Page 256 of At the Edge of Surrender

Gunshots rang out.

Chaos erupted.

Shouts and dust and animosity.

I fought, refusing the agony of the fistful of my hair being ripped out as I smacked my hand frantically around on the earth, searching for anything I could use as a weapon.

A rock.

I grabbed it, grunting as I swung it high and wide, and I whipped it around and slammed it into the beast’s hip bone.

He howled, and his grip slackened with his surprise, releasing the hold he had in my hair.

I used it to my advantage, sucking in a shattered breath as I scrambled onto my feet.

“Run, Emery. Run!” Kane’s voice penetrated from behind, and tears leaped to my eyes.

The torment at odds with the relief.

I turned to do just that, only the beast launched himself at me, his hand swiping out to get ahold of me. I spun, just out of his reach, though the sole of my shoe slipped against the slick, soft dirt. It nearly brought me back to the ground.

I fought the tumble, one hand hitting the ground, which I used to propel myself back up onto my feet.

The asshole reached out again and grabbed me by the ankle.

I yelped, struggling to break free.

“You fuckin’ whore. You don’t know what hurt means yet,” he growled.

Air rasped from my lungs, and I wavered for only a second before I gathered my strength and stomped on his face with the heel of my other shoe.

He roared as he released me. Frantic, I stumbled back, slipping and sliding on the damp earth as I struggled to find my balance.

“You cunt. You’re dead. Dead, just like your sister. You should have heard her begging as I tossed her over the side of that roof. Gonna make sure you do the same. Beg for days before I finally end you.”

I gagged at the cruelty he spat, my heart shredding apart, but I managed to force myself to move. Turning, I propelled myself around a tree and into the forest.

The second I was out of the meadow, mayhem erupted, and I froze as a hundred shots went off at the same time. Loud and disorienting.

Shock pinned me to the spot, my eyes wide with horror as I watched from behind the trunk of a massive tree as my captor staggered to his feet.

His body jolted and lurched as he was impaled over and over.

He dropped to the dirt, and a piercing silence suddenly swept in, a cloud of smoke and dust and a keening ring that reverberated in my ears.

River stepped out into the fray and came to stand over the body that lay limp in the middle of the ground.

I covered my mouth as he stood over him and fired once more.

Theo and Otto ambled out behind him.

Though Kane. He turned those eyes on me.

The same aura of duplicity radiated around him, but his wickedness was no longer shrouded.

My spirit moaned and pled and screamed.

I wanted to drop to my knees and beg.

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