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“Get this fuckin’ bitch off’a me!”
Yeah. I was in trouble. Just as I felt hands grab my waist, I snapped my head forward, slamming my forehead into the guy’s nose. Then I did the same to the other guy by jerking my head backward. I think I caught his chin instead of his nose and it made the back of my head sting.
“Mother fuck!” The second guy didn’t let me go, but staggered backward, his beefy arms solidly around me even though I’d obviously hurt him. “Secure the girl in the van, then help me with this bitch.” He squeezed his arms tighter around my slight form. It was like a python wrapping around me. Every time I breathed out, he seemed to know and adjust his hold even tighter, making it hard to breathe.
I gave a furious yell and started struggling in earnest now, knowing I had seriously bitten off more than I could chew. The guy used one hand to cover my mouth, which helped me breathe. Didn’t help me get away from the big bastard.
Just as the first guy turned away from the van, I got in a good, solid kick to this guy’s knee. It gave way and he fell to the ground. Amazingly, he retained his hold, but I took the opportunity to bite down on his hand with everything I had.
“Fuck!” He roared and jerked his hand away. I hoped the fuckers from Salvation’s Bane did what Apple told them and one of them was headed in my direction. If not, there was no way I was going to be able to help this girl before the men got her away.
“Bitch!” The first guy aimed a kick to my middle, but managed to catch the arm of the man holding me.
“Son of a bitch!” How this guy was still holding me, I had no idea, but he held on for dear life. “Stop tryin’ to kick her and get her fuckin’ legs so we can toss her in the van!”
When the first guy went for my feet, I kicked out, catching him in the balls. Even with only my flip-flops on, I still got in a good blow. He grabbed himself, stumbling backward. “Fuck! Goddamn fuckin’ bitch!”
The man holding me slipped a meaty arm around my neck and tightened his hold, cutting off my air but good this time. “Gave you a chance to go easy, girl. Now you’re gonna go the hard way.” Spots danced before my eyes and I continued to fight. I tried to yell out, but I could barely drag in a breath to keep myself conscious let alone scream. I knew someone from Bane had to be close by. I just had to hold out a few more minutes. Surely!
“She does that again, I’m gonna kill the bitch.” The first guy grabbed my feet, slipping a zip tie around my ankles. He sounded pained and his breath wheezed in and out of his lungs, but he got the job done.
“Just shut up and get her hands and get another tie for her feet. Someone’s coming.”
That made me fight all the harder. At least, I tried to. Not being able to breathe properly took more out of me than I thought. The next thing I knew they tossed me into the back of the van. The bigger guy managed to get a zip tie looped around my ankles and pulled securely. Then he slammed the door shut. When it took off, the tires peeled out on the asphalt. I was still taking in great gulps of air and the momentum slammed me back against the shut door. I groaned, doing my best to stay conscious. Beside me, the girl whimpered, occasional sobs coming from her.
“It’ll be OK,” I managed to get out. “Just stay as close to me as you can, and I’ll do my best to protect you.”
“I’m scared,” the girl whimpered.
“I know. But I promise I’ll do everything I can to get us both out of this. I won’t leave you.” I didn’t tell her we had help coming because the last thing I wanted was for her to slip up and say something. It would give away any advantage of surprise the guys from Bane had.
“What’s gonna happen to us?”
I shook my head. The combination of the guy choking me nearly to death and the lick I’d taken when I’d smashed the back of my head into that same guy’s chin was enough to make me dizzy. I had no idea how to answer that Goddamned question.
After a couple moments, I looked up at her terrified face. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Effie.” Her face was tearstained, and she looked like she had a sunburn, but otherwise didn’t appear to be hurt.
I nodded. “That short for something?” I wanted to distract her while I struggled to sit up. I needed to think if I wanted to figure out how to get us out of here in case Bane couldn’t find us right away. Wylde said Bane’s intel guy, Ripper, was good, but I’d really feel better if I had Wylde on this. And I’d never fucking tell him I fucking thought that because it would make him more of an insufferable bastard than he already was.
“Euphemia.” She said, wiping her nose on her wrist and grimacing like she thought the snot was disgusting. “It’s Greek. It means ‘well spoken.’ So Mom said I needed to read a lot so I could live up to my name.”
“Well, Euphemia is a mouthful, but I like Effie.”
She ducked her head. “It’s a freak name.”
“It’s a great name,” I snapped. “Don’t you let anyone tell you different. If I were you, I’d make everyone call me Euphemia just to fuck with ‘em.”
That got a small giggle out of the kid. She still looked scared, but she’d stopped crying at least. “My teachers at school can never say it.”
“Yeah. I bet first days are hell.”
“What’s your name?”
I lifted my chin and gave her a cocky grin. “Lemon.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
