Page 18 of Queen Of WildCards

Icould make it.

Itook a deep breath and reached back into my bag to grab my phone.IfIcould just callGemma, or even give the appearance thatIwas on the phone with someone,Icould deter anyone from following me.Icould make myself less of a target.

Ididn't get the chance.Acrossthe street, a lone man turned in my direction, and with a sudden, sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach,Irealized how fuckedIwas.

Irecognized that man.

Hewas the man from the video therapy call.

Shit, shit, shit.

Itook off at a dead sprint, pulling the can of mace from my purse once more as blondie darted across the road and headed straight for me.

Fuck.

Mylungs burned as my boots slammed against the ground, butIpushed through it, noticing with a start that the man who'd saved me from the car was now running behind me, gaining ground with frightening speed.Hiseyes were no longer even slightly warm and welcoming, the whole vibe he gave off reeking of a predator chasing its prey.

Irefused to be prey.

Icould get away.Iwas fast.Icould fight.

Therewere only two of them.

Threeblocks from my building,Idarted into a small alley that would cut the distance in half.Thetwo pursuers would have to follow me down the narrow road to catch me, butIknewIhad enough of a head start to make it out of the alley before they got close enough.Andthere was a 24-hr convenience store directly across the road from where the alley popped out, so as long asIcould make it to the end of that cobblestone hall and launch myself across the street,I'dbe home free.

Iclutched my mace tighter and took a deep breath, preparing to kick it into high gear the secondIplunged into darkness.Myold days of running track waxed fresh in my mind asIbreathed in through my nose and out through my mouth, careful to take deep, slow breaths in an effort to not tire out early.Ilet my focus narrow to each step on the pavement, each breathItook, and every inch of distanceIcovered.Iblocked out the sound of the two men on my heels.Icouldn't afford to let the panic set in, orI'dslow, and my body would surrender beforeIcould escape.

Tenmore feet to the end of the alley.

Iwas almost there.

Andthen, the universe opened its eyes and decided, for whatever reason, to fuck me hard with no lube, and my foot caught a loose brick in the cobblestones and slid out from underneath me.Mypace stuttered for only a minute, but the damage was done, and a hand clamped around mine, long fingers curling around my thin wrist and tightening ominously.

"Fuckyou, buddy!"Iscreamed, turning my body to the side as the hand with the canned mace swung around to point straight at him.Witha triumphant yell,Ipressed the button at the top and let loose the painful pepper spray directly into his wide-open eyes.Hispainful howl was like music to my ears as his grip loosened and he released me to claw at his eyes.

Ididn't stop to see if the therapy session man stopped to help hisfriend—because there was no other explanation.Thathadto be one of his buddies.Ikept on running, dropping the now empty can on the ground in my haste.

Fivemore feet.

Ilet out a triumphant whoop as the realization thatIwas about to get away, that all of the training and preparation and nervous habits had all come together to save myfuckinglife.

Takethat,Gemma.Betyou'll never underestimate my location tracker shit again.

Andthen it all came crashing down around me as a blacked-outSUVpulled in front of the entrance to the alley, the same oneIbarreled toward, and stopped on the curb.Thedriver's door opened and a tall behemoth of a man stepped out, his wild, long, red hair flying in the breeze.Mybrain short-circuited as his eyes settled on mine, a feral grin splitting his face in half as he slid across the hood of the massiveSUVand headed straight for me, even asIskidded to a halt and tried to circle the rear of his vehicle.

"Catchher,Spade!" someone behind me yelled, andIyelped as my body arched in an attempt to dodge his hands, butIwasn't fast enough, and his meaty fist wrapped itself around my bicep and yanked back, sending me off balance for a split second.Iregistered the smug smirk of satisfaction on his lips as he decided he had won.Itonly lasted for a second, though, asItwisted in his grip and planted a boot in his chest, climbing him like a tree.Icleared his shoulders as he struggled to get a grip on me, andItook that opportunity to use my weight and send him to his back.

ThedudeI'dmaced was being helped down the alley by his blonde compatriot, and they weren't far away now.

Iwas well and truly cornered, but they wouldn't catch me going down without a fight.

Dudeon the ground with the fire engine hair groaned, but his hands reached up and gripped one of my boots, holding me in place.Hiseyes glanced up at me, andIwatched him blush—since when did criminal kidnappers blush?—as his eyes caught sight of my skirt and then proceeded to look up it.

Pervert.

Itwisted my foot, but his grip held, and at the last second,Idecided to reach down and yank the hidden blade from the side of my captive boot, flipping it open with insane speed.Igrimaced and slammed the damn knife straight down, gagging a little as it slid into his shoulder like fucking butter.

Hehissed in pain, his face sickeningly pale as he dropped me, and by the grace of godsIdidn't believe in,Imanaged to fling myself forward and resume my escape.Iturned for the back of theSUV, determined to outrun the now-mostly injured team of criminals.

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