Page 81 of Griffin Undone
The third lunge followed through, bringing the gargoyle right into my face. Instinctively I grabbed the rough jacket he wore by the lapels—or more like somewhere near his gut—and pulled to accelerate his forward momentum even as I stepped aside and threw my foot into his path. The shifter’s massive weight tipped off-balance, and he tripped, plunging headfirst into the wall of the dock behind me with a sickeningcrack. The concrete blocks splintered, shattered under the impact.
“Nice move, but it would be more impressive if he wasn’t getting back up. Now stop playing around and power up.”
Sure enough, the male stood slowly and shook his head, brick dust and bits of rubble raining over his shoulders to the ground below. With a snap his gaze locked on mine, and he grinned.
The sight almost loosened control of my bladder, but I clenched my legs together.No way in hell.If someone was going to piss themselves, it wouldn’t be me.
“If you didn’t want to play,” the male said, “you could’ve just told me.” He shrugged. “Time for pain, then. Come here, pretty girl. Come to Walter and let me sink my teeth into your tasty little bones.”
Walter?
“Anigma soldier,”Arik whispered in my mind.“Caught him with some friends on the way in from their nightly female hunting.”
I knew exactly what kind of hunting Arik was talking about, but I didn’t have time for horror to set in. Walter crept closer, his gaze shifting constantly as he slowly pushed me toward the corner of the loading dock where a convenient L waited to trap me. He lunged again, and I began a duck-and-cover routine that made me grateful for all the hours Arik had forced me to spend on the cardio equipment in the workout room. As the gargoyle followed, he began to talk, telling me all the wonderful things he had in store for me.
Great. Walter was definitely sick.
Refusing to allow his words to rattle me—or at least let him see that they did—I squared my shoulders, straightened my spine, and returned grin for sadistic grin.
He apparently preferred his victims cringing, because his eyes went downright mean. “You laughing at me, girl? You think I’m funny? Huh? Answer me!”
The roar blew my hair back from my face as the stink of stale breath surrounded me. I had a moment to gag, and then the tank was coming straight at me. A quick glance showed about five feet on each side to maneuver—not much. Instead I planted my feet. One. Two. On three, the gargoyle reached out a meaty hand to grab my shoulder. I dropped under his arm, my punch hitting him low on his ribs with a nearly silent, “Aagghhh!”
Now I knew how his head felt. Hitting the shifter was like punching a brick wall. Agony seared through every finger, up my arm into my brain, shifting my cry from silent to eardrum popping. I had just enough presence of mind to try and get out of the death trap of a corner, but Walter had no more than cringed at my blow. A half step was all it took for him to charge into me.
“Use your words,”Arik growled.
“Why don’t I just do that, asshole.”Thinking was nearly impossible, much less talking.
The shifter’s enormous claws clamped around my ribs. He picked me up, and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air. When I hit the ground, I didn’t know whether to curse the pain or be thankful I hadn’t hit the concrete wall. Before I could decide, the shifter’s massive weight landed on top of me and every other thought scattered along with my bones.
Sour breath crowded out oxygen. My stomach heaved. I was drowning in the essence of evil, fighting with everything I had, fear pounding in my throat. Cruel hands surrounded my neck, threatening to cut off life, making me even more aware of the rapid flight of my heartbeat. With a twist that had Walter bracing one arm on the ground beside my head, I was able to tuck my leg to my chest, creating scant distance between us that at least kept him from crushing me, if not much else. But the male had no intention of letting go; he simply readjusted to get a good, hard, larynx-pulverizing grip. My air supply vanished between one breath and the next—not a good thing when I was panting with exertion.
I felt myself start a slow slide down into unconsciousness even as I clawed and scraped and kicked to get him off.
“Arik!”I couldn’t keep my sob out of the plea.
“Use your words, Kitty Kat.”No concern. No fear. Just firm command.
My heart kicked into overdrive, beating my ribs into submission. I choked, my face tight, eyes bulging. Could I even get a word out like this?
From the corner of one eye, I saw Arik drop from the sky to stand in full view, arms crossed over that beautiful chest, just watching. He wasn’t coming to my rescue.
He wasn’t coming to my rescue.
The pressure at my throat eased just enough to allow a single gasp of air. Above me, the gargoyle shifted back to human, his smile still grotesque and far too close. “What’s the matter, little girl? The animal too strong for you? Come on, gimme some fun and maybe I’ll let you go.” He lowered his head, and a long, thick tongue sneaked out, leaving a trail of slimy spit along my cheek. A huff of hot, acrid breath hit my face as he chuckled. “Or maybe not.”
I closed my eyes. I knew what was coming; the obscenely large erection jammed against my pubic bone left little doubt. Would Arik intervene? I wanted to believe he would, but if he didn’t, if this shifter raped me, I wouldn’t live long afterward. It was truly now or nothing, do-or-die time. The world and everything in it fell away as I sought deep inside myself, found that power humming in my veins beneath the pain and terror and rage—
That was what I needed: rage. Not just at my attacker, but at Arik, at Maddox, at the whole damn world. I gathered it into a ball at the center of my being. More. More.More.
My eyes opened. With a quick twist of hips and shoulders Arik had once shown me, I gained a whisper of extra space between my body and the gargoyle’s. Just enough to jerk up a hard knee. Just enough to catch his erect penis completely unprotected.
The next few seconds slowed in my brain, each ticking off like the hands of a clock.
Walter howling with pain.
Rearing back.
