Page 89 of Fighter
With a growl, she advanced. I shoved back, gained my feet, and saw it coming for me again. My left hand reached up, caught the bat when the next swing headed for my ribs, and stopped her advance out of sheer instinct.
My wrist trembled with the force of the bat slamming into my palm. I didn't hear a crack, but tremor streaked all the way into my shoulder. I ignored the welling pain in my hand. The throb in my hip. Everything faded away as I wrapped my fingers around the bat and yanked.
Amber stumbled into my reach.
I stomped a foot onto her toes. She howled. I ripped the bat from her hands, drove my knee into her stomach, and shoved her to the ground. Then I flipped the bat with my left hand so I held it by the handle and pointed it to her face as she groaned.
“Don't. Move.”
My breaths were desperate pants of pain. Darkness swam before my eyes as the distant whine of a siren came from the far edge of town. Benjamin ducked a flying fist, but his attention was fully on the larger guy.
Amber sputtered from the force of my knee in her stomach. She attempted to crawl, but I shoved her back down with the pressure of the tip of the bat in her ribs. She grimaced, coughing.
“You,” I hissed, “will never ruin another life except your own after this. I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life for what you've done to me and my brother.”
Red-and-blue lights filled the parking lot as two sheriff's deputies skidded to a stop in the parking lot. Their bright beams shone light on Ben as he slammed his fist into the bigger man's jaw. The giant toppled like a house of cards. A familiar voice approached through the bright haze.
Dazed, I stared into them.
“Serafina! It's Hernandez. Step back.”
Another deputy broke up the bright headlights as he headed for Benjamin. I stumbled as all the blood seemed to leave my head. Someone grabbed my left arm. The bat dropped from my hand. A voice said something, but it sounded like it came through water. Distant. Slow. I fell to my knee. The pain jarred my broken arm. My side. The throbbing in my left hand.
“Ben,” I whispered as utter quiet descended on the world. Ben looked up and met my eyes right then. I comprehended a flash of fear in his gaze.
And then darkness.
31
Benjamin
The anemic lights of the hospital parking lot set my body into a heavy clench hours later. It had been rough coming down after that fight. The twirling lights. The ambulance. The edge of hysteria. Even Maverick appearing and the cool weight of his hand on my shoulder as an anchor didn't do much to extricate myself from the sheer adrenaline coursing through my body.
Even now, I waited for dangers from the shadows. Felt the gut-deep fear for Serafina's safety yet again.
Serafina.
Maverick put a hand on my shoulder as I reached for the door handle and tried to shove out.
“Wait,” he said. “Let me go in with you. The ten-second lead on me won't make a difference, and we don't know what we'll find in there. I want to be with you. Serafina was pretty hurt.”
My nostrils flared as I nodded once. The gravity in his tone centered me after the drive up the canyon to here. The forty-five minutes that separated me from the most frightening thing that had ever happened in my life. From intense questioning from the cops. Watching Amber's glazed eyes glare at me as they pushed her into the back of the patrol car. Serafina's pale face whisked away, her arm broken and body battered.
A shudder slipped through me.
Maverick climbed out of the SUV as I shut my door. The feeling of hot beads running through my blood pushed me to get into that ER as soon as I could physically manage, but Maverick was right. I had to cool it. Wait.
I didn't know what they'd say.
Maverick kept a faster-than-usual clip while we crossed the dark, empty parking lot and made our way inside. The high of a fight still sang through my veins, keeping me on edge. The giant had gotten one hit on my jaw, just glancing my lower lip, which ached. No doubt it was swollen, but I'd had worse from training sessions with newbies. That guy had been nothing but a hopped up druggie looking for an outlet and a quick buck from Amber. Gravel had torn up my back from the ground, but otherwise, I was fine.
Serafina was another matter.
Someone at the front desk straightened up when we approached. Backlights were turned off, giving the ER a dark appearance as we strode up to the desk.
“Serafina Courdray,” I said.
She opened her mouth, eyed my lip, then nodded and stood up. “They're expecting you. Follow me.”
