Page 34 of Swamp Kings 1

She realized not just her arms wrapped the giant, but her legs too!

That word returned to her brain. Practicing. Practicing what? Hurting children?

“Can you get her off?”

The man’s deep words were like drums in her body, giving her the ability to unlock her limbs. The wind blasted from her lungs when she hit the ground with a bone jarring force, telling her just how tall the beast was!

The man stalked behind her and his huge hands wrapped her waist and lifted her, setting her on her feet.

“Ma’am are you okay?” he asked.

She fought to get herself balanced, turning to find the brute staring down at her with a fierce scowl.

She regarded the boy and the tattoo on his chest and… muscles. She scanned him, finding zero signs of the little David she thought she was rescuing.

She turned to the towering wall of muscle, covering her gasp with a hand at the sight of blood dripping down his face.

“Are you hurt?” The man’s angry rough words caused her muscles to jerk. He looked at the smaller man. “Does she not speak English?”

“I… I do speak English,” she blurted, holding both hands over her chest, fighting to still the mad beat of her heart. Oh dear, what had she done? “I thought you were hurting him.”

“I realize that, ma’am,” he said, “but are you hurt?”

She shook her head, her brain feeling scattered to kingdom come, making it hard to remember words.

“My shirt,” he said to the smaller man, holding his hand out as Scarlett lowered her head. She’d been staring! Because he was unreal looking. A true giant! A human phenomenon. Of course she stared, who wouldn’t! The shock of him practically drew her eyeballs right from their sockets and theyfollowed his body’s every move as he covered sweaty tan skin with a black t-shirt.

She spun herself around when he was done, realizing she was an entire minute too late.

“I’m… so very, very sorry, I… I panicked when I thought you were hurting a child.”

The boy man’s chuckle brought heat to her cheeks.

“The distance prevented me from properly… judging his size. And your size is… somewhat of a Goliath next to his, giving the appearance of a man beating on a child!”

She fought not to turn from him when he made his way around to stand before her. Her eyeballs again would not be refused their duty to look and see this wonder before her. “I’m the leader of the hand-to-hand combat hatch here. He’s my second in command, we were working on a new takedown for training my men.”

Leader! “Oh no,” she gasped, remembering that there were twelve leaders of the South Marsh. “Are you… referring to the… the group they call the Twelve?”

His second in command let out a sharp laugh while she stared right into his piercing, sage green eyes, breaking all sorts of etiquette rules. Then he moved his gaze to his student and the disconnect felt like a band-aid getting ripped from her retinas! She tried to lower her head and turn away, but shecouldn’t stop looking! It wasn’t the nasty bloody streaks on his face that her eyes were glued to, but the fancy scroll tattoo lining the muscles of his massive neck!

He faced her again and she jumped at the return of his intense stare. “I am.”

Her mouth hung open at those two words straight from the Bible. ‘Before Moses was…I am.’ Her brain scrambled for his meaning, clearly wasn’t Jesus. The concerned lopsided slant on his perfect brows meant she was creating a disaster of her reputation which meant the reputation of all the sisters! I am, I am, he was what? He was a leader, he was… he was a Twelve! She’d attacked one of The Twelve!

Panic and dread filled her as she shoved her hands into her apron pockets and filled them with her gifts. “Pleaseaccept my apology, sir,” she begged, dropping half of them as she shoved them at his second in command. She lowered to pick them up, fighting to regain control of herself. “They are… made of twisted, fine copper.”

The two men stooped down and began helping when she kept dropping them.

“They’re made of… soft metal, twisted.” She dumped them back in her skirt as they attempted to give her the ones she’d dropped. “Keep them. Give them to… the children. I made each one with special prayers. They come with a message of hope and love. I usually make… different things for different people because no two people are the same, right?”

“They’re pretty cool,” the second in command said. “My name’s Rex by the way.” He smiled at her real big. “Never had a nun fight for me before.”

The surprising compliment nearly did her in as she focused on reclaiming some of her dignity and reputation. “And I’ve never attacked another human before.”

He smiled bigger somehow, reminding her with a low whisper. “You attacked the fiercest leader of the marsh. Left marks on his pretty face too.”

She closed her eyes and forced herself to face her giant victim. “I cannot tell you how very… I don’t even know the words for how terrible I feel, and stupid.”

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