Page 42 of Cruel Dominion

A knife lay on the ground near my feet and I grabbed it, pressing it between my thighs for leverage, rubbing the rope around my wrists against the blade. It took too many precious seconds to saw through. By the time my hands were free, the clearly-not-random-strangers had already loaded the other unconscious blue hats into the trunk with their friend.

Or were they dead?

Holy shit.

My throat went utterly dry as I pushed back to my feet and made a break for it.

An arm like a tree trunk wrapped around my middle before I got more than five steps, hauling me back.

I clawed at it, screaming. “Let go of me!”

I didn’t know what I was expecting, but for the guy to immediately drop his arm was not it. I fell forward, scraping my palms on the pavement. Getting back up felt impossible. I wanted to curl up into a little ball and just fucking disappear.

The man who stopped me from running stepped around me and I peered up at him as I fell back onto my ass and clutched my aching palms to my chest.

He was exceptionally tall with smooth dark skin.

“Who the hell are you?” I croaked, keeping an eye on the others in my periphery.

Where the hell did I drop that knife?

Why had I dropped that knife.

Goddamnit, Anna.

“I’m Jack,” he said.

Jack?

He extended a hand to me and I recoiled back.

He gave me a hard look. “We aren’t going to hurt you. We’re here to protect you.”

The man, Jack, pointed toward the car parked a few yards away. “They’re all locked up and won’t be conscious for a while. You’re safe.”

“Here to protect me?” I repeated. “Then why the fuck do I have no idea who you are?”

This made Jack pause and he shared a look with the other two on the sidewalk. They shrugged at him and he sighed, clearing his throat.

“Look, our employer didn’t want to worry you. It’s best if you just pretend you never even saw us. It can be like this never happened.”

“But those men?—”

“Will be dealt with,” he finished, interrupting me. “I promise you that. You’ll never see them again.”

I shivered. Swallowed.

“W-who’s your employer?”

“Can’t give you a name, Miss Vaughn. But rest easy knowing you have someone looking out for you.”

Apparently done with the conversation, Jack turned on his heel and stalked to the driver’s side door of the nearest black. “Hopefully you won’t be seeing us again any time soon.”

He could fucking say that again.

“Want a lift back to the main drag?” the one in the suit asked, seeming completely unfazed with the fact that he had a river of blood staining the left side of his face from forehead to chin.

“Fuck no,” the words blurted from my lips and I sealed them shut, feeling the blood drain from my face.

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