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Hays dodged in front of her to protect her when Peter hurled himself at them. Peter buried his knife in Hays’s stomach.
“Hays!” she screamed.
Hays’s eyes reflected his pain, but the warrior came out. He landed a solid punch to Peter’s face, knocking him away, and then pulled the knife out of his own abdomen and clutched it in his left hand, still punching Peter with his right. Blood oozed from his stomach wound, turning his white dress shirt red.
“Hays,” she whimpered.
Peter jabbed at Hays and blood sprayed from Hays’s nose. Hays brandished the knife, but Peter grabbed his wrist.
Screams punctuated the night air as another helicopter arrived and the black-clad men inside it started discharging their weapons at the house. People dove for cover. Men who had been coming out of the house to join the fray were forced back under cover.
Elizabeth couldn’t look away from Hays and Peter’s vicious fight.
Jarom knocked her to the ground, covering her with his body. He was yanked off of her, and two of her father’s men hefted her to her feet and pinned her between them.
“Let’s go, doll,” her father said, running down the patio steps, the shots from the helicopters pinning down and distracting everyone as he made his escape.
The two guards started after him, dragging her along. Elizabeth would have willingly sacrificed herself for Hays, her siblings, Hays’s sister, or anyone else in danger, but she wasn’t her father’s ‘doll’ any longer. Hays had taught her to defend herself. She would not be taken away and be in bondage again. Not if she could help it.
She dug her fingernails into one man’s arm and the point of her heel into the other man’s ankle. They both grunted in pain but didn’t release her. She made her body dead weight and sank toward the ground, raking her fingernails down each of their arms.
The one released her, and she grabbed the other man’s arm with both hands, digging in with her nail points, and then she bit him as hard as she could. He screamed in surprise and released her. She scrambled back toward Hays.
Hays and Peter were brawling like monkeys on the ground. Hays’s blood marked their arena. How was he still fighting?
People were screaming and scrambling back into the house to avoid the bullets from the helicopter. Several victims were sprawled out on the patio.
“No,” Elizabeth groaned.
One of the men dove at her from behind, grabbing her leg and yanking her back. She screamed.
Hays looked to her, and determination filled his eyes. He flipped Peter onto his back and retrieved the bloody knife from the ground. Peter grabbed at Hays’s hand, the knife slicing his palm. Hays shoved Peter’s hand and the knife into Peter’s chest.
Peter stopped moving.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Was that monster actually dead? Was Hays all right?
Her father’s guard yanked her to her feet and pinned her from behind. His arms were a steel band around her chest.
She fought with everything she had—clawing at him, head-butting him, kicking her heels back at him. The other man joined him, and they pinned her between them.
Hays stood. He looked wobbly on his feet and absolutely glorious. Rips in his shirt and pants revealed his strong muscles, and his dark eyes were full of determination and love for her. Blood streamed from his nose, his abdomen, and a cut on his arm.
She called him Superman, but he was more the Hulk now. He’d discarded his easygoing persona and was pure beast underneath. A beast who loved her and would never let her down.
He strode toward her. Bullets dug into the ground, and she screamed in horror. They’d shoot him.
He dove at her father’s guard, ripping the man from her and rolling, using the guy as a shield. The bullets hit the man.
The other guard tried to run backward with her. She head-butted him, kicked him, and he dropped her.
Suddenly, the helicopters soared up into the sky and the bullets stopped. An uneasy silence ensued before more helicopters approached.
The guard grabbed her arms and lifted her up. “You’ll protect me,” he sneered at her.
“Let her go,” Hays demanded. He didn’t wait for a response but flew at them. The guard tugged her in front of him, his chest pressed against her back and his arms tight around her.
Elizabeth yanked her heel up into his crotch and felt it connect. She didn’t want to think about the damage she’d caused as the man squealed in pain and released her.
