Daring Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 2) by Mallory Crowe Read Free Book Online Page A

use fewer inhibitions tonight . She tilted her head back and let the tequila slink its way into her stomach.
    Unfortunately, she was pretty sure her tolerance was built enough that one shot wouldn’t help her too much.
    Hope took her hand and pulled her toward the back of the club. They entered a dark hallway where the music was marginally quieter.
    At the end of the hallway was a doorway blocked by another rope and guard. Guard seemed like a strange word, but he was too small to really be called a bouncer and gave off a vibe too scary to be anything less than a guard.
    Hope nodded toward him. “Vlad is through there,” she whispered.
    Gena followed the tall woman as they walked toward the doorway. A sense of foreboding filled her as they got closer. Something wasn’t right.
    They stopped, and Hope said, “We would like to speak with Vlad.”
    She didn’t sound scared. Gena tried to push her fear away as the guard looked them over. “State your business,” he said.
    Gena looked at Hope, but Hope kept her eyes staring straight ahead at the guard’s chest. Gena noticed Hope was avoiding eye contact. “We seek Vlad’s knowledge.”
    The guard pressed his lips together in disapproval. “State your business,” he repeated.
    Hope stood her ground. “Our business is personal and for Vlad’s ears only. We need to speak with him.”
    The guard lowered his head to look into Hope’s eyes, but she looked away. The guard looked to Gena then. His gaze connected to hers, and Gena felt the world slip away from her. All she could focus on were his eyes staring into hers. “Why are you here?” he asked again.
    Gena broke her eyes away from his and looked to Hope. Hope stared at her with surprise. “Um,” stuttered Gena. “We need to talk to Vlad.”
    The guard straightened his back and gave them a pissed-off look. “The two of you had better get the fuck out of here.”
    Gena flinched at the language but didn’t argue. She started to back away, but Hope reached out and grabbed her arm. “You need to talk to Vlad,” she said.
    Gena agreed but didn’t see how that was happening with the guard staring at them the way that he was. She started to say so when Hope suddenly punched the guard in the nose with some sort of jewelry wrapped around her hand.
    “Go!” she yelled.
    Before Gena had a chance to think, her feet took her past the guard, who rushed at Hope. Her heart leaped into her throat and her sense of wrongness increased.
    She ran into the room the guard had blocked off. The room was decadently decorated with plush seating against all the walls, and red lights cast an eerie glow in the room.
    The most lavish part of the room was a man on a throne-like chair in the middle of the floor. He was dark and exotic-looking, and Gena guessed he was of South American origin based on his appearance alone.
    However, there was another man who drew her attention. Though four men surrounded the throne, the first to stand as she rushed in was the one she couldn’t take her eyes off of.
    He was beautiful. He had curly blond hair that fell around his face, making him look like an angel. His sharp cheekbones added to his handsomeness and even through the red lights, she could see his eyes were a startling blue.
    Now there were five huge men who stared her down, and she tried to find the words to explain why she was here. She opened her mouth to speak when a sharp burning went through her arm.
    She gasped at the pain, but when she looked down, her arm looked fine. Then more pain shot through her stomach. She grabbed her middle and tried not to double over from the pain.
    She could feel the curious glances on her, but she had no idea what was happening. The pain came from the same spots Ryan had pushed the knife into her body. She needed to get the hell away from this place.
    Abruptly as she’d burst into the room, she backed out of it. Hope was still fighting with the guard, but didn’t look as if she was winning. Gena grabbed her