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“Yet.” She turned back around to look at me.

“Ever.”

“Let yourself believe that.”

“I don’t have time for this.” I went for the door, done with his jealous old conquest.

“I want to warn you.”

“Warn me about what?” I stopped, my hand on the handle.

“Croygen. Risking his life coming back here means whatever he’s searching for must be very important.” She tilted her head, almost daring me to deny or confirm her statement. “There is onlyonething Croygen would ever risk his own skin for, and that’s something for himself. If you think you have a deal with him, you don’t. He will take it from you in the end.”

My face gave nothing away, but inside, alarm bells bashed against my vertebrae.

“Sounds like you really know him. Maybe you should be speaking to him about this.” I pulled on the door.

“I’m talking to you because you’re the one he’s going to screw over.”

I whipped back to her. “You may know him from bouncing on his cock, but you don’t know me.”

“It is onehellof a ride. I fully recommend it.” She didn’t even flinch at my jab. “I’m telling you, from someone who has been deceived by Croygen before. It’s in his nature. He will try to take whatever it is in the end. Pirates can’t help themselves.”

“Well, good thing I am a pirate too.” I slammed out of the restroom, ire flaming off me, ready to walk out and leave Croygen to deal with his clinger. I got halfway to our table before my feet slowed as five angry men surrounded Croygen. Two of them were the size of sumo wrestlers, yet Croygen grinned. Cocky, unruffled, and arrogant.

I knew how deadly that swagger could be.

“You fucked my wife!” one of them yelled.

“Shit.” I closed my lids briefly, popping them back open when the man yelled again. He was only a foot from Croygen’s face. His average body bristled with aggression.

“Maybe if you spent more time with her instead of your boyfriends here, she wouldn’t be looking for someone else to make her come.” Croygen finished his drink. “Though, the way she screamed, not sure she ever had a real orgasm before.”

I inwardly groaned, knowing what was coming.

On cue, the man lurched for him. In one seamless move, Croygen grabbed the back of his head, slamming his face into the table, the man crumbling to the floor. He didn’t hesitate, jumping up and smashing his fist into the next one as the other three attacked, turning over chairs, glass crashing to the floor.

One of the sumo wrestlers grabbed Croygen, chucking him into the next table, tipping it over and hurtling him to the floor.

“Dammit.” Blowing out, I wagged my head with annoyance before leaping into the scuffle. The husband and the two wrestlers went after Croygen while I charged after the other two.

I had missed my boots, the sharp blades embedded in the soles, and the way my coat felt like a shield and a cape when I fought. Typhoon and Hurricane had limited my need to fight, but I never backed down from one. The power of seeing the captain herself slice a man’s throat in seconds created more fear than anything.

My fist knocked into the back of a man with a goatee, toppling him into a table full of people, sending their drinks flying into the air. They scattered away like seagulls, squawking and flapping to get out of the way. He twisted, coming back for me, while his buddy in a white tank swung out for me.

I ducked as his arm swished over my head. Popping back up, my elbow rammed into White Tank as I kicked Goatee in the stomach, pitching him back. Spinning around, Croygen and I were back-to-back while the five surrounded us, working in tandem as Master Yukimura had taught us. Croygen had often jumped in with Killian and me, upping the stakes in a fight and teaching us how to use each other’s strengths and limit our weaknesses.

We slipped into this mode without even thinking or looking at each other, effortless and instinctive, as if we somehow knew each other’s moves before we even made them.

One by one, we dropped the men, leaving only a sumo twin and the man who started all of this.

The husband snarled, yanking out a butterfly blade, jumping for Croygen as he fought off the sumo twin.

“Croygen!” My body jolted as I watched the blade slice into his side, blood spurting out. “No!” Fury took over me, my insides heating, my control slipping. Claws grew from my fingers, my teeth forming into sharp daggers. I pounced on the man, my nails tearing at his chest. A scream belted from him as my claws dug in, dragging over his skin. I went for his throat next, and he stumbled back, sputtering and grabbing his neck while blood dyed his white T-shirt. He dropped to the ground.

Whirling around, I leaped on the back of the enormous man, my arms strangling his throat. Croygen’s knuckles cracked over his chin, whipping his head so fast to the side it snapped. My hold on his throat took even more oxygen from him. He stumbled over, his sausage fingers trying to pull me off, but he was losing consciousness quickly.

Croygen grabbed me before the massive guy took me down with him. Unconscious, the final man lay on the floor, a ring of comatose bodies around us.