Page 85 of Kiss of Deceit
I flicked open my knife, swinging it at Tristin’s arm before he had a chance to react. It took all of my focus, fighting my sluggish movements from the sleeping pills. Since I was at a disadvantage, I needed to inflict as much damage as I could. The anguished scream tearing from Tristin’s throat made me believe I hit his bone. He ripped his hand away from my neck, and I followed as he stumbled away. This time, I plunged the knife between his ribs, his thick jacket doing nothing to shield him. Leon was bellowing his friend’s name, and I lost him in the dark when Tristin shoved me away.
I managed to keep a hold onto the knife as I fell backward, landing on my ass. The frozen snow did nothing to comfort my fall, and pain flared through me as I scrambled back to my feet. My head had its own heartbeat, and I staggered a step, my limbs frozen.
I found Leon, my heart clenching when he got his hands on the shotgun that Tristin dropped. After repositioning the knife in my hand, I whipped it at him. I bit my tongue, aggravation slapping into me when it sailed past him and planted into the wooden railing of the bridge.
My arrogance was going to get me killed. It had been years since I’d thrown knives. I knew I was out of practice the night Kole had followed me to the factory, and I threw my blade at him and missed. Add that to the drugs in my system, and the freezing temperature, I couldn’t fight how I usually did.
I sprinted across the narrow bridge, slamming into him when he raised the gun. A whoosh of air left him when his backcrashed into the railing, panic filling his face when the wood creaked.
He clamored forward, deciding to swing the gun at me since I was too close for him to take a shot. I bit back my cry of pain when the metal smashed into my side.
Forcing one foot in front of the other, I rushed at him again, grabbing the barrel of the gun with one hand when he moved to hit me again. I slipped my other hand into my pocket, grasping my other pocketknife.
“Let it go,” he grunted out, attempting to yank it away. “I’ll let you live.”
I slashed my blade at his wrist, and his hold on the gun faltered. But my strength wasn’t anything with the sleeping pills poisoning me. He ripped away from my hold, only for the weapon to slip from his hand. The frigid cold was also working to my advantage, because it was affecting him too. The gun slid on the snow as we both dove for it. Maneuvering my body, I kicked my feet out first, the frozen snow letting me slide almost as if I was on ice.
Unlike Leon, I didn’t want the gun. I just needed to make sure he couldn’t use it against me.
He reached for it, but I was closer. My boot hit the barrel, causing it to skid across the hard snow.
“Fuck,” Leon cursed as it teetered on the edge of the bridge before falling into the rushing water.
Thank fuck.At least I didn’t have to worry about either of them having a weapon that could beat out my knife.
With a yell, he moved too quickly for me to get out of the way. He landed on top of me, his weight crushing me, making it difficult to breathe. Gripping the knife, I rammed it into his side. He grunted, rolling off me when I pulled the blade out to keep a hold on it.
Before he had a chance to fight back, I reached over and stabbed him again. Every move I made felt like I was swimming in Jello. My limbs didn’t want to cooperate, which only irritated me. When I attacked, I was clean and organized. This was going to be messy. But it was about survival this time. I didn’t have a chance to look around to see where Tristin was when Leon lunged at me again.
“Give me that fucking knife,” he hissed, his strength surprising me when his fingers curled around my wrist, stopping me from stabbing him again.
When he moved to climb back on top of me, I threw my fist into his throat as hard as I could. He reared back, releasing my arm and rolling away to protect his throat. He choked out breaths, coughing through the pain of my hit. I climbed to my knees, crawling over to him. I tangled my fingers in his hair, ripping his head back. When I rested my blade against his exposed throat, he went utterly still.
“This isn’t usually how I do this,” I panted. “But since you drugged me, we all have to suffer.”
“Wait,” he begged, fear lacing his voice. “We can all walk away from this?—”
“No,” I cut him off, “we can’t.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
dani
His next wordswere choked garble when I sliced his artery. Blood splattered over my hand as I withdrew the knife, letting go of his hair. He grabbed for his throat as red seeped into the hard snow.
“What did you do?” Tristin’s voice was a mix of horror and disbelief.
He was behind me, and I didn’t have a chance to turn around before his boot slammed into my ribs. His kick was hard enough for me to get knocked a few feet, and I forced my body to keep rolling to create space. I whipped my head up to see him charging at me as he cradled his bleeding arm. His movements were slow and jerky, thanks to the stab wound in his side.
“I’ve gone up against men twice your size,” he said, clearly intent on trying to scare me. “You don’t have a fucking chance”
“No?” I asked, swiping my blade at his leg when he got within arm’s reach. “Leon probably thought the same thing.”
He stumbled back to avoid my weapon, giving me a moment to jump to my feet. My ribs were throbbing from his kick, and my head was swimming, but if I stayed on the ground, he would easily gain the upper hand.
When he threw a punch, I ducked, barreling toward him. He spotted my blade, dodging out of the way at the last second. Right now, his reflexes were far better than mine even with his injuries, but luckily he only had use of one arm. He fisted my hair before I could back away and swung my chest into the railing without releasing me. The breath left my lungs, my neck aching from his iron tight grip.
I whipped my knife up, just able to nick his arm. It wasn’t enough for him to let go of my hair, so I gritted my teeth, craning my neck to face him as best as I could. He wrenched me backward, kicking me behind the knees. I crumbled onto the snow with a cry when he finally released my hair.
