Surviving Seduction (36 page)

Selena’s three attackers reached Jack, and he slashed out savagely, halting their advance.

Gina stood apart, looking just as confused as Selena as she swung her sling around, waiting for an opportunity to land a shot in the chaos. Shane stood near her with his knives, but faced the same dilemma. Too many bodies were moving too quickly.

Her stomach clenched with terror when she realized that Victor didn’t suffer the same hesitation. As the fray briefly parted, she saw that he too stood apart from the others, and held a sleek throwing knife. His face contorted in an ugly expression and he whipped it at Dan with lightning speed. In the same moment, Gary and Roark came at Dan from either side.

Events that had seemed too fast before now felt torturously sluggish, as if some supernatural force demanded that she experience the hel around her to its ful est.

Her heart stopped as she watched the blade spin in the air, aimed straight for Dan’s back. With grating slowness, his body leaned to the side as he threw a high kick into Roark’s chest and slashed at Gary in the same moment. The knife flew past him, missing his side by a hair.

Much too late, Selena realized it was going to take her in the chest instead.

She sucked in a breath and knew she could not move quickly enough to save herself, but she tried.

Another blade was thrust out before her eyes, and while the hand that held it seemed dreamily slow, she knew that it was moving much faster than she herself was capable. She watched, mystified, as it made its way into the path of the knife that spun toward her in the air.

Sparks flew, and the jarring sound of metal col iding against metal resounded painful y in her ears before her arm was stunned with a violent impact.

She forgot about herself as Jack’s tal form wedged between her and danger at the last moment, and he continued to fend off her attackers alone. His hand now dripped blood, and he flashed out with his knives to gore a man’s arm just as quickly as he’d deflected the lethal missile that would have kil ed her.

A feeling of helplessness made Selena feel far away from her body. She stared around him with terror for Dan, whose wide eyes were fixed back on her, a mirror of her consternation. In a fraction of a second, Gary and Roark launched themselves at him again.

In the corner of her eye, she saw that Bear had tangled with the largest of their enemies, and both of them moved faster than she would have believed possible. Bear seemed to realize that he and Cal were being pressed away from Dan, and he surged back toward the fight ferociously.

With Cal and Bear in check, the last of the men was free to engage Dan and came in fast.

For some reason, in that moment of impenetrable chaos, things became clear in Selena’s mind. Josie’s men were more loyal to Roark than to her. By sending three men at Selena, they had ensured that Dan would be less concerned with watching his own back than trying to protect her. They were right. Her attackers were just a distraction, and it was working.

Victor raised his arm to let fly another knife, and Dan was defending himself against three men at once. His gaze kept darting to her and she wanted to scream at him to focus on the men that surrounded him, but she couldn’t find the words. She swung her sling, ready to let fly the moment she had a clear shot. Only then did she notice the blood dripping down her other arm, and a searing pain fol owed.

She ignored it, and backed up for a clear shot at Dan’s attackers. She hardly noticed when the two men began to circle past Jack as he tangled in a deadlock with the third.

They were al obstacles that stood between her and Dan, and she moved further from Jack so she could get a clear shot and kil Victor once and for al .

“Selena, no!” Dan bel owed, twisting to avoid another wel -executed stab Gary had made for his kidney.

She and Victor both launched at once, and she saw that her vol ey would only graze him, while his knife flew true once again.

One of the men had successful y managed to skirt around Jack, but al she could see was Victor’s knife as it came at Dan again with deadly accuracy. Final y, she realized how insidious their enemy’s strategy was. Each knife that Dan dodged would come at Selena next.

She darted to the side while Dan spun, slashing at Roark’s chest with one hand and making to block the knife Roark’s chest with one hand and making to block the knife with the other as he stepped back to avoid it. He barely intercepted the knife, just as Jack had, but he was dangerously close to Gary, whose abilities as a fighter became terribly apparent when his blade sung through the air toward Dan’s neck. It flashed through empty space an inch from his throat, missing its mark as he bent backwards.

Selena marveled at his impossibly fast reflexes, and watching him dance between the chaotic blades of al three men while orchestrating his own retaliatory attacks, it was clear he knew what they were going to do before they did it.

He had figured out Victor’s strategy long before Selena, and now she understood that he had only dodged the knives once she’d moved out of their path, waiting until the absolute last moment when she was out of harm’s way.

Victor drew yet another knife. How many did he have?

The man that managed to get past Jack was upon her, and she whipped out her dagger, only to see Ben jump in front of her. Selena gasped as the man slashed at him with one hand and reached out to grab him with the other.

Ben avoided the blade with impressive agility, but the man continued his attack without any hint of fear that Ben could hurt him. In just moments, he slammed the butt of his dagger against the back of Ben’s head with an amused sneer, and her friend fel to the ground unconscious.

Selena screamed with rage and hurled herself at her attacker, holding her bleeding arm in front of her to take any blow that he might land, and keeping her blade hand low behind her, far from his reach. She darted in, thrusting out with the knife savagely, determined to kil him, or gore him at least. He stumbled back in surprise at her ferocity, dodging her first two vicious stabs. One of Gina’s missiles hissed past his head, missing by just an inch. In the corner of her eye, she saw Shane let his knife fly at Victor, who sidestepped it, but was at least distracted for a few seconds.

Jack had untangled himself from his foe but was dodging a flurry of attacks from both assailants. He glanced back at Selena with frustration, unable to disengage to help her.

The moment he looked away, one of the men thrust his knife straight for Jack’s chest. Selena held her breath as the blade shot toward him.

Jack spun with surprising efficiency and landed a slash across the man’s chest. He howled in pain.

Selena’s fear had drawn her focus away for one critical second, and that was al her attacker needed. He darted in and grasped her hand. She slashed out with her blade, but he yanked her around and got behind her, wrenching her knife away. She tore her arm from his grasp as her weapon fel , and twisted to swing a fist at his throat with a scream of rage.

Her blow landed hard and he almost let go as he coughed and sputtered, but he recovered quickly and jerked her against him, turning her roughly to face Dan again.

Selena’s eyes widened with fear as he positioned her in line again. She struggled against him with al her strength, but he was too powerful.

Victor was getting ready to throw again, and now she couldn’t get away.

Dan hadn’t missed a moment, and flung a knife at Gary, then reaching out with dizzying speed to catch hold of his third attacker. Gary darted away, but the knife sunk into his upper arm. He retaliated instantly, but Dan used the man he held as a shield, twisting his arm and forcing him to drop his weapon. At the same time, he turned to land a slash on Roark’s shoulder.

Victor threw his knife.

As it sped toward him, Dan hauled his human shield in its path, and it sank into the man’s chest. Selena couldn’t see where it landed, but heard a gurgling cry.

Gary took advantage of the distraction and darted in from behind, stabbing at Dan’s back again, forcing him to drop the man.

He dodged Gary’s attack, sinking quickly to land a low, sweeping kick that nearly brought him to the ground, and caused him to stumble back awkwardly.

Another scream tore from Selena as Roark rushed in with twin daggers gleaming. She could conjure no escape for him now, and watched, paralyzed with fear, while Dan swung both knives in a wide arc over his head as he rose.

Roark balked before throwing himself in with reckless frustration. Selena blinked and his arm bled crimson. He growled furiously, coming at Dan again. Gary had recovered and was stalking in careful y, Dan’s dagger stil embedded in his arm.

Another of Gina’s missiles hurled through the air, and there was a hard crack as it met the skul of one of Jack’s assailants. The man fel dead in an instant. By now, Cal was on the ground in a tangle with his enemy, and seemed to be choking him from behind. Shane was poised to throw his second hunting knife at Victor, but the man was waiting for it.

Dan maneuvered out of line with Selena, but Victor shook his head and took aim at her, glancing warily at Shane.

“Oh God,” Selena whispered. He was forcing Dan to intercept his blade, and she prayed someone would stop him.

Shane and Gina hurled their weapons in desperation, anticipating what was about to happen. With a furious roar, Bear tried to rush past the man he fought in an attempt to reach Victor, leaving himself completely vulnerable.

“No!” Selena whispered as his opponent stabbed him in the side, caught hold of his belt, and thrust in with his knife again. Bear spun to avoid the second jab, but had to engage him again.

Gina’s stone smacked into Victor’s shoulder and Shane’s blade grazed his back. The missiles stunned him for a moment, but it was not enough. He took aim.

Dan positioned himself between her and Victor’s last savage throw. Gary and Roark slashed fiercely at him from either side, ensuring that he could not use his knife to block the attack again.

Selena couldn’t hear, and couldn’t see anything but him. She struggled wildly, deaf to her own screams of horror as it flew toward him and he made no move to dodge it.

Dan was going to take the hit.

His haunting words echoed in her mind.
I would die
for you, Selena.

A loud bang sounded behind her and the man who held her let go, fal ing against her before tumbling down, but it was too late.

Victor’s knife sank into Dan with a thud.

Eighteen

Amidst the chaos, the men paused to look, knives and fists stil at the ready. Even Gary and Roark halted their attacks to stare grimly.

Cal rose from his beaten foe, his look of triumph replaced by shock as he stared at Dan.

“God help him,” Blaire whispered. She’d knocked Selena’s captor unconscious.

Selena couldn’t see where the blade had landed. Dan was facing Victor, with his back to her.

Half blind with tears, she tried to run to him, but was pul ed back by a pair of strong arms. For a moment, she thought her enemy had risen again.

“Don’t,” Blaire warned, holding her back.

Selena fought her. She had to reach him, but Blaire was so strong, so stubborn. She couldn’t wrench free.

With tears distorting her vision, she could vaguely see Dan as he ripped the dagger out.

He hurled it at Victor with al his strength. The blade sank into flesh again, but this time, its streamlined shape passed through his target entirely. Selena saw the silver disappear into Victor’s inner thigh, and sink into the ground behind him. He fel , yel ing in agony.

Dan was on Gary before anyone could blink. One slash and his throat was open, and Dan unceremoniously yanked his other dagger free from the dying man’s arm.

Josie broke away from Bil , and flew to Roark just as Dan rounded on him, advancing like a machine.

“No! Don’t kil him! Stop!” Josie screamed.

“Get out of the way, Josie.”

“Don’t kil him!” Bil yel ed, running to join her.

“Cal them off,” Selena sobbed at Roark.

He blinked in surprise, glancing around to see who was left. One had paused his fight with Jack, and the other had halted his attack on Bear, but it was a dangerous stalemate that could end terribly at any moment.

“Back off,” he instructed with a mixture of exhaustion and defeat. The men careful y disengaged, realizing they had lost the fight.

“You’re on your own, Roark,” one of them said.

“We’re done. We’re getting the hel out of here.”

In the silence fol owing the maelstrom, Selena’s own heartbeat was deafening, and her chest heaved as the two men backed away warily.

Blaire final y let her go and she sprinted to Dan before he could react.

Blood streamed from his left shoulder, but his eyes were fixed on Roark, unyielding as steel. Her hands shook terribly as she tore his shirt open further to peer up at the point of entry.

“Don’t kil him,” Bil begged again, joining Josie to stand between them. “I need my wife’s medicine. She’l die.

She’s innocent. He’s the only one who knows where it is.”

Dan stayed put grudgingly, but his gaze burned and Selena knew he wanted to put an end to Roark.

She discovered that the blade had landed just high enough to miss his left lung, but he could bleed to death if she didn’t stop it.

To his surprise, she pul ed the knife out of his right hand, and lifted his arm. She pressed his palm against the wound, and although it must have been excruciating, he made no sound.

“Hold this,” she instructed. “Blaire!” she yel ed, but the woman was already on the task, and the dining room door banged closed behind her.

The air eased from Josie’s chest in weak relief at Dan’s restraint. Her expression was ful of pain as she turned to Roark, his hatred stil fresh on his face as he stared back at Dan.

When Roark’s eyes shifted to hers, his hatred gave way to misery.

Selena took a moment to gather her thoughts and rushed to Bear’s side, pul ing his shirt up to reveal his wound.

“He got me in my fat,” his low voice rumbled, and he smiled through the pain. “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”