Little Dark One

5 - danger zone

Keira

Strong arms held me tight and suddenly I felt safe. My vision was blurry and I struggled to focus, but I relaxed knowing I was out of reach of Thompson and the corrupt FBI, for now.

"Stay awake dear" a woman commanded from nearby. I was exhausted and she was driving me crazy.

I don't know how much time has passed but my mind was beginning to clear. I looked around the room, now somewhat able to focus on my surroundings. I was laying on a bed in what looked like a clinic. An irritating beeping sound permeated the room and I turned to my right, the nurse was fussing over an unconscious man with a severely swollen face and bloody, bandaged hands. He was hooked up to a monitor and IV.

"Excuse me" I called out to the nurse. "Where am I?"

She moved over to my side, and pulled a pen out of the pocket in her scrubs. She clicked it and a flashlight illuminated my eyes.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. She was a small but solid lady in her fifties.

"I feel fine" I said quickly, eager to escape this sterile room. I felt a little groggy and I had a pulsing headache but I wasn't about to admit that. "Can you just tell me where I am please?"

"I'll give you some painkillers and send you on your way." She said, avoiding the question. She rummaged around in a drawer and came back with a couple pills and a cup of water. She shoved the pills in my mouth and handed me the water to chase them down.

"Send me where?" I asked, getting annoyed at her clear avoidance.

Instead of answering, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

"She's ready boss." she quipped into the phone and immediately hung up.

I wonder who she was talking to. I have vague memories of a garage, someone holding a gun to my head, Viper picking me up, and strong arms holding me. Arms that couldn't have been Vipers.

The door swung open and a tall, bulky man shoved through. He had perfectly groomed facial hair and and a gorgeous deep skin tone. Scars marred his face and arms but it didn't lessen his good looks. I was extremely intimidated.

"Delaney. Is she all clear?" he asked the nurse. She nodded and pulled me up. I looked around for my shoes but they were gone. They must have fallen off at some point. I guess I was going barefoot.

"Come with me." He gestured for me to follow him. I was not interested in pissing this guy off, so I stumbled across the room towards him.

We made our way down an old hallway and after struggling to keep my balance he moved his hand to my upper arm to steady me. He pulled me up a long flight of stairs but he was gentle in comparison to Viper.

The silence was awkward so I took it upon myself to fill it. "I'm Keira." I said.

"I know." He replied.

"Oh." I guess I was the only one in the dark around here. "What's your name?"

"Blaze."

Blaze led me though the massive Italian style mansion and out onto an expansive deck where a long infinity pool overlooked the whole city.

I locked eyes with one of the most beautiful men I'd ever seen. He stared at me intensely, honey eyes melting me. I'd seen those eyes before, they belonged to the man who held a gun to my head just hours ago.

I snapped my mouth shut as soon as I realized it was hanging open. I was probably drooling for fucks sake. Pull it together, Keira! I had to remind myself he was a cold blooded killer but nothing was turning me off at this point.

His muscles flexed as he ran a hand through his almost onyx hair. He was holding a phone to his ear as he paced back and forth. Shirtless. Tattoos covered his chest and arms. He wasn't traditionally attractive, he had scars similar to Blaze, but judging by his line of work that wasn't surprising. As my gaze slowly moved down to the black jeans hanging off his inked abs I knew I was in trouble. It was official, I had a type. I was in the danger zone now.

This had to be Tommy Knox.

He strode towards me, tossing his phone onto the lounge chair on the way.

"What are you doing here." He asked cooly.

"I was kidnapped, you tell me." I shot back, refusing to let him intimidate me like he did everyone else.

"You're lucky you were kidnapped and not killed, after saying my name."

"What are you, Voldemort?" I rolled my eyes.

He stepped so close to me I could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin. "I don't have time for games." he growled "You jeopardized my entire operation last night. You wanted to see me? You're fucking looking at me. What the hell do you want."

I noticed Blaze had taken several steps back. Lingering under the overhanging upstairs balcony.

I swallowed down my pride and exhaled. "I need your help. Someone's following me and I believe they want to kill me."

"So go to the police. What kind of girl seeks out arguably the most dangerous man in the city?" He looked me over as if I was absolutely insane. To be fair, I probably was.

"I can't go to the police. They won't help me." I clamped my hands together to hide the shaking, but he already caught it.

"And why is that. It's their job, is it not?" his judgemental tone was beginning to irritate me. I didn't appreciate someone making me feel like an idiot.

"I can't go to the police because they are the ones after me." I snapped. He raised his brow in confusion and I clarified "Well, not the police exactly... The FBI. I work for them and I overheard something I shouldn't have and now they're after me and-"

He held his hand up, silencing me mid sentence "You're with the FBI?"

"Kind of? Not exactly, I was I guess..." I mumbled, but he wasn't listening, he was already steps away snatching his phone off the lounge chair and dialing.

"Pool. Now." he barked. Fury radiated off of him.

Viper jogged onto the deck moments later, he must've ran because he was breathing heavy. Thor followed behind him, visibly out of breath.

"What's up boss" Viper said.

"You brought the FBI into my fucking home?" He roared, pulling a gun from behind his back and aiming it at Viper.

Blaze moved back to my side and clamped a hand around my thin arm. Human handcuffs I guess.

Viper and Thor looked back and forth between each other, me, and a furious Knox. The confusion and fear in their eyes was palpable.

Knox continued, breaking the tense silence. "Not only is she FBI herself, she claims they are hunting her. And you brought her directly to me." his words came out sharper than a blade.

"We didn't know boss" Thor said, and gestured to me "How could we have known she's FBI, look at her!"

I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not. I chose not to care at this particular moment, considering there was a gun making it's way around.

"It's your fucking job to know." Knox sneered before firing the gun twice. I screamed and clutched Blaze for dear life. The first bullet went through Thor's arm and the second lodged itself in Viper's leg.

"You're out. Get the fuck out of my sight before I put two more bullets in your heads." Knox barked.