Page 24 of Above All Else

There’s nothing out here—where did she think they were headed?

The car approached, and she put down her hands as she walked toward the slowing vehicle. I frowned and moved forward, my heart leaping into my chest.

“Don’t get in that car, June.” My feet picked up the pace, a sheen of sweat forming on my brow. “Listen to me. It’s not what you think.”

Why do I care?

Go with him and die, June.

Take the burden off my hands.

I clenched my jaw and rushed toward her as a masked man stepped out with the face of a boar, its tusks coated in painted blood.

June gasped as he lunged for her, his hand diving into her lush hair, causing the most haunting scream to emanate from her lips.

NothingIhad done made her scream like that.

The man laughed as he jerked her around and opened the back seat of his car.

“She’s mine.”

He spun with her, his hand low, causing her to bend over like those prisons in Russia. A whimper rose from her parted lips as she planted her hand on his, spun around, and elbow-locked him, making the easily two-hundred and fifty-pound man cower to her will.

The roles reversed.

I chuckled as I stalked toward her, giving her a standing ovation. “Very impressive, dollface.”

Why didn’t she pull a stunt like that with me?

“I’ve been practicing.” She gave a smug smile as the man knelt beside her, her fingers bending his backward and toward his ear.

“Let him go so we can finish and I can go home.” I dropped my hands to my sides. “I never want to think about you again.”

She winced, and the boar made a fist with his free hand.

I jumped forward as he stood with an upward swing, snagging his meaty knuckles before he connected with her pert little nose. “Isaidshe’smine.”

Kicking out, my boot connected with the side of his knee.

Crack.

The man buckled with an agonizing scream, causing June to release him.

She backed away from me as she glanced down at the man wailing on the ground. “Don’t...don’t come near me.”

I stepped over the man who curled into the tightest ball he could muster, holding his dislocated knee, and continued my tiresome pursuit.

June’s gaze darted from the right to the left, scrambled backward with haste, and then picked up a fallen branch on the roadside. She fisted the makeshift bat and held it over her shoulder as though she were ready to hit a home run.

“Come on, now. After I just saved your life?”

“Only because you want to kill me yourself.”

I shrugged, and she swung the branch, cutting the air in half with a whir.

“Does that matter?”

Her brows raised as she scoffed, a smudge of dirt marring her cheek.

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