Page 81 of Rami

Ivy let out a roar and swung the rock at Gabriel. The stone smashed against his face and the crunch of cartilage followed.

“Ahh!” he bellowed. Blood spurted from his nose and mouth and he staggered backward, dropping her arm. “Fucking bitch!”

Ivy leapt to her feet and ran for the woods. Her sopping wet shoes squelched as she reached solid ground, but splashes sounded behind her. A weight slammed into her waist and she went down hard, smacking into the earth. Air barked from her lungs, but she flipped onto her back to kick away her attacker.

Wayne was on top of her, his features twisted with menace. His rough hands grabbed her face. He lifted her head and slammed the back of her skull against the ground.

Pinpricks of pain erupted across the back of her head. Small bursts of light exploded on the insides of her eyelids as her consciousness flickered.

“You stupid cunt!” he yelled in her face. “You’re going to pay for this!” He smashed her head again. One more blow and she’d pass out.

Letting out a hiss, she jammed her fingers into one of Wayne’s eyes. Her fingernails hit wet, squishy tissue, and he let out a blood-curdling cry.

He fell to the ground, screams blaring from his lips. “Ahhh! My fucking eyes!”

Ivy’s head pounded as she rolled onto her knees and used a tree trunk to pull herself the rest of the way up. The back of her scalp ached. She didn’t waste time feeling the area for blood. Instead, she forced her legs to move. Her head swam, making it seem as if she were wading through waist-deep quicksand.

Her vision split into two. The trees became a moving mosaic of branches, pine needles, and bark. The world tilted on its axis and the ground heaved at her feet.

She blinked and tried to shake free of the fog closing off her senses, but her eyesight grew more unfocused until she felt as though she were looking through wax paper. The sounds around her fell away, the angry shouts distant and garbled.

She waited for the bullet that would enter her head. The shot that would end her.

But before it came her knees gave out and she sank to the cool, damp dirt.

***

“Stop!”

Rami stomped on the brake. Stones kicked up around the vehicle. “What?” he asked. Panic ricocheted in his head. If August said she was dead, her colorful heat source snuffed out, he’d lose it.

“Looks like we’re close. If we get out and head east through the woods here, they won’t be far.” August nodded toward the dense trees at the side of the road.

That was all Rami needed to hear. He flung open the door, jumped out, and went to the back of the truck to reload his Glock and grab another magazine and his AR-15.

Toth parked behind them and leapt out. “You got a location?”

Stuffing the Glock in the waistband at the back of his pants, Rami shut the door of the truck and stormed toward the woods with his AR-15 in hand. “Yup. You armed?” he called to August. He’d already spotted the gun Toth held.

His friend nodded, tablet still in hand. August’s hard jaw and grim expression made Rami’s nerves jump.

“What?” he asked.

August’s face grew more tense. “Ivy stopped running.”

Rami glanced at the screen. Her colorful form wasn’t moving. Then another target moved on top of her. Rami’s face turned hot, and violent images flashed through his mind.

The need to kill was so great he almost blacked out. But he couldn’t. Once Ivy was safe and he was close enough to the motherfucker touching his woman, then, and only then, he could unleash the beast inside him.

Forcing his eyes to focus on the screen for one more beat, he spotted other blobs of red and orange close behind Ivy and whoever was on her. There were three—at least—sonsofbitches who would die tonight. The air in Rami’s lungs turned stale. Terror bit into his bones, and the urgency he felt was like fire on his back. “Let’s move.”

August led the way through the brush deftly and quickly even though he was still watching the screen in his hand. Rami swiped branches left then right, ignoring the sting of the sharp edges as he ran deeper into the forest. Toth kept pace with them.

“How far?” Rami asked.

“’Bout fifty feet or so,” August confirmed.

Not close enough. August must have sensed Rami’s impatience because he quickened his stride.

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