Page 15 of Kai
Okay, all right. I was operational again.
I shook off the spins, lifted on my elbow, and grappled to unhook the carbine from my vest. After my brisk rappel and my hard landing, it had gotten tangled with the strap that fastened Cece’s laptop case to my vest.
Fuck the gods. I should’ve ditched the damn case, but Cece had been adamant, and I would’ve had to carry her out of the lighthouse kicking and screaming without her laptop in tow. My fingers engaged in a frantic effort. I unclasped the case and tried to untangle the strap from the weapon.
Too late.
The colossal beast of a merc that stalked around the tower came at us like a charging rhino. The black Stetson gave him away as the crew leader I’d spotted inside the lighthouse. My body forgot the pain. As I shed the case with my carbine still entangled with it, the son of a bitch came to a sudden stop on the rocks at the opposite side of the ledge.
He stood a good distance away, and yet death glowered at me through a pair of protruding eyes. The cruel grin that twisted the merc’s face said it all. A second stretched out as he braced on his feet, lifted his AK-47 to his cheek, and peered through his scope.
My survival instincts kicked in. I rolled one way, then theother, avoiding the automatic rounds that pinged all around me. Challenging my bad odds, I grappled for the handgun strapped to my hip.
Even as I scrambled to avoid his rounds, movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention. A shadow materialized out of a crevasse. A flash of black raced over the rocks behind the merc. I recognized Cece’s figure as she launched toward the man.
My guts froze.
What the hell was she doing?
Dying.The reckless woman was about to die inmystead.
Chapter Six
Kai
The seconds turned into centuries as the fog parted and allowed the moonlight to show me the impossible details. Cece didn’t hesitate, and the brute never saw her coming. She attacked from behind, threw her arms around the burly merc, and, cinching his hips and pressing her front to his back, locked her arms over his middle, trapping his right elbow.
“What the fuck?” The merc twisted one way and the other, trying to break her hold.
I was already up and running as Cece clasped her hands and secured her clutch with the tight grip of an impressive gable hold. Hoofing it across the distance, leaping from one volcanic rock to the next, I unclipped my ruck and let it drop just as the merc got yet another burst of fire out of his carbine.
I hit the dirt. His rounds pinged against the lighthouse, missing my head by less than an inch and sending shards all over. The onslaught stopped when Cece completed her maneuver and locked down his shooting arm. She yanked at the fucker’s elbow. The carbine fell out of his hands.
By then, I had my Glock in my grip. And yet, from where I stood, I couldn’t shoot. The smoke puffing out of the lighthouse obscured my target, and Cece was in the mix, tangled with the merc. He fought to get out of her hold. Horror lifted my hackles. Unless I got to her right now, she was gonna die right before my eyes.
Not gonna happen.
Racing from one side of the cliff to the other, I sprinted toward the fight, dodging blowholes as I went. Pumpingmy hands and legs, I increased my speed, negotiating the treacherous terrain, crossing over the rocky ledge as fast as I could manage.
As I came to the end of the ledge, the breeze shifted, clearing some of the smoke and fog ahead. The merc was at least three heads taller than Cece and over two hundred pounds heavier, but this didn’t deter Sorceress from her suicidal course of action.
She braced on staggered feet, pulled back and to the side, and used gravity to her advantage to rob the brute of his balance. Putting her weight on her back foot, she swept her other foot behind the merc’s heel and tripped him.
Shetrippedhim!
Admiration and disbelief fought it out in my roiling stomach as my racing heart attempted to jump out of my throat. In a fight that was anything but fair, the woman slammed down her opponent as if he wasn’t a killing machine.
It was a masterful takedown, and the merc landed face down on the ground. Keeping her hold, Cece threw her weight on his back and kneed him in the liver. The human tank beneath her grunted and tried to roll to his side.
She was fiercer than a lioness and fast as the devil, but if he managed the roll, he could pin her to the ground and squash her to death. She proved me wrong, tightening her chokehold and digging her knee into his back. Despite his superior strength, she kept him down using her excellent technique.
My heart remained wedged in my gullet, but I kept going.
I had just crossed the ledge when a second merc showed up. He raised his weapon and aimed at Cece’s back. Even as I sprinted, I lifted my gun. I landed a round on his forehead before he could pull the trigger. I registered the bloody mist as the man released his weapon and dropped.
One down. One to go.
The merc fighting Cece attempted another roll. I spotted his hand grappling for the knife sheathed around his calf. A last burst of speed brought me into range.
