Page 145 of To Catch A Rogue

Pressing his back to the wall, he inched his way closer to the sound.

A woman strode through the entry hall, her black eye patch looking particularly morbid tonight. Had to be the mysterious Jelena. There were five men behind her, wearing the same rugged black that Nikolai’sChernyye Volkiwore. Nikolai had admitted that some of the Black Wolves served Sergey, and through him, Balfour.

"What do we have here?" she called, clucking her tongue like a governess scolding her charges. "Did you not get your fill of Upyr the other night?"

Charlie locked his pistol right on the center of her chest.

He could sense Nikolai at his side and the men who served him fanning out around them. They had the numbers, but the vampire not only evened the odds, but turned them in the other direction. Considerably. It would take all of them to subdue it, or perhaps a lucky shot, and that wasn’t accounting for Jelena.

Bad odds, no matter which way he looked at it, but hopefully she’d take his bluff.

"We’re here for Malloryn and Ava," he called.

"Seize them," Jelena commanded, snapping her fingers.

Charlie balanced on the balls of his feet, prepared to pull the trigger.

But it was the blow to the back of his head that made him reel.

He went down on one knee as a pair of Black Wolves grabbed him by the upper arms, the pistol skittering helplessly from his fingers. The scent of blood filled the air, and his head pounded. Nikolai stepped to the side, a heavy steel baton in his hand.

"Sorry," Nikolai said. "But I reconsidered your offer."

"Lark?" Charlie looked for her, only to find her struggling in the hands of another pair of Black Wolves.

The sounds of a scuffle tore through the pulsing beat of blood in his ears.

Blade remained free, a pair of fallen Wolves at his feet and his cutthroat razors in his hands. Putting his back to the wall, he waved them threateningly at a pair of Wolves, but he was clearly outnumbered and knew it. His eyes flashed black as they locked with Charlie's.

"Put your razors up," Nikolai demanded, cocking his pistol and putting the muzzle of it directly to Charlie's temple.

"You son of a bitch," Charlie gasped.

Blade's lips thinned. "'Ow do I know you won't 'urt the boy if I do?"

"You don't," Nikolai said, in his cold, whisper-soft voice. "But if you do not, then your man is dead."

Blade was the Devil of Whitechapel.

Powerful. Invincible. Undefeated by any man.

But he also had his weaknesses.

"Your sister’d never forgive me." Blade dropped his razors to the floor, and the two Wolves on either side of him grabbed his arms.

"Lemme go!" Kincaid roared, and Charlie looked up to see both he and Herbert being manhandled into the room by another group of Wolves.

One of them tossed Kincaid to his knees next to Charlie. "Sorry," the burly mech said. "They got the jump on us."

"Likewise."

"No chance of rescue now." Heels echoed on the stairs as Jelena sauntered down them, the vampire straining at the leash. "Excellent work, Koschei. You will be well rewarded for this."

"All I want is the territories Sergey promised me and command over theVolki."

"You’ll have them," she purred.

"Nikolai?" Lark whispered.