Page 50 of Lady Death

“Don’t think about that. Concentrate on what we’re going to do. You have to push your emotions aside if you want to help her.”

Ronin took a deep breath. It took every ounce of his strength to not fall apart.

“Ghost, you and Ronin chase after the car,” Brim ordered. “Thorn, call Hunter and Ares and get them back here. Set up a perimeter to make sure Davorin’s men don’t double back.”

Men moved quickly. Ronin was halfway out the door before Brim pulled him back.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“As long as I get her back in one piece, yes,” Ronin replied.

“I’ll call Mac and see if he can trace Davorin’s route. I’ll send all the data to your phone.”

“Thanks,” he muttered. “Tell Mac she has a tracker in her phone.”

Brim nodded, then Ronin headed out to his bike. He and Ghost sped after the black SUV that held his woman.

****

“You know, I admire what you’ve done. From being a victim to this badass warrior chick in front of me. I mean, you sliced off dicks! And then stuffed them in their mouths.” Davorin kissed his fingers like an Italian chef. “So vicious. So beautifully demented! Why the fuck aren’t you on my payroll?”

Keres didn’t respond. Her heart thundered with dread, yet each mile they traveled brought a sense of relief. The danger she had brought to the Death Riders door was shut. They were safe. Wiping the tears from her cheek with the palms of her hands, the ring caught her attention. Now that she could breathe easier, her mind snapped back to the half-thought plan she had in Ronin’s bedroom.

“Don’t cry,” he ordered. “I’m not going to have my men rape you. Been there, done that. Am I right? Unfortunately, I do have to make an example out of you. No hard feelings, okay? It’s just business. Unless … you want to make it up to me some other way?”

He ran a finger over her thigh, watching her. He expected her to agree. It was written across the sardonic sneer twisting his face. What he failed to realize was that she’d never beg him for anything. Keres spat at him, letting the saliva be her answer. Anger flashed over his face and without warning, he backhanded her. She emitted a sharp cry as she fell sideways against the SUV door.

“Torture it is,” he said bitingly.

She held her cheek, watching him warily as they traveled further and further from Death Riders territory. Should she use the toxin on him now? His Deathman sitting in the front passenger seat would probably kill her right away, but she would at least take out the asshole before that happened. She had to do something soon, though, because when they reachedtheir destination, she’d be strung up like a Thanksgiving turkey without any hope of taking out Davorin.

Timing was everything.

In her mind’s eye, she plotted each move she had to make. Use one ring on Davorin, somehow take out the guard, and force the driver to stop. She’d worry about the other cars following them when she had to.

“Aren’t you going to beg me not to hurt you?”

Her gaze snapped up to his. “I already know the answer.”

“You won’t see another sunrise,” he sneered. “I plan to make an excellent example out of you.”

“I figured death was where this was headed.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You seem a little too calm.”

She shrugged. “Do you want me to rant and rave, and try to make a deal with you not to kill me?”

“It’d be normal.”

“Not my style,” she taunted. “Tell me, did Sapphira recover from her drugging? Did she feel violated? Because that’d be interesting considering that’s what your men did to me.”

Fury took over and he grabbed her arm to yank her up, getting in her face, just as she hoped.

“I’m going to skin you alive,” he spat. “You’re going to wish you’d never been born.”

Slowly, she carefully opened the hidden compartment on the ring.

“You first,” she said. Then she brought her hand up and blew the white powder into his face, directly over his nose and mouth.

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