Page 49 of Savage Hunter

I see the glint of light off metal just in time to raise my arms and catch the brunt of his gun’s handle meant for my temple against my forearms. The pain is brutal. My mouth hinges open but there’s no sound coming out. I can’t get my vocal chords to work through the shock of my bones taking the blow. If I live—which is getting questionable by the second—I’ll have bruises all over my body in the morning.

“I’m going to enjoy choking the life out of you. And after your dead I’m going to fuck your corpse and give you back to Wolfe smelling of me. Won’t that be a special gift? He wanted you. He can have my waste.”

Tears burn the back of my eyeballs but I force those fuckers not to fall. Not for this man. Not for anyone.

Fat fingers dig into my throat and he leans his substantial weight until the fringes of my vision fade. I slap at his hands but he’s not budging.

I fumble in the darkness. Dirt and dry leaves filter is all I’m bringing back.

Air.

I gasp. Work my throat. Everything burns everywhere.

Gasp.

Nothing.

The twinkling of stars above grows brighter as if beckoning me to join them.

No!

I won’t give up.

I can’t. I have to live so I can look Wolfe in the eyes when I kill him myself.

Instead of trying to break his hold on my throat I reach and fumble in the dirt until…

I raise the gun and don’t stop pulling the trigger until the man on me is a dead body on the ground.

My stomach clenches and I heave but nothing comes up as I roll over and push to my knees. Gasping and choking for air, I force it into my lungs with giant gulps. Those twinkling bright stars were not stars at all but white dots in my vision. I blink several times before they dissipate.

Blackness pools near my feet. I grab at my throat. God it hurts like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

Warm wetness runs over my hand.

“What the hell?”

I roll to my ass and shuffle backwards until a tree stops me. Even in the darkness I can see the black of Brutus’ blood run down the small slope toward my feet. I knew he carried demon blood in his veins.

Not wanting his filth to touch me, I push to my feet and jump over the body. Wobbly knees cause me to stumble my way to the front of Dragon’s house. I slip through the door frame and reach for my phone once I have a semblance of protection around me.

I need to call Ares. He needs to know that they have penetrated the compound. I look at Brutus’ still body face down in the dirt. God, I’ll have to tell Ares everything. My past, why this man is. Who Wolfe is really working for.

I pat my back pocket, front. Nothing. I spin on my heel and see the soft glow of my phone coming from the hammock. “Shit!” I curse. Can this night get any worse?

Dumb question.

Screams peel through the night and the sound of guns going off toward Doc’s place carry back to me. Wind tumbles through the branches of trees and rushes through all the unfinished house. Hanging plastic wraps around me and I scream, shuffling toward the front entrance. I stop and hit reverse.

“There’s nothing in here. It’s just me. I’m jumpy. No one can see me in here.”

I throw the plastic from around my arms and run down a hallway only to find more plastic in here. It hangs from a small section of exposed beams.

“There’s nothing in here. It’s just me. I’m jumpy. No one can see me in here. I throw the plastic from around my arms and run down a hallway only to find more plastic in here. It hangs from a small section of exposed beams.

I’ve seen this horror movie before. The girl gets it and her blood sprays all over the freaking plastic.

Easy cleanup.

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