Slamming into the floor hurt like hell, but it allowed me to evade his punch, which, had it landed, would have nailed my jaw, knocking me out of
commission. Unfortunately, during the scramble, I lost my grip on my gun and it
disappeared into the darkness. In my ear, Kayden was yelling at me, but I was a
little too busy to answer.
Get up, get up.
My internal chant became a roar. On the floor was not safe, especially not when Ramirez decided to practice his soccer skills. I caught a bone-bruising kick
on my other hip. Gritting my teeth, I slammed my boot into the inside of his bracing leg, and then rolled to push to my feet. My strike didn’t take him out, but
it gave me time to regain my feet.
He stumbled back with a pained bellow. “Fucking bitch.” Then he charged.
Shit, this was going to hurt. The thought barely registered before he hit, his shoulder ramming into my stomach and sending it toward my throat. My breath
exploded in an audible whoosh, but I hadn’t trained in hand-to-hand combat for
giggles. My knee met his chin, followed by my elbow drilling into his spine.
His arms loosened, and he performed a strange twist attempting to avoid the
competing impacts. I slashed out with a clumsy left hook, desperate to get out his reach. It was enough to upset his balance, and he let me go. I stumbled back,
and forced my weak leg to hold, frantically scanning for my gun. I came up empty. The black matte disappeared into the heavy shadows. Ramirez
straightened, gearing to come back at me.
Kayden shouted in my ear.
I set my feet and hissed, “Not now, Shaw.”
Ramirez and I faced off. Blood trickled down his chin, a line of snaking black in the muted moonlight. Guess he bit his tongue. My smile was nowhere
near nice.
His gaze didn’t waver as he sent a mouthful of spit and blood to the floor.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The cheesy line of ‘your worst nightmare’ flashed through my mind, but I wisely kept silent. Sometimes being a smart-ass was not the best way to handle
things. See, I could be mature.
He inched forward. “What do you want?”
I retreated, trying to figure out how to take him down. “Just looking for a mutual friend.”
“We don’t have any.” He stepped forward and swung out, relying on his
superior reach.
I dodged, taking the hit along my forearm as I blocked. The strength of his
strike vibrated in my bones, but I still looped my arm over his, and caught his wrist. I shifted my grip, using his momentum to pull him into my kick. As I spun
away, determined to go for another elbow strike, he recovered sent a brutal punch into my lower side.
We stumbled apart. A familiar, metallic click echoed behind me, freezing me
in place.
“She’s looking for Ellery.” The masculine voice slithered down my spine. It
was a graveyard voice, cold, empty, utterly merciless.
This wasn’t good. My muscles twitched with the instinctive itch to turn and
face the threat.
“Don’t.”
I stilled, my chest rising and falling as I sucked air. In my ear, I could hear
Kayden. “Report, dammit.”
