Page 80 of Power of Shadow

And then I look down and see...

“I’ve never seen anything more spectacular than you in combat boots. You had them on when I first saw you. In my club,” I whisper. I can’t help myself.

A hint of a smile touches her lips, despite her dismissing me with a soft snort.

The forest is thick, and it’s getting darker even though it’s late afternoon. The sun can’t penetrate the tall, dense trees.

“And then you danced for me. You said you had a proposition for me. What was it?”

“Actually...” She swallows, her words seeming to get stuck in her throat. “Actually, I don’t know. I was teasing you. Perhaps I needed your attention, but...”

Ash notices something between the trees. She stops talking and her movements become more delicate, her posture slightly less upright. She doesn’t have to say anything; I know what she’s doing. She slips the compass into her pocket and starts sneaking up, never taking her eyes off her target.

I want to tell her she always has my full attention. But that will have to wait.

The gray walls of the house are coming into focus.

“How can we be sure it’s this house? Do we have anything more than Vlad’s words?”

“We haven’t, but I have a hunch,” she says. “Trust me.”

What do I have to lose? At worst, we’ll waste some time and break onto someone’s private property. Compared to all my transgressions in life, this is one of the smallest.

It’s amazing how, in a second, Ash and I work in complete sync. I pull the mask over my face, and she does the same. I assume the lowest possible stance and begin to sneak forward. The terrain is difficult, so crawling is out of the question.

Once I’m close enough to the house, I crouch behind a bush and take out my binocs out of my jacket pocket. Piece by piece, I scan what I can see from this distance. To be honest, the house looks abandoned.

All the windows are closed and there are no lights on.

Not even a curtain moves behind the windows. There’s a terrace at the back of the house, but I can only see a small part of it. There’s also a terrace at the front, facing the lake. In this area, a large swimming pool takes center stage. Interestingly, it’s filled with water and doesn’t look old at all.

I’m about to tell Ash all this when a man emerges from around the corner of the building. He’s dressed in a military uniform that definitely helps him blend in. The guy’s maybe my height, broad-shouldered like a damn bull. A big brute, no doubt about it. He’s wearing a black cap. Most important, however, he’s holding a machine gun across his chest.

A thrill of excitement runs through my body.

One thing is certain. An ordinary person living in a house in the woods doesn’t need people with such toys around them.

Something’s very wrong here. Ash may be right in her hunch.

“We’re not alone,” I whisper, not taking my eyes off.

Ash sighs. “I knew it.

“Maybe. We still don’t know anything except that heavily armed mercenaries are guarding this place. There could just as well be a porn star living here.”

“Sure. And they’re guarding her golden chastity belt so well.” Ash’s sarcasm is another thing I love about her. She’s sassy and just my type.

“Let’s check it out,” I suggest, and she snorts quietly. It makes me smile. Even though I’m right, that’s all I can hope for. She had exactly the same thing on the tip of her tongue, but I beat her to it. And she’s not happy about it.

Suddenly, the sound of a breaking branch reaches my ears. Not somewhere close, but not too far away either.

I raise my head again and look at Ash first. It dawns on me that I’m not mistaken and she heard it as well.

“What the hell is that?” Ash asks.

Swish, swish, swish...

I know that muffled sound, but I can’t remember where from.