Who’s the animal now, asshole?
Narrowing my eyes, I lit up the stick and slashed it at the other goon who’d come at us. He parried with his own, and for a second, we stayed locked in place, weapons crossed, both of us pushing hard. Hot light crackled in my face. The searing energy made my hair vibrate. He was strong, and I was done with this. I spun out of the deadlock, shifted my weight, and kicked him in the gut. He doubled over, exhaling.
I glanced at Tess. She was still on the ground, behind the goon now with her arm in a tight V around his neck. Her other arm pushed his head down as she increased the pressure on his arteries. He flopped but couldn’t shake her. In seconds, her sleeper hold knocked him out without even touching his windpipe.
“Cuff him!” I shouted. He’d wake up almost as fast as she’d put him under.
Tess dug zip ties from a pouch on the goon’s belt while my guy lunged at me. I weaved, avoiding his fist. He blocked my jab and I spun into a kick, knocking him back a step. I pressed my advantage just as Jax roared like a monster. I looked over to see him taking a jolt in the chest to protect Fiona.
In the second I turned my head, the goon got me in the hip with his stick. The zap of electricity numbed my right leg to the ankle. Leaning into my left side, I threw a punch that split my knuckles and cracked his lip. He reeled backward.
Tess trussed her goon up, hands first and then feet when he came back to himself and tried to kick her.
Jax fought like a madman to keep the other three away from Fiona, all fists and growls until the Dark Watch captain sent him to one knee with another violent thump of volts. Jax’s shirt smoldered. He’d have burns on his chest. I needed to reach him.
The patrolman I was fighting popped up in front of me again, his face bleeding. Good. Let’s end this. I sidestepped his attack, grabbed him, and rammed my knee into his groin. He folded in half, and I brought my elbow down hard between his shoulder blades. He fell flat and coughed into the grass. Crouching, I struck the vulnerable spot in his neck that would knock him out. He didn’t move again. I found his own restraints and cuffed him.
With Tess beside me, I sprang toward the trio still trying to get the best of Jax and Fiona. From his knees, Jax threw up a thick arm to shield the scientist. In the big man’s shadow, Fiona didn’t even pretend to fight; she was fishing something from her vest pocket. The female goon suddenly hauled off and cracked Jax over the head with her stick. Already shocked into a stupor, Jax swayed and almost toppled. His lips pulled back in a grimace.
Pure rage ignited in Fiona’s face. Tess grabbed my sleeve and jerked me to a halt just when I would’ve jumped in to defend Jax. Before I could wonder why she stopped me, Fiona shot her hand out over Jax’s head and squirted something into the woman’s face.
The woman shrieked, a bloodcurdling scream that cut through the heat of battle. Pain. Fury. Fear. She stumbled back, swiping at her skin. Her fingers smoked. She dropped her hands, still screaming. Blistering face. Bubbling eyes. Fiona yelled like a banshee and whipped a thin branch across the woman’s burning face, taking off a chunk of her disintegrating nose with it. Fiona didn’t miss a beat, bringing her arm back around to slash the branch at the two men. They scrambled back, trying to avoid the thorny weapon.
Jax groaned, and Fiona stood protectively over him. In a flash, she squirted a second dose of acid and melted Drake’s face. He screamed like a baby.
“Tetrafumicfullerbehrenheim acid.” Fiona leaped in front of Jax and kicked the yowling man away from him. “There’s another big word—bitch.” Her ponytail flew as she twisted and clocked the last man over the head with her berry branch. She wouldn’t grow anything with that one. It was fucking magnificent.
The final goon yelped and started running. Jax lunged and grabbed the shithead’s ankle. He held on tight and I moved in. My kick might’ve cracked the guy’s skull. His eyes rolled back, and he hit the ground with a thud that echoed through me.
A hush descended. Breathing hard, I looked around me. Holy shit. That was the most savage fight I’d ever been in. No rules. At least two people dead. And here I’d thought my former colleagues Solan and Raquel fought dirty.
Something deep inside me recognized that this was the turning point. Or maybe the point of no return.
Before this, I’d just been living. Now, survival was a goal. I really was a rebel.
Tess’s goon was conscious but keeping damn quiet after all the face melting. I strode over and knocked him out again with a well-placed strike to his temple. He slumped in his cuffs, unmoving.
“We need to get going.” Tess looked worriedly at Jaxon, who struggled to his knees again. “Merrick, be ready for us. We take off the instant we reach the Endeavor.”
“No.” I grabbed Tess’s elbow, craning my neck to look over the park bushes. There were no new goons in sight, but there was no way one of these hadn’t pushed a panic button. Every Dark Watch soldier had one on their belt. Even I’d had one. “They’ll be scanning the docks for heat signatures. Power down the ship.”
“It’s already hot,” Merrick said. “They’ll see it even if I turn off the engines. Better to go if we can.”
Is it? “They’ll come at us with real firepower. Crowd us so we can’t jump out of here.”
A change came over Tess’s face, and I knew an idea had sparked. She looked at me hard. “We’ll hold them off in your cruiser. You and me. We’ll distract them while the Endeavor jumps away from here.”
Great Powers, she was a genius. I nodded, vowing to never underestimate this woman. She’d just given us our trip alone to Reaginine and a viable way off Korabon for everyone.
If we made it to the ship.
“We’ll rendezvous at the Mooncamp food drop-off in three days,” I said. “That way, we can all blur our trail from the Dark Watch before meeting up again.”
Tess nodded back at me, her face somber. Plan made. Now, to execute it.
Fiona helped Jax sit up straighter. She feathered her fingers just below the lump at his hairline, murmuring, “Thank you. I’ll fix you up.”
For just a second, he leaned into her, his eyes closing. Then he heaved a sigh and staggered upright. Fiona rose also. She turned, walked over to what must be the purple clawberry bush, and carefully snapped off another branch to work with.
I glanced left and right to make sure we still didn’t have unwanted company. It was a nice park. Too bad no one could use it without risking harassment, fines, and worse.
I slid a shoulder under Jax’s arm and helped him toward the gate. Tess and Fiona strode beside us, watchful and ready. Regret didn’t shadow their faces. Only determination. Fight for each other. Fight for what you believe in. One day at a time. Keep going.
That was my life now, except I had a feeling existence was going to be minute by minute until we escaped Korabon.