Page 65 of Hunted to Be Mine
I shifted gears and let him push me toward it. Every step looked like failure. It wasn’t.
“Your resistance is illogical,” he said, pressing in. “You cannot win.”
“Depends on how you score it.” I backed into position. “Sometimes not losing is the win.”
Cold metal touched my spine. Nowhere else to go. Good.
He came in to finish it. I waited. At the last second, I dropped and rolled, swinging the iron not at him but at a rusted support.
The shock screamed up my arms. For a breath, nothing happened. Then the structure groaned and came apart, tons of steel folding inward.
I threw myself clear as the press collapsed, burying Blackout from the waist down. The crash rolled across the yard.
When the dust and snow settled, he was pinned. Awake. Still a threat. But stuck.
I pushed to my feet. Everything hurt. My ribs were steady fire. But I was upright. And Selina was out. For now.
I approached, bar ready. His face didn’t change. His eyes still worked.
“You won’t kill me,” he said. Not a question.
“No.” I leaned in. “You’re like me. Used. And I need you breathing to find Dresner.”
“I am nothing like you.” Flat. “You are broken. I am whole.”
“We’re both broken. Just not the same way.”
I turned and limped for the fence. Selina waited on the far side, worry written across her face. She hadn’t gone far. Of course, she hadn’t.
“He’ll free himself,” she said as I reached her. “We need to go.”
“Yeah.” I glanced back. He was already testing metal, looking for any give. “We bought time.”
I climbed. Every move lit the ribs again. At the top, the barbed wire tore my sleeve and skin. Fresh blood. New sting. I dropped to the pavement beside her.
“You’re a mess,” she said, gentler now as she helped me up.
“Been worse.”
Her hands were cool on my face as she checked the cut above my eye. The care didn’t fit the last ten minutes. It still landed.
“That needs stitches,” she said.
“Later.” I caught her hand and held it to my cheek a beat longer than I should. “We move.”
A taxi rolled toward us, light on under the snow. I stepped out and waved it down. The driver took one look and hesitated. Cash fixed it.
“Hlavní nádraží,” I told him. Main station. From there, south. Croatia. To answers.
As we pulled away, I looked back at the dead yard. No movement yet. He’d get out. He was built for that.
Selina leaned into me, warm against the cold in my bones. I put an arm around her and drew her close.
“We’re still alive.” Quiet, her head on my shoulder.
“Yeah.” I pressed my mouth to her hair, found her under smoke and fear. “I plan to keep it that way.”
The taxi slid through snowy streets and into the night. Behind us, a hunter worked himself free. Ahead: risk, questions, and maybe a way through.
