Page 40 of Javier

“What a shame.” His jaw flinched and the coral snakes squirmed. “You’ve got skills, and good help is hard to come by. You can join us voluntarily. Or not at all.”

Wham.

The tango that fell from the mango tree landed on me like a hammer on a nail. The hit caught me on the head and shoulders and left me smarting from the impact. One of his beefy arms fastened around my throat even before we hit the mud, cutting the flow to my airways fast and efficiently.

Fuck the fucker.

He landed on his back and pulled, taking me down on top of him. Our tactical vests slammed against each other, my back to his front. His strapping legs came around mine and wrapped around my knees to immobilize my lower body. He gripped my right wrist and slammed my right hand down into the mud, wrestling me for control of the gun. The dickface was a bit of a giant and as strong as an orangutan on steroids. I wedged my left hand between his forearm and my neck, trying to break his iron hold.

“You should’ve accepted our offer when I gave you the chance.” A preening Snake came to stand above me as the raindrops splattered over my face and eyes. While his merc strained to hold me in place, he reached down, unhooked my carbine from my vest, and flashed his horrible smirk. “Too late now.”

“Is it?” Flexing my biceps, relying on a surge of will that focused my strength, I overpowered the ape trying to choke me. I lifted his right hand along with mine, and aiming my Glock at Snake as best as I could, pulled the trigger.

The shot hit low, but it worked.

“Fuck!” Snake dropped my carbine, fell to the ground, and slapped a hand over his thigh, trying to stem the flow of blood blotching his pants.

The merc holding on to me squeezed his forearm tighter around my neck. With a decisive twist, he punched the gun out of my grip. I planted a foot and pressed back on him with all my weight. As black spots began to form at the outer edges of my vision, the specter of failure taunted me.

Hell, no.I needed to get out of this headlock now.

Moaning and stumbling, Snake pushed off the ground. Keeping a hand pressed on his wound, he retrieved my carbine from the mud, and flashing his fangs, aimed it at my head. “You’re gonna die for this.”

“No!”

My opponent, Snake, and I turned toward the sound as one. A blur of black and white launched from a slight rise and shot through the air, towing a dark red streak through the deluge. Even as I fought my attacker, I recognized the hellion that pounced on Snake.

Missy’s compact, athletic form vaulted fast and high. In her best hurdling form, her upper body inclined in a forward motion, cutting through the downpour like a knife throughbutter. She came at him like a bat out of hell, running at top velocity.

My heart stopped and time slowed down to show me the minute details—her left arm folded ahead, her right arm stretched behind, and her right leg fully extended in front of her.

Her foot struck Snake on the exposed surface above his tactical vest, crashing against the spot where the neck joined the chest. She followed through as if he was but a hurdle she’d vaulted over. He fell flat on his back, croaking hoarsely. Losing his grip on my carbine, his hands shot up to his throat. Missy landed on the other side of him, tripped in the mud, and rolled forward head over heels.

Holy shit. Missy was here. Right fucking here.

The merc holding me down might have superhuman strength, but he didn’t know who he was fucking with. Or that Missy’s presence was the ultra-charge I needed. He was probably as shocked as I was by the sight of the slight woman who’d struck down his boss as though her body was a lethal arrow. I crashed the back of my head on his face.

Crunch.

I registered the pain of the hard blow but I was too hiked up on adrenaline to feel it much. The hit also freed my hands and legs from his grip. I reached back, gripped the tops of my opponent’s tactical vest, and jumping into a crouch, pulled the man over my head and slammed him on the ground.

Splat.

The merc sank in the mud. I slid Snake’s gun from the back of my pants and pulled the trigger.Click. Nothing happened.Fuck. The thing was jammed. The tango sat up. With his back to me, he scrambled to push up from the mud. I tossed the gun aside, slid out my knife, and grabbing his head, twisted his neck and ran my blade across his throat.

He went still under my grip.

“Javi!”

I leaped up just in time to watch Snake rising from the ground. In one hand, he held Missy’s leg, dragging her with him. With the other hand, he groped through the mud, trying to retrieve my carbine.

“Oh no, you don’t.” I could’ve grabbed one of the discarded weapons laying on the ground, but given the mud, I had no certainty any of them would work. He had his hand on Missy, my carbine almost within reach, and I had no time to fuck around. Knife in hand, I tackled the piece of shit with a full body hit.

Snake lost his grip on Missy. His back smashed against the mango tree. The lean-to came crashing down, but the asshole kept his feet. He wrapped his hand around my right wrist and muscled his way out of my strike range. His blustery breaths scented the air with an acid tang. Even with a round in him, he was a tough motherfucker.

A blade shot out from under his left sleeve. The knife bit into my flesh. The sting alerted me to his trick, and I caught his arm in my grip.

Son of a bitch.

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