Page 123 of A Bond So Deadly

“Look, you don’t want to do this,” I say to the men. “Just let us go, and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

The men chuckle darkly, and I let go of the woman to grab my pack, in the hopes I might be able to at least swing it around, but the moment I release her, the guy on the right lunges, pulling the woman to him. She yells, struggling against his hold, and I try to grab her, but before I can, white-hot pain slashes my back.

I don’t understand what’s happened until I turn my head and find the bald man’s blade tipped with blood.

He cut me! It doesn’t seem real.

“You should’ve kept walkin’,” the guy on the left says, both him and baldie closing in on me.

“And you should learn not to be dicks,” I retort, still reeling from the fact I’m hurt.

The woman shouts as the man holding her starts pressing kisses to the side of her face.

I take a step toward her again, but the guy on the left grabs me and throws me to the ground.

The woman screams at the man holding her, and she slams her heel onto the man’s shoe. His grip on her loosens, and she runs for me, helping me to my feet. Breathing heavily, we stand with our backs pressed against the alleyway wall.

“He’s right, you know,” she says, panting as her gaze frantically looks around at the men cornering us. “You shouldn’t have stopped.”

I shrug. “Someone had to.”

“No,” she says. “That’s not how it works.” She takes off her heels, holding them as if they’re weapons.

“Well, I guess someone forgot to give me the memo. I’ll distract them, and if you see an opening, you run for it. We’ll get out of this. I promise.” Do I want to die? No, but at least one of us can get away.

“What? No,” she hisses back. “I’m not leaving you.”

I swallow hard. “Okay, I’ll take baldie,” I tell her. “I have the bag. That’ll help with the knife.”

“And I’ll take wife beater,” she says, referring to the guy who kissed her, who’s wearing a white sleeveless shirt. “The other guy looks like he’s more of an observer.”

“Okay,” I nod. “Let’s do this.”

Truthfully, I don’t want to do this at all. I want to run away screaming, but it’s obvious these guys aren’t going to let us leave unless we make them, and I figure if we show them we’re willing to fight, they might back off.

Trying to channel my inner badass, I swing my bag at the same time that the woman throws her shoe at wife beater, and I’m completely shocked when I catch baldie off guard and knock the knife from his hands.

We both lunge for the weapon at the same time, but I get to it first. I fall to my belly as my fingers scrabble to grab the handle.

“Watch out!” the woman shouts, and I roll over, lifting the blade as baldie comes for me.

The rest happens in a blur. One moment, he’s shouting at me, his face contorted with fury, and the next, his eyes widen as he stares down in shock at the blade buried deep in his chest. I gasp in horror as blood leaks around his shirt, and his mouth opens and closes again.

His fist slams into my face, once, twice, and the pain has me struggling again. I roll him off me, still gripping the knife, and he falls, not getting back up. My hands shake, blood all over my fingers as I stare at the bald man on the ground.

“Fucking bitch killed Damo!” one of the guys shouts behind me.

There’s a scream, and I turn as wife beater slams the woman’s head against the brick wall, and she falls. The other men run off down the street, and I drop the knife.

What have I done? My entire body trembles, but I stumble to the woman, slamming to my knees beside her. She hasn’t lifted from the ground. Her eyes are open, but she’s breathing heavily, and blood leaks from her head, wetting her hair.

Oh crap. Crap!

“It’s over,” I rasp, my hands shaking. I don’t look at baldie’s lifeless body behind me. Someone walks past the alleyway, and I scream at them to get help.

“Please, it’s over,” I tell the woman again, wishing she would get up.

Her glazed eyes slide to me, and I sob, breaking down.