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.”

Behind me, the chilling voice snapped to Ramirez, “Check her.”

Ramirez stepped in front of me, the murky light unable to hide the sly

satisfaction crawling across his face. He crouched at my feet and found the knife

I had no chance to use, stuck in my right boot, and then he found my empty holster. His hands left slime in their wake as he dragged them up my legs in a deliberately crude search.

My skin crawled, but I kept my face blank. He rose and shoved a rough hand

between my legs. My reaction had nothing to do with reason and everything with

rage. I slammed my cupped hands over his ears and yanked my knee up,

introducing his balls to his throat. His choked scream was music to my ears. He

stumbled back, one hand over an ear and one cupping his questionable jewels.

An arm wrapped around my throat, drawing me up on my toes and bending

my spine back. I dug nails into the skin-covered steel holding me up. Only when

the feel of cool metal kissed my temple did I stop struggling.

“Get up, dumbass.” The growl vibrated under the base of my skull.

“Fuckin’ bitch.” Ramirez straightened painfully. “You’ll pay for that.”

The arm at my throat blocked my response and my air. Little black dots

started a mad dance at the edge of my vision. Just when I thought I’d lose consciousness, the arm loosened, dropping me to my feet.

Unfortunately, he found a new grip, in my hair. There were reasons, good ones, on why some women soldiers cut their hair. This would be one. I wrapped

my hands around his wrist, trying to keep him from pulling my hair out by the

roots. He yanked me to my knees, and I hit the ground hard enough to bruise my

kneecaps. The gun never wavered. It was too close to try to get away, but I could