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Katrina sidled up to me, and we worked in unison as Master Yukimura taught us. It felt like more than that, as if something connected us outside our teachings. It was beyond anything I could explain, but with each spin, punch, kick, and block, it was there. We worked in tandem, a harmony I never had with anyone else, which felt more intimate than it should have.

She could take care of herself, but the connection made me more possessive, growling with retribution when one man lunged for her, his knife ready to cut her.

My heel struck his chest, tossing him back. His body flew into the window, shattering the glass as he fell through, his cry ending when he hit the cement below.

Kat blinked at me before going back to fighting. Her elbow rammed into the neck of one, hurtling him back, his fingers grasping at his throat as he gasped for air. Ducking out of the way of another strike, she punched another man in the crotch, dropping him to the ground in agony.

“That’s my girl.” I grinned, winking at her as I fought the last guy, realizing a moment later what I said.

I slammed my knuckles into the largest guy, a bottle shattering near me as I took him to the ground. Kat came up next to me, the jagged edges of the liquor bottle touching the man’s neck, her heavy breathing in my ear.

“Who the hell are you?” she seethed, her force only turning me on. “You know what happens to those who go against Yeo? I am under his protection.”

“You didn’t say that when I was attacked at the pub,” I exclaimed.

“Because you deserved to get your ass kicked.”

“Brutal.” A huff of laughter came up my throat, my head wagging.

“Please tell me you’re not here because he fucked your wife?” She turned back to the man. He was fae, but I couldn’t feel a lot of magic.

His dark eyes narrowed, spitting at her.

Snarling, I gripped his throat harder, forcing him to gasp for air.

“Answer her, motherfucker.”

“Gun kai.” Fuck off.

Kat squatted down, cutting the glass deeper into his neck. “You answer or you join your friend out the window.”

Hatred flared his nose, his lips pinning together.

“Alrighty, here we go.” I yanked him up, pulling him to the window.

“We were paid,” he spat.

“Who paid you?”

“I don’t know. We never met face-to-face.”

“For what?”

It took another push to the broken window to get him to speak again.

“To dissuade you.”

“Dissuade us from what?” My patience thinning, I dragged him over the broken glass on the sill, cutting into his back, his head hanging outside. He cried out in pain, sweat dripping down his head.

“From going after something called the nectar,” he croaked. “That’s all I know.”

Cement pooled in my gut. Not only did someone else know about the substance, but they somehow knew we were after it too.

“Fuck,” I muttered, peering over at Kat. She had the same trepidation in her eyes.

“You broke!” a woman cried out, jerking our heads back to the doorway. Mrs. Yang stood there, her arms flaying, her expression pinched. “You destroy my place again! Blood all over. You buy!” She motioned to an upended side table and broken glass on the floor, not caring about the men’s bodies strewn over the ground.

Ignoring her, I looked back at Kat. Without having to say a word, she understood. We had to get back to the ship. Yeo’s protection no longer helped us.