Cover Reveal – Unsanctioned: No Matter the Cost

There was a blur of movement to my right. Suddenly, a small figure launched through the air and crashed into Bastian.

Georgie gasped and I yanked her backward, out of the line of fire.

There were shocked cries as people nearby scrambled out of the way.

Bastian didn’t go down. He caught his attacker, but the added weight made him stagger.

That’s when I realized his attacker was female. Hell, it was the female dealer with the red hair I’d seen earlier.

She moved like a damn acrobat, slipping up and wrapping her thighs around Bastian’s neck.

As she twisted, this time he fell, trying to pull her off him.

They crashed to the carpet.

“F*ck,” I muttered.

“Aren’t you going to help him?” Georgie gasped, wide-eyed.

“No, he’s got it.”

Bastian yanked on the woman’s red hair and the wig fell off. She was short, petite, with a fit body. Her dark hair reached her shoulders and complemented large, brown eyes.

“Lark, I—” Bastian started.

She flipped and pinned him to the floor. “Shut up. I’m just here to kill you.”

Georgie sucked in a sharp breath.

I watched the tiny assassin pull a knife from under her vest. Bastian reared up and knocked it away.

She leaped off and launched a kick at him. He jerked to the side, and her booted foot narrowly missed his head.

I knew she was well-trained. There’d be enough power in that kick to incapacitate.

Bastian rose, his gaze locked on her. “Lark,” he growled.

“You killed him, now I’ll kill you.” She drew another knife.

The way she held it showed she knew exactly how to use it.

She threw it.

Bastian moved like water—fast, liquid. The knife embedded in the blackjack table beside him.

He rushed her, but she leaped onto another table, scattering chips everywhere. People screamed. Another knife appeared in her hand.

Several security guards, including Theo, were closing in fast.

Lark clocked them and her face twisted, then she tossed the knife and leaped off the table.

Dammit. She landed in a crowd of people and disappeared. I scanned around, but there was no sign of her.

“Hell,” Bastian muttered.

“Oh no,” Georgie cried.

He had a knife embedded in his right shoulder. He gripped the hilt and pulled it out.

“Are you okay?” Georgie hurried over to him.

Impatiently, Bastian yanked his tie off, wadded it into a ball, and pressed it to the bleeding wound. “I’ll live.”

I cleared my throat. “If she wanted to really kill you, you’d be dead.”

“I know.” A dark look settled on his face, his gaze on the spot where she’d disappeared.

“Who is she?”

“Lark,” I said. “The woman who’s always trying to kill him.”