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“You’ll what, pretty boy?” Badger huffed, tapping his gun against my head, his mouth close to my ear. “You know your boyfriend here was fucking a male whore, high on fairy dust earlier.”
“Yeah? So?” I shrugged with indifference; the need to show how little I feared them had words rolling off my tongue without much thought. “Sometimes I watch. Sometimes he does.” I smirked at the man. “But most of the time, I join in with him and our plaything. I enjoy being in the middle.”
The two men chuckled darkly, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ash’s reaction, felt his surprise spike from him, not ready for my response.
Ihadn’t been ready for my response.
“Oooohhh… not so innocent, then. Looks like you already molded her to what you want.” Badger grinned. “I think Madame might have a place for both of you. You’d make a great addition to her menagerie.”
Ash jerked out of his stupor. A low rumble emanated from his chest, a dark cloud sliding over him, turning him from beauty to beast. Clouds before a torrential storm.
A branch snapped off overhead, dropping near us, turning the men’s heads and distracting their attention for a moment. It was enough, and I didn’t even need to look at Ash to know what he wanted.
My hand knocked into Badger’s wrist with a burst of energy. The gun popped out of his hold, sailing across the pavement onto the road as my boot snapped into his gut, bending him over. Twisting, I knocked into Boar’s arm, the gun firing up in the air instead of at Ash. His gaze darted to me in appreciation before we both jumped back in.
Ash and I moved in a strange dance, somehow keeping an eye on each other while fighting our enemy. Kicking, spinning, punching, we dropped and moved similarly to the fight on the train. Except these guys were trained. Very well. Their shifter animals were deadly opponents.
Feeling the threat of their attacks, my muscles itched, needing to act, to protect. A noise vibrated in my throat, and I plowed into Badger, knocking him back on his ass. A fist slammed into my cheek and again into my ribs. Feeling a crack, the force tossed me to the ground. I froze for a moment, pain almost numbing me, but in the distance, I heard a train whistle its departure.
The train to Romania.
A screechy animal noise came from Badger as he launched for me with teeth and claws. Kicking up, I rammed my heel into his crotch, buckling him over with a yowl. Flipping over, I scrambled for the gun left on the ground. My nails pushed me toward it, my ribs throbbing as my arm reached out, my fingers brushing the handle.
A hand wrapped around my ankle, yanking me back over the gravel, burning the side of my face.
Noooo!
I was trained to fight. Trained to fight dirty. But I was still much smaller and weaponless. Even worse, with the bracelet, I was magicless.
“Curva.”Whore/bitch. Badger seethed over me, his fingers wrapping through my hair, gripping it and yanking me up, pain shooting through my nerves. “I’m gonna enjoy watching you become a slaved whore.” He got right in my face. “Or maybe I’ll slit your pretty throat here.” He yanked a knife from his holster, the blade pressing into my neck.
“Nooo!” Tree limbs rained down on us with force, hitting with a loudthunk, somehow missing me. A howl of pain rang out, and the knife at my throat disappeared. Sweeping my gaze behind me, I saw Badger’s unconscious body on the ground, a huge branch over his body. He groaned, starting to wake up.
My attention went to Ash, Boar sprawled on the ground at his feet.
“Come on!” Ash rushed to me, his fingers circling mine, yanking me with him. I stopped, Ash’s head snapping back to me as I swiped up Badger’s disregarded gun, digging into Boar’s jacket and taking the money before the pig-shifter could stop me.
“Hey!” Boar yelled, rising to his feet and waking up his partner.
Biting down on my lip, my hand holding my ribs, we ran for the train station.
Bang! Bang!
Ducking behind a bush as Boar and Badger came shooting at us. A whine of metal screeched in my ear—the train pulling away from the platform.
“Hurry!” Panic gripped my body. The desperation to be on that train, to escape, had me darting for it. If we missed it, we were fucked. These guys knew this town, owned it, and we would not be making it out alive.
Ash’s voice bellowed behind me, but I didn’t stop, my little legs pumping, my sights locked on the last car, picking up speed, sensing him catching up behind me.
POPPOPPOP!A haze of bullets zinged past us, one so close I felt the heat lick at my cheek.
The train hooted, making me go faster, my legs burning, my ribs screaming in protest as I tried to keep up.
“Grab on!” Ash’s hand went to my ass, lifting me with a boost, flinging my body up. My bones hit the top of the step, exploding pain over me as I rolled onto the platform. Lifting my head, my gaze caught the tracks coming up, thick brush before it dropped off into a river.
“Ash!” I belted in fear. Every second, we got closer. “Now!”
Ash leaped for the step, my hands grabbing onto his arms, helping to pull him up. He crashed down next to me right as the train went over the bridge, swooshing by the low rocky river below.
