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He stepped right next to the tree, his eyes on the ground, and she pounced. The dagger clutched solidly in her palm, she shot it forth, the tip aimed at his neck.
The aim true.
Stab into the neck, don’t slice. The blood will do the rest.
Jules’s words echoing in her ears.
She yanked the blade free, twisting it as she did, doing as much damage as possible. A scream from him shook the air around her and he stumbled a step to the side in shock, then spun, swinging out at her with his blade and she had to duck.
The scream turned into a wail and then into a sputtering warble.
Blood was filling up his throat.
Still too loud. She had hoped she’d severed his vocal cords.
He swiped out his knife at her again, slower, and she only had to step back to avoid him. Another desperate lunge at her. Another step back.
He slumped down onto his knees, clutching his throat. The shimmer of dark blood in the moonlight seeped through his fingers.
He fell forward, face in the snow.
Dead.
Just like that. Dead.
And she did it.
She needed to turn away. Needed to catch up with Eva and Torrie. But she couldn’t lift her feet.
She needed just one breath. One second.
Her body folded over, trying to find breath that wouldn’t make it into her lungs, blood pounding so loudly in her ears she couldn’t hear anything except the drum of her own heartbeat.
{ Chapter 30 }
In a flicker of moonlight far through the trees, Rafe caught sight of Victoria just as she flung herself at the man approaching her.
The flash of the blade he’d snuck under her skirt when he’d clamped on her shackles was unmistakable.
The man howled and swiped at Victoria once, twice, three times.
His feet weren’t fast enough. Not fast enough tearing along the slick snow, slipping again and again, trying to reach Victoria before the brute did.
The man collapsed to the ground, and Victoria hunched over, her hands on her knees, her right fist still clutching the dagger, ready to strike again if needed. Her body heaved with breath after breath.
Pushing his way past the trees, he skidded to a stop. “Vic—no—no.”
Her head whipped up at his voice, terror in her eyes flashing in the moonlight when she spotted him.
It only took her one second to spin away and run.
He sprinted after her, but damn, even with the wound in her thigh, she was fast and agile, her body dodging trees and fallen branches with grace.
Not fast enough.
He reached out, grabbing the back of her cloak to slow her. She fought his pull and didn’t stop running until her feet flew out from under her as he grabbed her around the waist.
She morphed into an instant wildcat in his arms, kicking, the blade in her hand flailing about.
