Hour of the Dragon - Heather Killough-Walden Page 0,109

steel-toe kick that knocked the wind from her body and the gun from her hand.

The weapon hit the floor to go skidding into the concrete room several feet away, but she only half-noticed it. As she gasped for air and pain erupted like a bomb in her chest, the man who’d kicked her grabbed her by the hair at the back of her head and yanked her upright.

She still couldn’t breathe and hence couldn’t think, but she guessed fifty years of martial arts classes now and then followed up by a few years of rather intense warden training was meant to kick in when you were least capable of thinking, because that’s what it did.

She grabbed the man’s hand with both of hers and held it tight so he couldn’t pull away, and then she spun into him, bringing her leg up as if her knee were going to catch him in the mid-section. He raised his leg and simultaneously tried to sidestep this pretend attack, and she followed through with her real attack. His move had been reactionary, taking him off-balance, enough that all he needed was another nudge to go down. With his hand trapped under hers, she curled even further into him and then lunged to the side, forcing his hand to go far beyond his reach. He had no choice but to follow it – but Anna’s leg in front of his blocked his progress, and he went down. She was still holding his hand, which was by now attempting to yank her hair completely out of her scalp. But she followed him down hard and fast, making certain to put her entire falling weight in her elbow – which she aimed at his solar plexus.

She made her mark, his body went utterly slack, and his grip released her hair.

Unfortunately during this time, the woman who’d been masquerading as Lily Kane had grabbed Annaleia’s gun. When Anna stood back up again, it was to find the weapon pointed straight at her.

She thought fast, or tried to, and instead took a gamble. “You aren’t going to shoot me. If I was wanted dead or alive, I’d be dead already.” Then she turned and landed a spinning back kick to the already bloodied face of the man she’d head-butted earlier as he was again trying to come up behind her. Like an idiot.

“Oh sweetie, I’m not gonna kill you,” the woman purr-hissed. That was what it sounded like to Anna. A hissing purr. “But I’d be more than happy to shoot you in the leg. Looks like they’re all muscle, so it’s sure to hurt a bundle. Or I could do the shoulder. Or both.” She arched a brow. “So how about it? You want some new flesh wounds to worry about?” Then she smiled again, and this smile was pure evil. “At least the scars will be a different shape than what you’re used to. Change things up a little, what do you say?”

And by that time, mister hair-grabby guy was back on his booted feet and literally growling as he came for her. Anna’s eyes went wide as she had the wind knocked out of her yet again when the man lowered his head and rushed into her as if he were some sort of ‘roid raged linebacker and she’d just caught the football. His broad shoulder slammed into her abs, but rather than simply knock her down with the attack, he grabbed her legs at the same time and lifted her off the ground so she ended up thrown over his shoulder.

Anna gritted her teeth against the pain and almost rolled her eyes. This was all going to hurt later – if she survived – but now her body was warming up, the adrenaline was well and flowing, and the pain was all blending together into something numb at the edges.

And this move right here? Was one she’d practiced getting out of a hundred times.

“Son of a bitch, put her down Leeso! Just tie her to the fucking chair!”

Anna slid sideways as if she were a wide-necked sweater made of flesh that was slipping off his shoulder. He naturally went to adjust her, and she used his extra support in that position to jerk her knee up and slam it into the side of his head, catching his ear. The man roared in pain and dropped her.

What a baby, she thought, a little surprised. But with a small smile, she also thought, That’s perfect. The