was overturned and the metal hilt of the knife bit into my palm as I tried to steel myself for a fight.
“We know you’re here, red,” Duke snarled. “If you come out, I’ll go easy on you. Keep me waiting and you will be in for a world of pain.”
Fear slithered up my spine and tears burned my eyes as I tried to keep my thoughts clear.
I had to be ready if they found me.
“Come on, little bird,” Orville said and a floorboard creaked close by. “Come to me.”
I could almost feel his hands on me again, the way he’d brushed his fingers over the curve of my hips or the swell of my breasts. He’d always been a predator waiting to pounce and I needed him ripped apart like Quentin had been. I pictured him beneath me bloodied and screaming and the memory leant me the strength I craved.
I forced my eyes open, staring at the tiny sliver of light leaking in through the crack in the floorboards above me.
I won’t let them scare me.
Someone shoved the bed aside and my hand trembled against the knife as I clenched my teeth and awaited my fate. I’d be ready if I had to be. I would spill as much blood as possible.
Tension gripped my limbs as more light fell down on me and I worried the thundering beat of my heart was loud enough to be heard by these monsters.
A shadow blotted out the light and I froze, as still as flint and iron and steel. And I wanted to embody each of those things, to become a fearless entity which held firm in the face of anything.
A face appeared above me, pressing to the wood and one blue eye peered between the cracks, wheeling a flashlight down the gap. Orville saw me, and I saw him. He lifted his head long enough to smile in victory and I drew my legs to my chest with determination in my soul, kicking the hatch hard and forcing it up to smack him in the jaw. He reared backwards with a roar of pain and I leapt from my hiding place with a yell of defiance, my heart in my throat but my survival instincts taking over.
I slashed at Orville’s face, but he brought up his arm at the last second and the knife sliced through his coat and found skin beneath. He came at me with a snarl, catching hold of my oversized shirt and dragging me closer. But that was his mistake as he struggled to get hold of my hand which gripped the knife and I lunged for his heart with all the power of my fury behind me.
Strong hands closed around me, dragging me back before I could land the blow, my weapon slashing uselessly through the air.
I kicked and screamed, trying to reach back and gut my captor with the blade, but he caught my wrist and squeezed until I yelped and it clattered to the floor with a brutal finality. Farley’s scent of ash and death hung around me and I cringed as he clutched me tighter. No matter how hard I thrashed, I couldn’t get free. I was a wildcat in the arms of a titan, my claws and teeth useless against this beast.
Orville scrambled to his feet, pushing a hand into his greasy grey hair as he sneered down at me. “You’ll pay for that, whore.” He strode toward me and Farley held me still as Orville smacked me hard enough to bust my lip open. My head spun as my eyes focused on Duke across the room, his rifle cocked in a warning.
“You thought you could run from us, did ya, red?” he growled, his eyes darkening with a threat that terrified me. “And wield the mountain man against our people?” He tutted, pointing to the door. “Take her. I’m done playing nice. We’ll have the code outta her this very night. No more rules. No more protection.”
“No rules at all, boss?” Orville asked with the look of a salivating dog and my stomach churned with nausea as Farley hauled me across the room.
“None at all,” Duke confirmed darkly, giving me twisted smile as he smoothed down his moustache. “By sunrise, she either squeals like a pig or we gut her like one.”
I raced through the snow, following Tyson’s tracks and the howls he was making as I closed in on him, calling out to reassure him I was coming and hopefully frighten