Page 126 of Feral King

But I have a plan. I need Alex rattled enough that his grip shifts and his attention is diverted for half a second.

“You know what the worst part is?” I keep my eyes on Julian. “It’s right there in front of you. Your brother, the man you’ve spent your entire life trying to beat. And in the end, the only way you could think to hurt him was to grab his pregnant girlfriend and use her as a human shield. Is this how you imagined it? You being reduced tothis?”

His hand is shaking, but he doesn’t say anything.

“There’s a word for the way you’re acting right now, Alex. Do you know what that word is?”

“Shut up.”

“Pathetic. What you’re doing right now is pathetic. And you know it.”

“Shutup!”

He takes several deep breaths through his nostrils.

Then he pulls my hair even harder.

“Youbitch!”

It hurts, but I don’t react.

Then his grip shifts, just as I’d hoped. The gun slides from my temple.

I look at Julian, making sure he sees it. He does.

Years ago, I took a self-defense course in the basement of a rec center. It was taught by a retired cop named Marcus, who spent two evenings a week showing college girls what to do if they were grabbed.

At the time, I thought it was a little silly. But in Alex’s grip, time slows a little, and Marcus’s words come back.

If someone’s got you by the hair, don’t fight it. Drop. All your weight, all at once. Turn yourself into an anchor slamming down onto the ground. The grip will follow you down and change the angle, giving you half a second to break free.

Half a second is all I need.

I drop.

Just like I’d hoped, Alex’s hand goes down with me, forcing his torso to follow.

Then I hear him grunt in surprise as he loses his leverage.

The gun fires.

It’s close to my right ear, and it’s like a hot spike through my skull. A chip of concrete explodes off the floor near my left foot, and something stings my cheek. My vision blurs for a moment.

When it clears, the first thing I see is Julian.

I’ve never seen anyone move so fast. It’s a detonation of speed and power, Julian’s massive body flying toward us, he and Alex vanishing in the blink of an eye.

He hits Alex at full speed.

The impact is incredible. He’s driven backwards away from me; the pistol ripped from his hand by the power of the collision. The two of them crash onto the concrete floor in a tangle of limbs.

Free from Alex’s grasp, I land hard on my side. My shoulder takes the brunt of it, my temple scraping against the floor. For a moment, the only thing I hear is the ringing in my ears and the ragged sound of my own breathing.

“Ju—Julian.” My voice is barely above a whisper. There’s no way he heard me.

I roll over, pain flashing through my body. I force myself to look in their direction.

Julian is on top of Alex, pinning him down with one knee on the center of his chest. Julian’s weapon is on the floor out of reach. He’s made the decision that what happens next needs to happen with his bare hands.