Page 20 of Amaros
“I’m fine,” she said, looking around for more threats.“What happened to the guy who was chasing you?”
“I hid behind a tree, then smashed a branch over his head,” the kid said with vindictive glee.“He’ll be lucky if he can remember his own name when he eventually wakes up.”
“He’s not going to wake up,” Amaros said in a low, menacing tone.“These animals don’t deserve to live.”
More men were cowering behind the blockade they’d created.One took a potshot at them, enraging the knight again.Amaros roared and raced towards them, moving too fast for human eyes to track.He kept the girls in sight as he rapidly disarmed the bandits before snapping their necks.It was a fast, clean way to kill and it showed more mercy than they’d deserved.
Finished with the small mob, he found the guy Grace had knocked out and broke his neck as well.Their bodies would serve as a warning to any others like them who thought they could be modern day pirates.
“My car is totaled,” Zoe said mournfully once the shouts of fear had subsided.
Amaros was glad neither of the females had protested about his actions.These men would only become worse over time.Countless victims would fall to their predatory ways.His main objective might be to kill his enemies, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t take down other threats that delayed him.
“It can probably still drive,” Grace figured as they examined the sedan.“We just need to get it back on its tires and cover the broken window.”
Amaros scanned the girls for injuries.Grace seemed fine and he couldn’t sense she was in pain.Zoe was a different matter.He saw blood on her temple and reached out to shift her dark hair aside.
“I’m okay,” she assured him.“I’ve always been a quick healer.”
The gash in her forehead was already closing, proving she wasn’t fully human.“Do you have a concussion?”he asked.
“Nah, my vision isn’t wonky and my head is clear,” she replied.
“How many fingers am I holding up?”Grace asked, extending both middle fingers.
“Two,” Zoe said in amusement and they both snickered.
The knight’s gaze went to the shoeprint on her jacket and his face darkened.Just the thought of those filthy mongrels touching her made him want to kill them all over again.
“Down, boy,” Gracelyn said jokingly.“Zoe is fine.You can relax now.”
Realizing they could sense his rage, Amaros clamped down on his emotions.He was overly protective of Zoe, which meant their bond was getting harder to ignore.
“I’m fine, too, by the way,” the teen said wryly.“I can tell how deeply concerned you are about me.It’s really touching.”
“Of course I’m concerned about your welfare,” he said.“You’re both beneath my protection.”
“It almost sounded like he cared for a second there,” Grace said with an eyeroll.
“Do you think we can lift the car out of the ditch?”Zoe asked, ignoring the rising tension.He was impressed that neither of them had fallen to pieces during the attack.They were more resilient than he’d expected.
“We should be able to,” he replied.“We’ll have to lift it from the other side to get it back on its tires.”Rounding to the far side of the sedan, they grabbed hold of the vehicle.“On three,” Amaros said.They waited for him to count down, then heaved the car out of the ditch.It was battered and now sported a broken window, but the engine worked when Zoe climbed in and started it up.
“There’s food everywhere,” Grace complained when she opened the back door.They spent a few minutes gathering their supplies, then used a t-shirt to block the wind from coming through the window.
Too awake to try going back to sleep, Amaros kept watch as Zoe resumed their journey.Her eyes were sharp and alert each time they approached a bend.They were very close to the mountains now.The temperature had dropped enough for her to turn the heater on.
“Where are we?”he asked quietly as dawn finally broke.
“We’re at the base of the Adirondack Mountains,” Zoe replied.She pointed at the range looming directly ahead.“My instincts are leading us up there.”
“We should stop in the next town and find more suitable transportation,” he suggested.
Zoe let out a small sigh.“I guess my little car won’t cope well in steep, snowy mountain terrain when winter arrives.”
They came to the next town a couple of hours later.Grace sat up, yawning and stretching.“I’m starving,” she complained.“I’d kill for some coffee.”
“It looks like you’ll have to make it yourself,” Zoe said.She was driving slowly and peering at the closed stores that lined the main street.“There’s no one in any of the cafés.”
