Page 270 of The Reluctant Hero

Before I can correct, an arm goes around my waist and lifts me up. My flailing legs catch someone and knock them back. A lot of cursing begins as I struggle in the hold. I keep swinging Jakob with one hand and try to reach for the eyes of my captor. He dodges out of my way, his head rearing back. I get the feel of a ski mask before he can get away.

I don’t stop. I can’t. That rage inside is awake and ready to annihilate with no skill to back it up.

I shift my grip on Jacob and use its length to try and sock my captor in the face. The move gives someone a chance to grab onto the end of it and yank it out of my hold before I can connect.

My adrenaline goes into overdrive.

I’m not aware of the specific moves I’m using to keep them off me. It’s mainly a lot of wriggling, hopeful punches, scratches that don’t meet skin, and wildly kicking legs. The most I achieve is flailing around and forcing my captor to knock over things that break when they fall.

With four of them now up and moving, I don’t stand a chance.

I don’t know the punch is coming until my cheek explodes in pain. Dizziness assails me, and then all I can see are the backs of my eyelids as I pass out.

58

Synchronize

South

I glance at the text Amanda sent out early this morning.

She’s sensing something and warning us all in a useless bid to keep us safe. When is she going to realize the power is focused on her alone? It has nothing to do with anyone else.

An hour later, Tera messages me, and I put her on standby.

I’m not surprised when hours pass and Amanda texts again, confirming my knowledge.

My lips purse as I tilt my head to take in Shade, happily tapping away on his laptop next to me. He hasn’t paid attention to his phone for most of the morning. He rolled his eyes at Amanda’s first text and set it to silent.

“Are you ready for something more entertaining, statue?” I ask him with a raised brow.

His attention jerks to me in surprise, his pale gray eyes taking in my leisurely sprawl on the couch.

“Depends, baby. What are you thinking?”

I stand and move into the kitchen. I hear him set aside his laptop to follow me. When I reach for the cabinet under the sink and pull out my straight razor, I hear a thick swallow behind me.

“I think you should let Tera take over the pesky dot connections, and we can go for a drive.”

His eyes narrow as I tuck the razor into the front of my pants.

“Are we talking about visiting Amanda? She sent that weird text for us to stay home.”

I make a thoughtful sigh of sound that makes him shudder. I step into his chest with a feral smile and stroke a hand over his cheek.

“Drive for me.”

“Fuck,” he mutters softly, staring into my eyes.

It takes him a few minutes to call Tera and strap himself down with weapons. I watch avidly. The precision of his movements as he holsters his weapons is more erotic to me than a strip tease. All those big knives hidden away or blatantly displayed on his thighs. This is a side of him that I’ve been craving to see.

He’s always perfect, but he continually surprises me with it.

He catches me watching and pauses, a slow, monstrous smile growing wide.

“Are you sure you want to go out today?”

I nod, eyeing him as if he’s my next meal.

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