Page 18 of Fury

Panic lit through her.

A hand squeezed her throat as air whooshed from her lungs. She could feel a hard knee pressed into her stomach. The intruder held one of Hollyn’s hands up by her head. Crushed her knuckles against the hard surface.

Hollyn flailed. Tried to scream for dear life, but air—she couldn’t get any. She thrashed. Pounded her free hand against his wrist. It didn’t help. The guy didn’t even budge. Terror rose as oxygen drained.

She was going to die!

“Give it to me!” the man demanded. His voice was hard. Gravelly. He leaned into her throat.

Hollyn coughed around the hand. Frantically tried to press it back a little so she could breathe, but he squeezed harder. Her muscles shook with fear and fatigue. She could feel pressure building in her face the longer she went without air. Pins started pricking her vision.

“You know where it is! Give it to me now or I’ll kill you.”

What was he talking about?

Her vision faded.

Faintly, the barking of a dog filtered into the back of her consciousness. At the sound of shattering glass and the alarm blaring, the grip on her neck released. The intruder swore and bolted away from her seconds before the barking grew louder. A dog shot past her in the darkness as she rolled to the side, gasping for oxygen.

“Hollyn!”

A hand clasped onto her shoulder.

Hollyn screamed and threw out a fist. It collided with flesh.

“Freakin—” The guy grabbed her wrist to stop the blows. “Hollyn, it’s me!” She froze.

That voice.

“Davis.” Hollyn’s breaths came short and fast.

In the dark, it was hard to tell.

“Yeah. Here.” He spoke loudly over the alarm. With quick motions, he helped her sit up. “Was he alone? Are you okay?”

Outside, Fury was barking like crazy.

“I’m fine. I think he was the only one.” She coughed again. Her heart raced so hard she thought it might beat right out of her chest. She rubbed her tender neck.

“Stay here.” Davis was gone in the next instant.

Hollyn stood and rushed to the keypad on the wall to stop the shrieking sound. Flipped on the light. Relief filled her when she saw it was nothing that couldn’t be undone. Wearily, she glanced out the wall of windows facing the backyard. Could kind of see Davis with Fury. Carefully working around the glass littering the entryway, she moved in for a better look while still keeping herself hidden behind the solid part of the wall. The dog was trying to scale the nine-foot fence. Again and again, he jumped.

What she didn’t see was her attacker. Was he hiding? Should she turn on the porch lights? Go out there and help?

Yeah, right, Hollyn. You’d be a big help.

She was all but cemented to her hiding spot anyway. Arms wrapped around her middle, she curled into herself. Her neck was on fire. Nightmares from this new trauma would plague her for a long time. Add it to the list of others.

Piercing sirens grew louder as police cars approached.

She felt a strange, intangible weight lifted from her shoulders when Davis and Fury stepped back inside. How many times could her life be turned upside down in the span of twenty-four hours? Was it even safe to ask that question? Had she just jinxed herself?

The gnawing in the pit of her stomach warned that even thinking the question was akin to playing with fire . . . an inferno that would consume her life.

4

ABU DHABI, UAE

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