mused, uttering the word like he wanted to chuckle. "I've seen the way she wields those daggers of hers. She may be female, but she's no lady. Who the fuck are you?"
Kellan felt his own eyes light with flecks of rising amber, his pupils thinning to catlike slits as his temper spiked. "Someone prepared to carve your larynx out of your throat if you lift one finger against her."
Rune stared. "I believe you would. Or try, at least." The words were a challenge thrown, but then the big vampire's fierce expression relaxed a fraction. "I don't hurt females. Not even the ones armed with blades and too much attitude for their own damn good. Not even the ones who come down to my lair, interrupt my off time before I have to go pound some asshole into a bloody pulp in the ring, then stand in front of my face and insult my integrity by implying my assistance might come with a price tag."
"I apologize for that, Rune," Mira said from behind the shield of Kellan's body. "Please, let us inside so we don't have to talk around your door."
Rune didn't budge, but behind him in his quarters, Kellan caught the sudden, swift movement of another person in the room. Draped in nothing but a black satin bedsheet and a veil of honeyed brown hair that obscured her face as she ducked out of sight.
Now Kellan understood the other male's irritation at being disturbed. Rune's sparking eyes leveled on him as if to dare him to mention the presence of the naked young woman who'd since disappeared into a back room of the fighter's private chamber.
"I'm not the one interested in talking, so spit out what you have to say, then leave. Got things to do, and I don't appreciate wasting time."
Mira exhaled a short curse. "We're looking for Rooster. It's important that we find him, and I mean yesterday."
Rune's mouth went flat. "Still got a hard-on for that piece of shit, eh?"
"Have you seen him?" she pressed.
Rune gave a vague shake of his head. "Not since a few nights ago, when you nearly took the bastard's arms off with those wicked blades of yours. In front of a full house down in the arena, I might add."
Kellan didn't say anything in the wake of that disturbing news flash, but he did pivot a questioning look on Mira. No doubt she caught his displeasure at such a reckless move, but she merely glanced into his stern gaze, devoid of excuse or remorse.
Rune shrugged. "Anyway, haven't seen him since. I heard JUSTIS let him go that same night and sent you back to your boss with your tail between your legs. Heard you might've got bounced from duty with the Order on account of it. Fact, I figured you were back in Montreal by now, licking your wounds."
Kellan realized then that Jeremy Ackmeyer's kidnapping and Mira's unintended sweep into the fray were not yet common knowledge in the city. Not even a shady individual like Rune was privy to the intel that rebels had grabbed a notable scientist who'd been under the protection of the Order.
Which made him guess that Lucan had likely clapped a lid on the situation, given instructions to his warriors to keep the information out of the public eye.