Page 101 of Twice the Rivalry

“Good luck with that,” Code taunted, bringing his fist up fast and punching him in the jaw.

Hazard’s head snapped back but he just let out a roar of anger and came back swinging. Code had never been so happy that he used to wrestle with his brothers growing up, because he was able to duck and weave out of the way, giving Savage a chance to get in and grab him, tossing him aside and into the wall.

Behind him, he heard a cry that he recognized and he whipped around to see Glitch grabbing the railing of the stairs and using it to launch herself at one of the men as he approached the basement steps where Karissa and Razor were battling with Maggot. Even as small as she was, Glitch hit him with enough power to have him staggering forward, his body crashing into Razor, who used the movement to get him to the floor. Code saw a flash of steel as Glitch brought her knife up, while Karissa brought out her own. Unfortunately, Maggot was able to deflect both and send them flying back.

Code let out a snarl as Glitch slammed into one of the tables, but then grunted in pain when something hard came down on his head. He staggered and dropped to his knees as his vision went spotty. “You bastards are idiots for thinking you could hide them,” Hazard sneered as he put his boot on Code’s back and shoved him to the floor. Code tried to rear up and get him off, but there was too much pressure from the man’s weight. “You should have picked your friends more wisely, because now you’re going to die for nothing.”

“I don’t fucking think so,” Savage’s furious voice thundered as he slammed into Hazard again, relieving the pressure on Code’s back and sending Hazard flying. Code staggered to his feet, his head swimming with pain and his vision blurry. He could just make out Glitch, Karissa, and Razor holding off Maggot, but panic welled inside him as Glitch slammed hard into the wall, Maggot delivering a kick to Razor’s gut that had him slamming back hard enough to smash his head on the edge of one of the overturned tables. Razor slid to the ground unconscious.

Karissa let out a warrior cry as she launched herself at Maggot, pulling moves that Code was sure he was going to wonder later if they were real. It was enough to have Maggot turn his attention away from Glitch and back to Karissa. Code looked at where Savage and Hazard were fighting it out, and Rogue rushed over to join the fray.

Decision made, Code turned his attention back to his woman, and getting to her and Karissa. He headed for them as fast as he could, weaving around all the overturned furniture, but shouted another cry of pain when someone else slammed into him, taking him back to the floor. He came face to face with Crisp, who was looking far too pleased with himself. Blood ran down the side of his face, giving him a maniacal look. “What have we here?” Crisp asked, grabbing him by the collar and hauling him up. Code struggled, trying to get his heavy limbs to cooperate, but the pain coursing through his body was almost overwhelming. Crisp dropped him, letting him bash his head on the floor, and Code could feel the darkness slipping in.

Panic gripped him and he tried to fight it with everything he had, especially when he saw Crisp turn to walk toward where Maggot was still struggling with Karissa and Glitch. He wanted to scream at her to run. To get away, but the words wouldn’t come. All he could do was watch helplessly until the darkness overwhelmed him and dragged him under.

The last thing he saw was Crisp grabbing Glitch by the hair and dragging her back, as another body came slinking out of the shadows. Despair seized him as he sank into the dark, even as he prayed she would be alright. That he would wake up and see her again.

CHAPTERFORTY-SIX

GLITCH

She reminded herself that she needed to stay calm, but considering she was tied to a chair in the middle of the common room, surrounded by broken furniture, with Karissa in the same position behind her, calm wasn’t easy to achieve. Most of the men were bound and gagged in the corner of the room. She couldn’t see Code, but she saw Hazard drag him over there. He looked like he was unconscious, his face dripping with blood. She wanted to scream, but her training kicked in and she knew she wouldn’t help anything if they knew he meant anything to her. As it was, they already gave Razor a few extra blows since they knew he was Karissa’s man.

Karissa remained remarkably silent the entire time, but Glitch could feel the all-encompassing rage that burned through her. Her entire body was shaking with it, and Glitch knew it was feeding her desire to take these assholes out. It was up to the two of them to do it, because their team was still miles away.

“The others aren’t here,” Spook announced as he emerged from upstairs. “No sign of them.” He gave Glitch a cruel smile. “It seems they didn’t think these two were important enough to take when they took off.” Glitch glared at him, refusing to say a word.

“We’ll deal with them later. At least we have these two.” Hazard looked downright pleased with himself. He came around to stand in front of her. “When they finally decide to show their faces again, they’ll find your bodies in pieces. Think they’ll care then, sweetheart?” he sneered. She didn’t reply, unafraid. Predictably, he didn’t like that, and lashed out with a hard slap across her face. She didn’t make so much as a gasp of pain at the stinging in her cheek.

She’d been trained for it. They could withstand brutal methods of torture for hours and internalize the pain. She wasn’t about to give any of them a reaction unless she could use it against them.

“Fucking bitch,” Hazard hissed, slapping her again for good measure. “You still think you’re better than us. And even all these years later, you’re still wrong.”

“Hazard, that one is mine,” Slip’s voice reminded him darkly, drawing Glitch’s attention. She looked at him assessingly. He was damn proud of himself for being the one to grab her and knock her out when she was trying to help Karissa with Maggot. She could see the triumph in his eyes, like he knew he was going to win and finally get to kill her. Well, he was in for a surprise, because she wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

Hazard didn’t like what Slip had to say, because he whirled around and snarled, “You don’t give the orders. I do. You can have her when I’m finished.”

“We had a deal,” Slip reminded him mildly. “I got shit on her from years before this team, and you aren’t taking that away from me.”

“You fucking piece of shit,” Hazard seethed, turning on him. “I’m about done with your attitude.”

Slip’s expression didn’t change as he lifted his gun and fired, his bullet finding its mark right in the middle of Hazard’s forehead. Hazard dropped like a stone, dead instantly. “What the fuck?” Crisp screeched behind her.

“He was a liability,” Slip said easily, putting the gun down. “And I’m tired of taking orders. Spook and I are in charge now, and we decide what happens with these two.”

Glitch used that moment of distraction to try and wiggle her hands around to the small of Karissa’s back. They were close enough together that she could feel they missed the knife in the hidden compartment of Karissa’s waistband. She just needed to grip it. Karissa didn’t acknowledge her, but pressed back as far into the chair as she could, bending her torso forward and subtly arching herself. Glitch managed to hold back her sound of triumph as she gingerly pulled it out and pressed it into Karissa’s bound hands. Slip’s attention was going to be on her, so Karissa would be the one to get them out.

Glitch turned her attention back to the men who were now arguing, two of them pissed their leader was dead, while Spook and Slip made it very clear if they didn’t get on board, they would be joining him. The room was ripe with dissension, and that was the very thing she needed to use against them in this mess. “Would you all shut up?” she barked at them, making sure to sound bored. Anything to keep their attention on her and not Karissa, who had already managed to saw through some of the thin rope. They really hadn’t been prepared for this, judging by how flimsy it was.

All four men stopped arguing abruptly and turned back to look at her. “Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Spook ordered, lifting his gun to point it at her.

Glitch rolled her eyes. “You know, I’m tired of being called a bitch all the time,” she told him. “How about you, Xena?”

“It does get old,” Karissa agreed, her voice also bored. “I mean, you would think smart men would be able to come up with more interesting insults, right?”

“I think we’ve already established they’re not very smart,” Glitch added. A blow to her face was her reward for her insolence, blood pooling in her mouth as she spat it out to the floor and looked up at a furious Crisp. “Truth hurts, does it, big guy?’ she taunted. Another blow. She just laughed.

“I’m going to enjoy burning you, cunt,” he snarled, getting into her face. “And I’ll make sure you’re still breathing as I do it.”

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