Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“You guys are forgetting that she’s got one more perfectly good hole,” Duke said, grinning wickedly. “Too bad for you, it’s all mine.”
Their argument dragged on.
I scanned the ground for a rock that looked like it could crush bone and spotted a long branch sticking out of the firepit. The branch appeared fresher than the rest of the firewood, less dried out, which explained why it hadn’t burned very well, but for the glowing end half-buried in embers.
A plan unfolded in my mind as I stared at the branch. A rock would deal more damage, but to use it, I would have to get much closer to the knife in Duke’s hand. The fact that the branch was still smoldering gave it a leg up on most other options. It didn’t have to knock him out to be effective.
Then a miracle happened. Martin left to take a piss. I took it as a sign from above.
Slowly, I knelt as if I intended to sit back down, closing my fingers around the unburnt end of the branch. I raised it slightly, testing the weight—heavy enough—and waited to see if it would snap in half. When it didn’t, I gently freed it from the coals. I made sure no one was looking at me as I stood back up.
My pulse kicked like a horse and continued to gallop. I looked at Willow and mouthed the word run.
I swung the branch at Duke’s head.
He must have noticed movement in his peripheral vision because he turned to look at me just before the branch made contact. The glowing red end smashed into his temple, knocking him down. The smell of burning hair filled the air as the other two men shouted in surprise. I was already reaching for the gun tucked into the back of Duke’s pants. The second after I grabbed hold of the grip, I was tackled to the ground by Ox.
I landed hard, barely keeping the gun in my grasp. I didn’t get a chance to recover before I was punched in the kidney by the huge asshole who had already beaten me once.
“She’s running!” Martin yelled as he jogged back toward the firepit, struggling to zip up his fly.
“Help Ox,” Zeb shouted. “I’ll get her.”
Fear for Willow almost made me panic, but I tamped it down. Her survival depended on my ability to distract as many of them as I could for as long as I could. I managed to roll away from Ox as he tried to land another blow. My lower back screamed in pain. I scrambled to my feet, taking note of Ox’s position on the ground and Martin flanking me.
I didn’t see Zeb anywhere, so I could only assume he’d left to chase after Willow. I reminded myself that she was fast and smart, then focused on the two men who still posed a threat to me. If I died right now, there would be no one to go after Zeb.
With no time to strategize, I made a split-second decision based on who was the bigger threat. I pointed the gun at Ox and fired twice, just as he was getting to his feet.
The big guy’s mouth fell open in shock as he was knocked backward by the force of the bullets. He touched his chest and then looked at his hands, now coated in blood. A second later, his eyes rolled back in his head and he followed them, all the way to the ground.
“You fucking killed him,” Martin said, his jaw hanging in disbelief.
I stared at Ox’s limp body. For some reason, looking at him made me think about the hunting trips I’d taken with my father when I was a boy. This wasn’t my first kill, but it was the first time I had shot a man. I couldn’t help thinking that his death felt more justified than all the ones that came before it.
Martin lunged at me. I didn’t have time to aim the gun at him before he was already knocking it out of my hand. I lost track of the weapon in the dim light of the dying fire. Martin tried to throw a punch, but he wasn’t nearly as fast or as strong as Ox, so I was able to dodge easily. I was still naked, which made me vulnerable, but I was also beyond furious. That fury gave me the strength I needed to knock Martin’s ass to the ground. He landed on his back.
“Come on, man. We were just messing around.”
“Is that what you call it? When you and your friends put your hands on my daughter, when you forced her to suck my cock, forced me to fuck my own kid?”
I drove the heel of my foot between his legs, stomping on his balls. He wailed like a bugling bull elk, curling into a fetal position. I punched him hard in the side and then the back, once, twice. Hurting him filled me with grim satisfaction, though it barely scratched the surface of what he deserved. I cast my gaze over the ground, in search of the gun.