Tansy's Titan: Cosmos' Gateway Book 3 (16 page)

“I need to visit the little girl’s room. Keep an eye out for Natasha and Helene,” Tansy murmured rising up out of her seat. She looked down when Mak gripped her forearm lightly.

“Something does not feel right. Be careful,” Mak responded lightly rubbing his thumb back and forth over the soft leather of her jacket.

Tansy bent over and brushed a quick kiss across his lips. “I’ve been doing this long enough to know when things are not what they seem,” she reminded him before moving away with a slight sway to her hips and a small smile curving her lips.

Mak tensed when she walked by the group of men near the hallway to the bathrooms. Except for one male shooting her an inviting smile, none of the men moved. He slowly relaxed back into his seat, watching and waiting. He didn’t have long to wait. Tansy hadn’t been gone more than a minute when the blonde at the bar stood up and headed in the direction of the bathroom. It could have been a coincidence but he doubted it. He felt the rage begin to build at the threat to his mate. He was about to rise when a surge of frigid air burst into the room as the door opened. All eyes turned to the new figures coming inside. Mak’s eyes swept to the entrance to see what new threat might have entered. His shoulders relaxed slightly when he saw the slight figure of Natasha and Helene’s spiky blue-blonde hair.

Natasha touched Helene’s arm and nodded to Mak. Both women walked toward him, scanning the room as they did. Helene’s lip twisted into a small snarl at the three men sitting near the hallway. The movement was so slight and the room too dark for the human eye to catch but Mak did not have any problems recognizing the fact Helene knew who the men were.

“Things are about to get nasty,” Helene said coldly. “Where is Tansy?”

“She went to the cleansing room,” Mak replied.

“Cleansing… you let her go to the bathroom alone?” Helene practically snarled at Mak before turning on her heel and heading in the direction Tansy had taken only moments ago.

“A female followed her,” Mak said to Natasha. “I was about to make sure she was safe.”

Natasha sat down in the chair next to Mak, making sure to keep her back to the wall. She calmly removed her gloves and tucked them into the pocket of her thick coat. She nodded to the barkeeper who nodded in return.

“Your female will handle the threat,” Natasha replied in a calm, low voice. “The barkeeper is a friend as is the man who looks like he is sleeping. Do not kill them. You may kill any of the others, including the woman. If you are opposed to killing a female Helene, Tansy or I will take care of her.”

Mak glanced sideways at Natasha before rising up out of his seat. “I have no problems killing a female who threatens to harm my mate or my people,” Mak growled out pulling one of his short swords out from under his coat.

*.*.*

Natasha shivered as Mak’s figure seemed to grow to a massive size. She stared in fear and fascination as his teeth began to elongate and his eyes lit with dark, silver flames. At that moment she was thankful she was on the same side as he was. She had no doubt in her mind that he would not hesitate for a second to kill her or anyone else that threatened Tansy.

The two men at the bar turned at the same time, guns drawn just as the two men at the table near the entrance rose. Natasha didn’t wait
.
S
he opened fire with the precision of an assassin killing the two men standing near the entrance. Mak moved with incredible speed, slicing through the two men at the bar even as Natasha turned to fire at the three men who were seated near the hallway. The men flipped over the table and began returning fire. Natasha kicked the chair out of her way, crouching down behind the table as holes opened up in the wall around her. She quickly inserted another clip into her pistol before rolling over to where the man who had acted like he was sleeping fired at one of the men trying to escape down the hallway. He struck him in the upper thigh before taking a bullet to his shoulder.

“Sacha!” Natasha called out frantically as she watched her long-time friend fall backwards.

“Just a flesh wound. Get the other two!” Sacha yelled out from behind a table.

Natasha rose up to fire at the remaining two men but it was unnecessary. Mak had already dispatched with the men and was wiping his bloody short sword clean on their coats. Natasha hurried over to Sacha to see how badly he was hurt.

“Find Tansy and Helene!” Natasha called out to Mak.

“You stupid old fool! You were only supposed to watch over them,” Natasha mumbled to Sacha as she helped him out of his jacket.

Sacha drew in a painful breath. “How could I not participate in some of the fun? You have to let an old man have fun sometime,” he grumbled.

“You and your idea of fun,” Natasha snorted as she pressed a handkerchief against the torn flesh.

Chapter 14

Tansy knew she was going to be followed. The woman at the bar had been a rookie. It would have been more believable if she hadn’t been wearing a pair of Manolo Blahnik boots in a run-down little pub like this. She needed information and the pretty blonde was going to give it to her one way or another. Tansy was getting really tired of people chasing and shooting at her.

Tansy waited right inside the door. She leaned back against the wall and rolled her shoulders while she waited for the woman to enter. She almost rolled her eyes at how fast the woman followed.

Rookies,
Tansy sighed. She hated killing them but they only got better if you let them live. Unless this one convinced her differently, she wouldn’t see another birthday.

Tansy reached out grabbing the woman’s arm that was pressed against the door as she pushed it open while wrapping her hand around the other one. She didn’t wait to give the woman time to recover from her surprise. She pulled her around and shoved her face first into the wall hard enough to grimace when the blonde’s face smacked the hard wall with a noticeable crunch.

Well, she could always have more cosmetic surgery if I let her live,
Tansy thought in disgust.

Tansy pulled the woman’s arm up behind her back at a painful level forcing the knife in her hand to drop to the floor. Tansy used one leg to force the woman’s legs apart effectively immobilizing her.

“Who are you working for?” Tansy asked as she bent one of the blonde’s fingers back. “Answer my questions the first time I ask and I won’t break any bones. You don’t answer or give me a bullshit answer and I’ll start breaking every bone in your body one at a time.”

The woman moaned softly but nodded her head up and down once to let Tansy know she would coo
perate. “Avilov,” she gasped. “
Boris Avilov sent me.”

“How many?” Tansy asked as she applied a little more pressure to the arm when the woman shifted slightly.

“The... the ones in the bar,” the woman gasped before continuing. “Except for the barkeeper and the old man. There are three more outside.”

“How did they know I was going to be here?” Tansy asked through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know,” the woman cried out as the pressure on her finger increased. “I swear! I don’t know. I was just told to come here, capture you, and bring you back to him alive. If I don’t, Avilov will kill me. He told us not to return unless we brought you with us.”

Tansy worried about Natasha and Helene now. This is why she was better off alone. Then, she only had to focus on her own back. She personally didn’t like to kill. She only took a life if she didn’t have a choice or the person threatened the welfare of humanity. She didn’t believe in playing God but she did believe that some people were too evil to let live. Roberto San Juan and Boris Avilov were just two of those people.

“You have a choice…,” Tansy started to say when gunfire erupted in the bar.

Tansy cursed when the woman threw her head back. She barely had time to jerk away. Even so, the woman’s head connected enough of a blow to her chin she saw stars. Tansy reacted out of instinct bending down low and kicking out a leg to try to sweep the woman’s legs out from under her but her adversary proved to be a little more skilled than she anticipated.

Tansy felt the blow to her chest as one of those expensive Manolo Blahnik boots connected with her stomach knocking her back into the sink. She twisted as the woman kicked out again, ducking under the outstretched leg and ramming her fist up into the woman’s thigh forcing her to back away.

“You stupid bitch,” the woman said with an ugly smile as she jerked back and pulled out another knife. “You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“I may be stupid but you are the one with the broken nose, sweetheart,” Tansy said spreading her hands out in front of her. “I don’t suppose you heard about the warehouse or the farmhouse for that matter or you wouldn’t be feeling so confident right now,” she added with a grin.

“Do you think I give a damn about them?” The woman scoffed as she moved closer to Tansy and took a swipe. “Avilov wants you back. He does not like it when someone steals from him. Where is the information you took?”

“Oh, it’s in the hands of about a hundred people by now,” Tansy goaded. “And not the politicians in Avilov’s pocket.”

“He is going to enjoy killing you slowly,” the blonde smirked as she wiped her hand across her mouth smearing blood from her broken nose. “I will enjoy watching.”

Tansy shook her head sadly looking at the blonde in front of her. “I really wish you hadn’t said that,” Tansy said softly. “I really do.”

Tansy rushed the blonde, gripping the outstretched arm holding the knife and rolling her back into the blonde’s body so she could push her up against the wall. At the same time they hit the wall the door opened knocking into both of them. Tansy twisted around letting the momentum carry the knife still gripped tightly in the blonde’s fist between them. The blonde’s eyes opened wide as the knife embedded deeply into her stomach.

*.*.*

“Tansy,” Helene said breathlessly as she almost fell over her.

Tansy released the blonde whose eyes were already fading. She stepped back letting the body fall to the dirty floor of the bathroom. She fought the bile that rose in her throat. It happened every time she took a life. It was only a matter of time before it was her body on the floor in some dirty, forgotten cesspool somewhere on Earth. She clenched her fists tightly and breathed through her mouth so she didn’t have to smell the death mixed in with the urine.

“Come my friend, the men outside are dead,” Helene said gently touching Tansy’s arm.

“When does it end?” Tansy whispered sadly before pulling away.

“Never as long as mankind lives. There will always be those who prey among those weaker than they are and there will always be those of us who will stand up and fight to protect them. It is our blessing and our curse to care for things to be different,” Helene said quietly as she wrapped her arm around Tansy’s shoulders. “You have not recovered from your wounds. Come, we must leave.”

Are you hurt?
Mak’s voice brushed across her mind.

No,
Tansy answered soberly before erecting a wall to keep him out.

She wasn’t hurt physically but she felt like she had lost a little more of her soul tonight. She also accepted that this would be her last assignment. She knew deep down it would be. Watching the blonde as her life faded away was almost like an omen. Tansy could almost see her own body being the one with the knife sticking out of it. She could not let her feelings for Mak go any further. It was time to make sure he returned to his world. She would close down the portal th
a
n finish this once and for all.

Tansy shrugged off Helene’s arm and gave her a stiff nod before she calmly pulled her pistol out and checked it. She opened the door to find Mak towering outside with a forbidding frown on his face. She pushed past him, ignoring his soft growl of displeasure.

“There are more men outside,” Tansy said calmly, walking back into the blood-soaked bar. “If the blonde was telling the truth there should be at least three more waiting for us. I am sure they have the exits covered and would have heard the gunfire.”

Natasha looked up from where she was sitting next to the old man who had been sleeping at the table next to them earlier. He had a bloody bandage pressed against one shoulder. The barkeeper was sitting in the chair across from him pouring him some vodka into a small glass.

“We will not have long once they realize we are not the ones dead,” Nastasha said responding to Tansy’s statement. “Cosmos secured a jet for us at the Bykovo airport. What do you suggest we do to get out of here without getting killed?”

“I’ll go out first,” Tansy said in a voice devoid of emotion. “They want me. I think it is time to give them what they want. I surrender, they take me to Avilov, and I kill him. I want you and Helene to take Mak back. You need to find Cosmos and have him send him home. It would be best if you both stay under the radar until this is over.”

“No!” Mak ground out harshly turning Tansy around to face him. “You will not give yourself to them. They plan to kill you.”

Tansy pulled away and raised her gun, pointing it at him. “I know exactly what they plan. I told you before, I’m better off alone,” Tansy said moving backwards toward the entrance. “Don’t think I won’t shoot your huge ass. If it is the only way I can keep you alive, I’ll do it.”