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But this would be good. She could go up and wake Rafe, and they could get a very early start to the day. With luck, they might even make it to Seahorn that day. Tomorrow for sure.
The dog started to wander back toward her, his little red-brown paws stark against the snow. He needed a name. It would be nice to know how big he was going to get. Opposite names were always fun.Tinyfor a big dog.Cheeryfor an angry dog.Stubbyfor a tall dog. Her young half-brother, Tarrence, was going to love the pup. He loved all animals and she loved walking in the woods with him, trying to sneak up upon birds and squirrels and rodents.
He never wanted to scare them, just watch and study them with his soulful hazel eyes.
She didn’t hear the footsteps until they were directly behind her, and she spun just as an arm snaked out and wrapped around her waist. Her feet left the ground and the arm started dragging her toward the stables.
Instant fire burst through her veins and she screamed, her fists flying, her legs kicking, not even knowing what she was fighting, other than it was a big, smelly mass of a man. Her fist landed on his jaw through a beard, crunching her hand while his face barely flinched at the blow.
Knuckles came at her eye in the next moment, knocking the scream from her mouth and stunning her into quiet stillness for moment, her brain rolling about in her head.
Another moment. Another.
And he kept on dragging her.
“Behind the stables.”
“Pretty little fuck.”
“My turn first this time, ye bastards. There wasn’t anything left last time.”
Words floated in and out of her brain and she couldn’t grasp onto the voices. How many of them were there?
Shit.
Fight. She had to fight.
Twisting herself in the heavy arms around her waist, she saw the men behind her captor as he turned the corner behind the stables. He wasn’t alone. Three more men followed, all ragged and reeking of gin.
Barking, barking, barking. The pup followed them too.
Panic seared through her bones.Fight.Fight now before she couldn’t.
She contorted, throwing an elbow back into the brute’s face with as much force as she could gain with the awkward angle. His head flew back and it gave her just enough margin between their bodies to slam her fist down into his balls. His arms instantly dropped her and she stumbled away from him, slipping on the snow in Rafe’s too-big boots.
“You fucking wench, I’m going to rip ye to shreds.” New hands grabbed her left flailing arm, the fat one in the bunch, and she tried to yank out of his grasp just as the puppy came tearing around the corner, legs and tail crazy, a vicious growl at his bared teeth. He jumped at the leg of the man closest to him, biting into his calf.
“Rotten shit,” the man cried, kicking out and sending the dog flying. The pup landed on its side, skidding close to Victoria.
She didn’t have time to reach the pup, to save him before the bitten man charged forth and snatched the dog from the ground before it could attack him again. He wrapped his meaty fingers around the pup’s neck
Not the dog.
Notherdog.
She fumbled her hand downward under her skirt and into Rafe’s boot, grabbing the hilt of the blade, and she yanked it upward, slicing it across the arm of the slovenly brute that held her.
He screamed, grabbing his arm.
“Vic.” Rafe’s thunderous voice cut through the fray, but she didn’t turn toward the sound, her glare solely on the blackguard choking the life out of her dog. She sprinted toward him, dropping to her knees and sliding across the snow behind the man, the knife swinging out and slicing behind both of his knees. Deep, sending tendons snapping.
A scream and the brute crumpled, the dog flying out of his hand.
She looked over her shoulder to where Rafe stood, his hand around the neck of one of the men, holding him off the ground as he choked him. He stared at her, his mouth slightly agape. He blinked hard as her eyes met his and a smile came to his face.
“Carry on.”
She grimaced a smile and turned back to the man she’d just struck down.
