The human snapped his fingers, and a trio of equally thin, ragged guys uncurled from the floor and shuffled forward to flank him. A knife suddenly gleamed between long dirty fingers as he raised his arm, and I went rigid. “Gimme your wallet,” the junkie demanded. Garret tensed and stepped in front of me, his body like a taut wire. “And your phone. And whatever cash you have. Put it on the ground, and step away. Them, too,” he added, jerking his head at me and Garret. “Jewelry, purses, whatever. Leave everything you have on the floor, and you can walk out still breathing.”

Riley sighed. Raising his hands like he was thinking it over, he took a half step back, standing next to Garret. “How many?” he murmured in a voice almost too soft to hear. I frowned in confusion, but apparently, the query wasn’t directed at me.

“Three here, another two on the wall behind us,” Garret replied in an equally quiet voice.

“Armed?”

“No.”

“Good. I’ll let you take care of them. Firebrand, watch your back.”

“Hey.” The junkie leader stepped forward, raising the knife. “Didn’t you hear me? Gimme your stuff, man, or I’ll start cutting off body parts.”

“I told you, I don’t have anything,” Riley insisted, lifting his arms in a placating gesture. “We came for the weekend and are now completely broke. I’m sure you hear that a lot here.”

“Phones, then.” The human turned and brandished the knife at Garret. “Gimme your phones.”

“Sorry.” Garret gave a helpless shrug. “Dropped it in the pool.”

The junkie’s gaze shifted to me, and I smirked at him. “Left mine in the cab.”

“Rotten luck, huh?” Riley added.

“Man, do not fuck with me!” The junkie stepped forward, jabbing the blade at Riley’s face. “Do you want me to gut you like a pig? Is that—”

Garret’s hand shot out, grabbed the hand with the knife and wrenched it sideways, making the junkie yelp with shock and pain. His cry was cut short as the soldier moved in with a savage elbow to his temple, dropping him like a sack of stones. Before the others even registered what was happening, Riley lunged and drove a fist into one’s jaw, snapping his head to the side. The junkie reeled away, toppled over the sofa to the shrieks of the two girls and lay still.