Arctic Bound by Tigris Eden

from the steaming mug. Nerina looked up from her mug accessing his features. He was dressed in a black thermal with dark jeans, and black boots. His hair a mass of dark curls still fresh from a shower, his goatee neatly trimmed.
    â€œWe gonna do more than sit here and shoot the shit. You’re obviously here because of what happened last night at the club. Let’s get this over with it.”
    â€œYou always so forward?” He asked.
    â€œAll day. Every day.”
    He nodded as if her answer was more than enough.
    â€œAlright, why are your friends trying to kill me and my brother?”
    She had to answer his questions in a way that wouldn’t implicate her. Leaving her with her own batch of secrets.
    â€œDidn’t get all the details. From what I was told you took something Mistress Red had. Your face was slashed,” she looked him over noticing there was no scar of any kind. “Obviously they got that part wrong, so I figured they had you pegged for the wrong guy. Only thing is, my girl Mackenzie knew you by name. Unless of course there is another Victor Canidae.”
    He stood straighter and asked her to continue.
    â€œI figure your brother is a bonus. They didn’t ask about him, but if he was with you, he’d be killed just for damage control.”
    â€œDamage control?”
    â€œYeah, you know, so your brother couldn’t go back and tell a friend, and then they tell two friends and so on and so on, until it’s his friends against my friends.”
    Victor took up entirely too much room in her tiny kitchen. Larger than life, he stood there contemplating what she said. Taking a deep breath he turned to pick up his own cup of coffee. He took a sip and sat the mug on the counter before turning to grab the bacon that was now over cooked.
    â€œHere,” he plopped a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. “Eat.”
    â€œI’m not really hungry.”
    â€œEat,” he growled.
    Nerina pushed the plate away.
    â€œI said… I’m not hungry. What part don’t you understand?”
    â€œYou need to eat Nerina. Why must you fight me at every turn? Is there ever going to be a middle ground?”
    No. There wasn’t going to be a middle ground because he would always see her as a cripple, and she would always view him as an arrogant jerk.
    â€œYou need to leave Victor. I have a lot of prepping to do before the storm hits.”
    â€œDo your friends know where you live?”
    Damn.
    She’d forgot that part.
    â€œRaven only had the address to the supply store, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come looking. You and your brother should lay low for a while. I’ll call her and tell her I got away and that I’m safely tucked back at home. Hopefully that will throw them off your trail for a while. But not for long.”
    Victor grabbed a set of keys that he must have placed on top of the fridge. Nerina stopped him before he could leave.
    â€œWhat did you take from Mistress Red?”
    He didn’t answer at first, keeping his back to her as he stood by the front door.
    â€œThose girls, the ones you call friends, they’re Hunters. I bet my life on it. I did take something from someone, but it was because it was in the wrong hands. Something that belonged to my people well before it fell into their hands.”
    So he was their mark.
    â€œWhat about the scar?”
    â€œYour girl probably thought she hit me and didn’t realize she missed.”
    She didn’t get a chance to ask him another question, because he’d already stepped on the other side of the door and quietly closed it.
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Chapter 8
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    Nerina had fallen asleep on the couch and woke to the sounds of Daar whining at the door.
    â€œWhat’s the matter girl?” Nerina sat up wiping the sleep from her eyes and peering around the cabin, Demon nowhere in sight. The back door was unlocked, which she did not remember unlocking. Somehow