Page 85 of The Fighter
Ignoring the rain dripping from my eyebrows, I raised my chin and squared my shoulders. “We’re not going anywhere. Leave us alone.”
The three men smirked and moved closer as Mr. Bushy Eyebrows looked me up and down and licked his lips. “If their protectors are reckless enough to leave them alone then they can’t want them very much, can they?”
I stepped back when he came too close.
His smirk grew. “Don’t be scared. Clearly, you need better protectors who would appreciate you. Sounds like you ladies got unlucky in the Couples Matching Program.”
A loud crack of thunder swallowed Laura’s first words, but she was stabbing her hand through the rain. “Do I sound like a Motlander to you? I was born and raised here.”
Ignoring her, the bald man held his gun over his shoulder and turned to his two friends. “I say we take them home.”
Laura and I moved closer.
“I agree. If other men are stupid enough to leave their homes unlocked, we shouldn’t be blamed for walking right in. It’s like an invitation, really.” The one with the nasal voice waved his gun, signaling for us to start walking.
“We’re women, not houses!” I hissed in frustration just as the man with the nasal voice hooked his fingers around my arm. The pain from his nails boring into my wrist as he jerked me toward him, and the shock of being touched without my permission, had me reacting by instinct. Spinning around to get out of his grip, I stamped on his toe and planted an elbow against his jaw before I tried to jerk his gun from him. It didn’t work and with a sharp push, the man shoved me to the muddy ground.
Looking up I saw Laura was being held back by Mr. Bushy Eyebrows, who had his bear gun in one hand and an arm around Laura’s neck. Her eyes were full of rage and she was panting from what I assumed had been an attempt to help me.
Seeing her manhandled like that made me snap. In a fast attack on the man who had pushed me down, I made his leg disappear underneath him and with a roar of surprise, he fell on his back. Laura had spun out of the grip of the blond guy holding her and this time we had both secured the two men’s weapons. Years of training had paid off and we were now standing back to back pointing the guns at the men.
With a growl of humiliation, the man on the ground lifted his hand from a puddle of water and shook it before he got up to attack me again. This time I was ready and sent him back to the wet ground with a hard kick to his chest. “Stay the fuck down.” I was pointing his own gun at him while Laura faced the other two men. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re defenseless.”
“What fuckery is this?” The bald man, who was still armed, fired a shot above our heads and Laura screamed at him to put his weapon down.
“They’re just women,” the bald man yelled at his friends. “What is wrong with you?”
Mr. Bushy Eyebrows growled and scowled at Laura, who had his gun. “She took me by surprise, that’s all.”
The bald man was swinging his aim from me to Laura and back again. “Who the fuck taught you women to fight like that? It’s unnatural.”
“I’m training to be a police officer,” I replied and kept the weapon in my hands aimed at the man on the ground. “Maybe I look different in real life too, but don’t tell me you haven’t heard about a woman police officer in training?”
Holding his gun in front of him, the bald man stepped between me and his friend on the ground and hissed, “Get up, Jake.”
The man with the nasal voice looked humiliated and angry when he pushed up from the ground just as the bald man answered my question.
“I’ve heard they let a woman into the academy, but I thought it was a joke.”
“Nope, it’s the real thing so please, if you feel the need to attack a woman – go ahead. It’ll give me someone to practice on.”
“Stop provoking them, Raven.”
The bald man growled low. “I’m not fighting with a woman.”
“You sure? Because we just learned how to break necks and I’m sure no one will miss any of you.”
“That’s enough, Raven.” Laura gave me a reproachful glance and faced the men. “You know what pisses me off about this situation? This past week I had a fight with Magni about going out without a guard. I told him to have trust in our fellow countrymen and that I believed ninety-eight percent of you would be protective of any woman you met. He said I was being naïve.”
The three men just stared at her as another burst of thunder rumbled.
“I’m tired of women having to rely on guards to get around in the Northlands. Every Nman has it in him to be a protector of women, and I don’t want my daughters growing up to be wary of men the way I did. So, what kind of men are you? Do you have a sense of honor and integrity or are you really cowards who attack women?”
“I’ve got honor and integrity,” my attacker defended himself.
“Shut up, Jake.” The bald man took a step closer to Laura and lowered his voice a little. “Of course we would protect you. That’s why we’re offering to get you out of this storm and into our home.”
Laura’s eyes fell to the gun he was still pointing at her before she tilted her head and gave him an are-you-serious look.
