AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shut up. Speak when you’re spoken to. Understand?”
He tries to respond, but he can’t breathe, so he frantically nods instead. I let him go and give him a hard shove. He may or may not be in the Order, but he still targeted Charlotte. He’s lucky I’m not being a lot meaner.
McCloud leads me deeper into the manor. He looks hopefully at a pair of revelers coming past us, but I put a hand on his shoulder like we’re old buddies. My finger and thumb are on his pressure points, so he knows what will happen.
“This is bullshit,” he mutters. “Are you a cop?”
“If I were, you’d be under arrest. You’re lucky I'm not a cop. Just someone with a desperate need to find the Order.”
“I already told you–”
“Shut up. If you’re telling me the truth, you get to walk out of here in one piece. If.”
We come to a place in the manor where all the lights are off. I navigate by the light coming in through the windows. McCloud points to a room at the end of the hall, where light slants out into the corridor.
“There. He keeps his rig in there.”
We’re about ten feet from the door when one of the performance artists comes out. Like the others, he’s half naked and a physical specimen. Easily three hundred pounds, all of it rippling muscle.
I try to step around him, but he gets right in my way.
“The show is just about to begin,” he says, grinning wickedly.
When you’re facing off against a man much larger than yourself, you have a number of options. There’s a reason why most contact sports have weight classes. Big guys tend to win. And this is a very big guy.
You could run, which might be effective. I doubt this monster can keep up with me in a footrace. Or, you can try to negotiate. I don’t think that’s an option this time.
Finally, you can hit them hard, hit them fast, and hope it’s enough to take them down before they can get their hands on you.
I snap my fist out, catching him under the chin. I pull my punch so I don’t crumple his trachea. The blow still makes him fall backward, clutching his throat and struggling to breathe.
Unfortunately, he’s not alone. Another big bastard comes out of the room, and two more approach from the end of the hall.
“Time to go,” I say to my erstwhile companion, McCloud. But when we turn around, three more of the half-naked bodybuilders are coming our way.
“Thank god,” McCloud says, approaching one of the big men. “This maniac has taken me hostage–”
The big man smacks McCloud in the temple. The hacker spins around in a circle and then collapses on the floor. I guess he won’t be much help.
I have no more time to spare on McCloud. Attackers come at me from all sides. They don’t move like trained fighters, but given their numerical advantage they don’t have to be. I duck under a fist the size of a lunchbox, lashing out with a kick to his instep.
A sound akin to kindling crackling in the fire is music to my ears. The big man collapses, tripping up his allies. I barely dodge a two-handed grab and smash my elbow against a giant rib cage.
Two men now lay on the floor, crying out in agony. I run back toward the main party. I have to warn Charlotte that I’ve been made. She’s in danger, too.
The doors beckon at the end of the hall, but another of the huge muscle men blocks my path. I lower my shoulder and drive it into his solar plexus. The air explodes out of his lungs and we both go down.
Tangled up with my victim, I struggle to get back on my feet. I barely get up to one knee when someone tackles me. We roll across the floor. I wind up on bottom, but that only allows me to use all four of my limbs. I quickly trap the musclebound oaf in a triangle choke using my legs and arms.
I lean back and cut off the supply of blood to his brain. Or try to. Most guys go out pretty quick, but this asshole is stubborn. He hangs on to consciousness even as his cronies bear down on me.
He goes limp at last, and I throw up my forearm just in time to block a vicious kick. Pain explodes in my arm, but it’s not broken. At least, I don’t think it is.
I try to get back to my feet, but there are so many of them now, grabbing me, throwing punches and kicks with no technique but plenty of power. My vision goes dark around the edges and my movements slow.
When they haul me up to my feet, I know the fight is over. That doesn’t stop me from putting up one Hell of a struggle. I manage to smash my heel into one of their noses, resulting in a crimson spray.
That pisses them off. The biggest bastard of them all cocks his arm back, and then everything goes black as midnight.
