Page 86 of Deathless
She doubled over, clutching the front of her face, and like a dumbass, turned her back on me. It gave me just enough time to pull a switchblade from my boot, the last weapon in my arsenal. What I would give to be Devin right then, with hidden knives strapped all over my body.
Ha. I’ll have to tell him that, if I see him again.
I held my knife out, staring at the woman’s bent over back. Fuck, I could stab her so easily. Get her in the kidneys, her spinal cord, if only I could walk a few feet straight ahead without falling over. Throwing the knife was another option, but that wasn’t what it was meant for. Plus, that wasn’t my strongest skill set. I could miss, or just nick her, which would be a waste.
Another thing to learn from Devin, if I ever made it out of here.
The woman started turning back to me, and I opted to hide the knife up my sleeve. I needed her up close to use it, needed her thinking I was weaker than I actually was.
A genuine bolt of fear struck when she went for my gun that she’d tossed aside. To my dismay, she released the magazine to check the remaining ammo before slamming it back inside. She even pulled back the slide to make sure a bullet was in the chamber. This bitch knew what she was doing.
“Wait, wait.” I held up my good hand, feeling the knife handle slide down toward my armpit. It wasn’t too hard to sound desperate. “Let’s just talk, woman to woman. I get it, okay? Men are terrible. They’re entitled, stupid, and can’t even wash their ass correctly.”
“Too late for any of that.” She trained the gun on me, eyes alight with hatred above her swelling nose bridge. “We have no use for you now. Any of you. You may have decimated our numbers but wewillrebuild. The Dark Mother will regain consciousness through our devotion, and she will find another vessel, a better one. One that doesn’t—FUCK!”
The handful of dirt I flung in her face bought me precious little time. I screamed through clenched teeth as I dragged my whole body forward, caught my knife handle in my palm, and shoved the blade into her stomach, twisting and pressing as far as it would go. She dropped the gun in her shock and I kicked it away. I saw the punch coming but didn’t expect it to land so hard. My jaw lit up, as did my vision. Dots and lights sparkled like it was Christmas.
The world faded in and out, darkening and lightening up with detail like a TV screen being switched on and off. The woman was on top of me, drawing her bloody fist back again andagain. I tried to hit back but couldn’t tell if I landed anything. I just felt so heavy and tired.
Don’t you dare. You’re almost at the end, don’t you dare stop fighting now.The voice came from within my own head, but those weren’t my thoughts.
Astarte? I thought you died.
I’m a deity that has been self-aware since the Bronze Age. I can’t die, genius. And today, neither will you.
Even then, I wanted to laugh. But my mouth wasn’t working right. And it was full of something.
Turn your head. Spit out all that blood before you choke on it. There you go, little human. Now stay alive a little longer.
Easy for you to say,I thought.
Do not give in, Aurora.
You almost sound worried about me. I’m touched.
Think of your men. Your family. They will all need you for years to come.
Much like with the Dark Mother, it felt like fighting against an impossible current. A tidal wave against a grain of sand. I was being pulled under, and this time, I truly didn’t have any strength left to fight it.
I’m so tired, though...I’ve been fighting...so much...
Aurora!
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RORI
The weight on top of me had to be the woman. She’d succumbed to her injuries and somehow, I was still alive.
I shoved at her, forgetting that my right shoulder had been shot until a deep, throbbing pain pulsed all the way up my arm into my skull.
“Hey, hey, easy,” a familiar voice said above my head while a soothing hand pressed down on my good shoulder. “You’re safe, cuz. Come back slowly. That’s just Tezca on you. He’s been healing you.”
“Val?” I croaked, my brain coming online slowly.
“None other. Here, have some water.”
She pushed a straw between my cracked lips, which I sucked on greedily until she took it away.
