Page 63 of To Catch A Rogue

Nobody told me.I knew it was there,she wanted to scream.

But Tin Man's voice echoed in her memories.

Don't ever tell anyone who you are, sweet Irinka. You have no allies in this world. Only enemies.

And she couldn't be certain this manwasher brother—or where his allegiances lay. She needed to know more.

"A man. Didn't know... you were here. Not after you."

"Your story has more holes in it than Swiss cheese." He leaned so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. "And you're a fool. This is the home of theChernyye Volki. Nobody comes here. And if they do, then they don't ever leave."

The Black Wolves were the murderers who'd stolen her family from her upon Sergey's orders. Thiscouldn'tbe Kolya. Her smiling, charming brother would never have fallen in with those who murdered his kin.

"Lark?" Charlie whispered.

Both their attention shot to the passage.

Then Chiyoh moved toward the door with long, ground-eating strides.

"Don't come in!" Lark screamed in English, driving her hand up into this Niko's wrist.

It slipped from her throat and he staggered forward as she ducked beneath his arm. Lark spun, driving an elbow into his ribs.

The knife whistled toward her.

She leaped back, and it cut through the air where her abdomen had been only moments before.

Lark kicked up, smashing the knife from his fingers.

Then the pair of them were facing each other, crouching low. Blood trickled from the faint cut at her throat.

"Lark?" Charlie's voice sounded frantic, and she could hear the sounds of scuffling behind her, but didn't dare take her eyes off the man in front of her.

"Lark," the stranger repeated. "An unusual name. You'll tell me your real one before we're done."

He lunged forward and Lark sidestepped, chopping down with the flat of her hand. Blow after blow came at her; a punch clipping her jaw and sending her reeling.

She caught a glimpse of one of her discarded knives and threw herself toward it, just as he pounced. The stranger slammed into her, and they both went down, but Lark swiveled, locking her hips around his and sending them both tumbling. She was used to wrestling with men far larger than she, and Blade had never gone easy upon her.

Easy gets you dead,he'd always said.A man comes at you in a dark alley, and 'e ain't intendin' to be kind.

Somehow her hand curled around her knife.

A fist drove into her ribs, but she clung to his hips. Lark rolled over the top of him, her knife nicking his throat. He kicked up with his hips and she flew over the top of him, turning it into a roll.

Then Charlie was at her side, hauling her to her feet. "Run!" he yelled, launching toward the windows.

Heart in her throat, she leaped through the enormous pane of glass at his side. It shattered and then the courtyard came into sharp review.

Shirt flapping against her arms, Lark tried to brace herself as the roof flew up to meet them. It was at such an angle she knew she'd never be able to gain her feet, so when she hit, she rolled forward, trying to turn momentum to her use. If there was one thing she was thankful for, it was all those years racing Charlie through the rookeries. Pushing her body to the limits and defying gravity until she'd been virtually a cat.

The world whipped around her as she tumbled, her shoulder slamming into hard slate tiles.

No time to think.

Just react.

She hit the gutter and launched herself toward the narrow garden wall. Knees flexing as she landed, she rolled forward, gripped the wall in both hands, and then lowered herself off it. Her body slammed against the wall, but from there it was a simple drop down onto hard stones.