Page 65 of Guarded Rebellion

Of equal size, he faced me off alone. In this hurried blur of fighting and blocking him from reaching her, I couldn’t slowdown time long enough to determine who he was. If he was a Petrov or Ilyin, or anyone from another criminal entity. He wasn’t a student, that was for sure.

Older than me, thick with muscles, and displaying a rivaling finesse and expertise for how to handle a fight, he had to be a soldier or member of a Mafia family from somewhere. Later, that clue of his speaking Russian would matter, but right now, my only focus was to take him down. To render him disabled—dead, if it came to that.

Eva flattened herself against the wall, staying out of the way in this too-small and narrow room. She didn’t try to scream again, which would’ve attracted attention. She didn’t attempt to escape and flee from this violence. No matter how much she had to be filled with adrenaline and the need to fight or flight, she did neither. She froze in place asIfought for her.

The man grunted and growled, not only looking like a beast of a man but sounding like a pissed-off animal on the attack, too. He took every one of my punches, and I did my best to breathe through the impact of his jabs and kicks too.

The door was closed as I strained to get him down, but someone would hear. Someone would notice the loud sounds of us knocking into furniture and thrashing around. The bunk bed frame cracked. A shelf of books crashed to the floor, thudding noisily. Even though he didn’t speak and I kept my mouth shut too, both of us locked in this war to overcome the other, we weren’t quiet.

I didn’t need fucking security to come. I didn’t want an outsider to interfere. If this fucker was in this specific dorm room, he was here for a reason—myreason.Eva.It didn’t matter that she didn’t live here. She should have, and that clue would’ve been one someone else could find out. Barring that, Kelly lived here and it was already established that she was likely a connection to Eva for anyone seeking her out.

He brought out a knife, anteing up the challenge. His determination to get me out of the way proved how much danger Eva actually was in. That order on the phone that had fallen out of his grip, that instruction toget the girl, was no idle warning.

If this man got to her, I would lose her forever.

No. No fucking way.I refused to let that happen. Not only because it was my job, my duty to keep her safe, but because I wanted her to be safe, always. With or without me.

Wishing I could call for backup, I resisted him and avoided the point of his knife. He wasn’t as skilled as I was with a blade, and ultimately, that was the turn of this fight.

One hard hit to his knee, forcing it the wrong way, had him falling. As he dropped, though, he spun and pinned me to the ground, that knife aimed at my neck.

Over his shoulder, I saw the fear etched on Eva’s face. That was all I needed to fight even harder. To succeed. To stay with her. I groaned, straining to use all my energy and strength to push him back. I did, overpowering him at last, with his knife shoved straight through his neck.

I wheezed and blinked, trying to catch my breath as I followed through with the stab and forced him to the ground.

“Who sent you?” I demanded. “Who sent you!”

He flipped me off, closing his eyes as blood soaked the front of his shirt.

His phone beeped again. So whipped and disoriented from the difficult fight, I lacked the reaction time to grab it before the screen faded.

“It shut off,” Eva said, her voice quiet and unsteady.

In the corner of my eye, I watched her lower to get the phone. “It’s disabled.”

I nodded, letting the man slump down as I realized I’d disabled him, too. He was dead, without a pulse, and his massive chest wasn’t moving.

“They probably had it programmed to be wiped.” I winced as I reared back on my haunches as I breathed through the pain. “Whoever he was on the phone with must have figured he would be killed or caught.”

Her hand pressed on the top of my shoulder. The tremble of her fingers bothered me, and I tried harder to resume the position of authority and control. She was leaning on me for safety. She had to look up to me to know everything would be all right again. She had no right to be afraid.

“Easy,” she warned carefully, her voice steadier and firmer now. “You’re bleeding.”

I nodded, grimacing as I got to my feet. She didn’t cower from me. Instead of backing away, she led me to what remained of the bed so I could sit. Pain radiated through my limbs. Aches spread out and settled in on my torso, but I tuned out the stings of agony from where his knife had gotten to me.

Now that the danger had passed, I tried to calm down and assess the situation. Eva grabbed blankets and sheets to compress the gashes and cuts she found from following the tears and rips in my clothes. Letting her help me, I surveyed the damage. Nothing had been spared in the room. I’d fought the man so violently that no piece of furniture stood right anymore. Books, clothes, and other odds and ends were strewn all over the place. Even though his heart was no longer pumping and sending blood gushing out as quickly, the dead man made a red pool on the blanket he had dropped on.

“Who—”

Eva didn’t finish asking when knocks sounded on the door.

“Hey, is everything all right in there?” a woman asked. “This is your dorm supervisor.”

She stood, raising her hand so I would remain seated while she approached the door. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“What? I can’t hear you? Someone downstairs said they heard noises up here. If you’ve got someone in there and you’re trying to?—”

Eva opened the door a crack, hiding me from view. “I’m fine. Just dropped a few books.”

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