Page 103 of Protect Me
Timothy toppled.
He dropped to his hands and knees with a high-pitched scream, then a wheezy sound. I scrambled to my hands and knees. When he canted my way, I delivered the hardest heel kick to his groin I could muster.
“I hope you rot in prison,” I growled.
He toppled to the ground.
I rushed into the trees. Bushes, branches, trees tore at my hands. In my bare feet, I raced over roots and logs. My heart slammed in my chest as I sprinted away. Every ten steps, I looked back.
No sign of Timothy.
Eventually, I stumbled onto a trail that looped all the way around Tempest Lake. How many minutes had passed? How soon until Vikram arrived? A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed Timothy still didn’t follow. Unlikely, after a kick to the groin that intense.
Tears streamed down my face from the spray while I ran. My chest burned. I wanted to throw up, but I pressed harder instead. The trail, the lake, the trees, sailed past me until I rounded a bend that took me to the top of the lake, where I first stepped off the trail that led to here. My car would be half a mile away.
A body skidded into view.
With a strangled cry, I waved my hand. “Vik!”
Vik whirled, saw me, and darted over. I closed the distance between us with a sob, throwing myself into his chest. He caught me, arms wrapped around me like cement blocks. Relief and terror filled his voice.
“Kate!”
A nonsensical blur of words streamed out of me as I tried to claw him closer. He whispered soothing sounds that I barely heard.
“Tim . . . lake . . . back there . . .”
Vik pulled away, put his hands on my cheeks, and forced me to look into his eyes. My fingertips began to tingle. The air felt thin and strained, my chest too heavy to pull in a breath in.
Darkness encroached from the edges.
“I’ve got you, lady. You’re safe.” He put a hand on my chest. The warm, reassuring weight made it real.
Vik was here.
“In,” he commanded.
A shuddering breath followed.
“Hold.”
I paused, my eyes holding his.
“Out.”
My chest began to loosen as I let it whoosh free, making way for a rush of warm air. The reprieve filled my lungs, whipped through my body. The lightheaded feeling began to fade. He pulled me back into him, firm around my back. I pressed my cheek to his chest.
When my breathing slowed, when the panicked, desperate gasps faded, Vik put his hands on my shoulders and studied me. Tears tracked down my face. My eyes stung, as if I’d stayed awake for too long.
Rage hardened his voice.
“Did he touch you?”
I shook my head and held out a trembling hand. Vik sniffed, glanced down the pepper spray in my shaking palm.
“I sprayed him,” I whispered, “but he still reached for me, so I kicked him in the throat.”
His eyes widened in a mixture of concern and delight.
