Page 70 of Fighting for Lucy

After several minutes his body had received too many hits to keep fighting, chained up as he was. If he’d been able to get his hands on a weapon this would be a different story, but Zimraan’s men were at least trained well enough to know to never give up your weapon no matter what. They had maintained firm grips on them while hitting and kicking him.

Too bad, because if he had gotten one, this would all be over.

He’d kill every last one of them, blow off his own foot if it was the only way to get free and get Lucy out of there.

But now a particularly vicious hit to his head had him loosening his hold on Zimraan and sinking down onto the dirt.

As soon as he was free, the young man, not really more than a boy, scrambled away, rubbing at the red marks on his neck.

Satisfaction gave Zander back a little of his strength.

While he might be outnumbered, he had proven to Zimraan and his men that even chained up he was a legitimate threat.

“You will not win, Zander Madden,” Zimraan said as he shoved to his feet, swaying a little as he did so. “Just like you watched my brother kill your men, you will now watch me kill your woman. I love the sounds of a woman’s screams, don’t you? So pretty and melodic. Like a bird caught in a trap. I once caught a bird, ripped out every one of its feathers, then peeled off itsskin until its little heart gave out and it died. I was six at the time and my skills have since vastly improved.”

The psychopathic terrorist nodded at a few of his men who stalked across the courtyard to where Lucy was sitting.

To her credit, she didn't cower before them, instead, she stuck her chin out and looked up at them with contempt. The men sneered at her, and as they grabbed her and dragged her to her feet, they made sure to make their grips crushing if the brief flash of pain on her face was anything to go by.

Marching her over to where Zimraan was carefully remaining outside the circle of Zander’s reach, Lucy’s gaze darted to his, and for a moment, it shone with every emotion she felt for him before hardening as she looked up at the man who held their fates in the palm of his hand.

Zimraan gave him a wicked smile before turning his attention to Lucy. “You are a beautiful woman, yes?” he asked as he trailed a fingertip down Lucy’s cheek and then across her bottom lip.

Zander knew what she was going to do a split second before she did it.

Even if there was time for him to tell her not to do it, he wasn’t sure if he would.

Because they both knew they weren't walking out of here alive.

They would be tortured and then when Zimraan got bored and felt like he had avenged his brother’s death sufficiently, they would be killed.

If his woman wanted to get in a little payback of her own, who was he to stop her?

Lucy’s mouth opened, and her straight white teeth clamped down on the finger on her lip before Zimraan even knew what was happening.

The man’s howl of pain was like music to both of their ears, and even as the terrorist jerked backward, grabbing her broken arm and twisting it up behind her back, Lucy gave a triumphant smile.

It felt good to be able to fight back even if you weren't going to be able to get yourself out of the situation. And Zander was glad there was still fight left in his woman because he was still going to take advantage of any opportunity that might prevent itself.

“I see you need to be taught your place,woman,” Zimraan sneered. Then he looked to his men. “Take her to the table, I'm ready to get started.”

Four men grabbed Lucy, pulling her over to the table as she fought against them. While her moves showed that she had been trained well in self-defense, unfortunately, you could do nothing when you were outnumbered. And Lucy was a woman, smaller and physically weaker by design, injured as she was she didn't stand a chance, but he was proud as hell that she fought with everything she had and landed several good strikes before the men had her lying flat on her back on the table with her wrists and ankles chained in place.

Wandering over to the table, Zimraan picked up a knife and held it with the point pressed to the tip of his finger. He must have pressed hard enough to break the skin because a small drop of blood was visible.

“I do like my women subservient, but there is something special about it when they scream, isn’t there?” Zimraan asked, his tone conversational like they were discussing something as mundane as the weather. “I also like them covered in blood. There is something about the color of blood that I have always found soothing.”

The young man was a pure psychopath, there was no other way to describe him. While Zafir had certainly enjoyed inflictingpain on others, there had been something more controlled about him. He was motivated more by the idea of money and power, whereas his younger brother seemed to be more led by his need to hurt other people.

It made Zimraan that much more dangerous.

A bloodthirsty person would go to great lengths to satisfy that craving, and Zander was already able to see how this was all going to play out.

“Blood is a curious thing, is it not?” Zimraan asked as he took the knife and used it to slice Lucy’s sweater open from the bottom hem right up to the band around the neck. The young man peeled the material back exposing the creamy white skin of her stomach and chest. Thankfully, the bra she was wearing covered her breasts so she wasn’t bared to these sick, twisted men, but it seemed like Zimraan wasn’t interested in anything but his craving for blood.

Moving the knife, he pressed the tip to the base of her neck, and much like he’d done when he cut her sweater open, he dragged the tip down, following the same path, until it stopped just below her navel. Blood immediately began to bubble out of the wound, visible even to him from where he was sitting a good ten feet away.

Other than sucking in a breath as Zimraan had trailed the knife through her skin, Lucy hadn't made a sound or moved at all. The wound wasn’t deep, probably wouldn’t even leave a scar, or at least not much of one, but it still had to hurt, especially with the cold wind blowing against it.

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