Page 53 of A Sky of Storms
Zane bellowed, running between its legs and slashing at its ankles. “The skin is too thick,” he cried, sprinting out of the way before he could be stomped. “Go, Starfish, I’ll lure it away.”
No.Hell no. He was not going to be this thing’s snack. There was only one item on the menu for today, and it was me … laid out as Zane’s main course.
I unfurled my wings, testing the fragile membrane of the damaged one with a small flutter. It wasn’t fully healed but it should hold. I launched into the sky, pirouetting in front of the creature’s face, antagonising it as it tried to swat me like a cat would a mouse.
Come on you stony little bitch, come and get me.
It took the bait and I grinned before giving Zane an apologetic look and zooming away. The creature pounded the marshland behind me. It was damn fast, but if I stayed a few metres ahead it wouldn’t catch me. I just needed to get it far away from Zane, then I could circle back once I was sure it was safe.
My wing barked with pain as I pushed and pushed, flying for another ten minutes before the creature began to slow and grow bored. Eventually it roared and lumbered off, and after a few more minutes to make sure I’d lost it, I sighed in relief and searched for a safe spot to land.
Something small flashed in the distance, and I frowned as I tried to make out what it was. A humanoid shape came into view when I gasped as I realised what I was looking at.
I landed in a running jog, sprinting over to Kendra, who had been tied up to a tree. Her cheek was bruised and she was unconscious, her head lolling to the side and her long brown hair dishevelled and loose.
What the fuck? Who would do such a thing?
“Kendra, hey, can you hear me? It’s Fallon. I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” a deep voice rasped.
I stilled, my hackles rising. “Mark.” I sniffed. “I should have known from the stench. It reeks of disappointment and failed dreams.”
“Always so mouthy.” He sneered. “But you won’t be able to talk with my cock shoved down your throat. Your little sidekicks aren’t around to protect you this time.”
“Aw, it’s cute that you think I need protecting. Do I need to remind you what it feels like to have your ass kicked?”
He rounded the tree and I backed up, one hand going to the sword at my hip. This guy waseverythingthat was wrong with the world. The kind of man that felt entitled to a woman. Someone who had to put others down to feel good.
“Why don’t we settle this without weapons? Just my fists against yours. And when I win, Fallon, youwillsubmit to me. You’ll be screaming, begging for me to stop before I’m done with you.”
His eyes gleamed with malice, but there was lust in them too. A sick kind of perversion. As much as he hated me, he wanted me, and he wanted to fight me before he got what he wanted. It turned my fucking stomach.
I cocked my head, a smirk curling my lips. “Is that the only way you can get off Marky boy? By making women submit to your tiny dick? Okay, you want to touch me? I’ll play, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“You stupid cunt,” he swore, cracking his knuckles. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
I smiled sweetly. “No one more than me.”
Predictably, he lunged, and I sidestepped. I clipped him in the stomach with my elbow as I moved. He coughed, but recovered quickly, grabbing my arm and slamming me into a tree. I grunted as the breath whooshed from my lungs and my head whacked hard against the bark.
He smiled smugly as he approached. But I cracked my head into his, laughing as a satisfying amount of blood streamed down his nose. I followed up with a punch to his jaw, then a jab beneath his ribs. He groaned, stumbling back.
Quicker than lightning though, he slipped a knife from his belt and held it to Kendra’s neck. “One more step and I’ll slit her throat.”
My heart hammered, my blood going cold as I put my hands up. The bastard was too weak to hold his own, so he had to hide behind someone unable to defend themselves. It was pathetic. “Coward. Leave her out of it,” I snarled. “Your beef is with me, right? So what do you want?”
The cruel, perverse smile he gave me made my stomach curl. “You know what I want.”
I lifted my chin, letting him see the hate in my eyes as I stared him down. “You’re disgusting. Not a week into the trial and you’ve already forgotten how to be human. You’re sick.”
“Keep talking, Auger scum, you’ll only make things harder on yourself. The last one tried to be defiant too. It didn’t end so well for her.”
My nostrils flared, a primal anger surging from deep within. Drugs, torture, murder … I’d seen and done a lot of bad things, but if there was one thing I couldn’t fucking stand, it was rapists and sex traffickers. This creep shouldn’t be allowed to breathe. I needed to end this.End him. But I couldn’t risk attacking him now, not with Kendra’s life at risk.
He jerked his head, nodding to my blade. “Toss your sword.”
I did as he asked. Slowly, he stalked towards me, slipping his knife into the back of his pants. My stomach recoiled as he slid his hands over my breasts and down my hips, pressing his wet mouth to my neck. His breath reeked, and I forced myself not to gag as he touched me. The sick bastard would probably like that.
