Christine Feehan - Deadly Game

"Like you? I saw what you did to her."

Ken backed away from the spring, luring Sean toward open ground where Jack could get a clear shot at him. "You loved her so much you let those bastards strip her naked and photograph her. You let the doctor stick his fingers inside her, touch her when you knew how much she hated it. You don't deserve her."

Sean tossed the knife back and forth between his hands, all the while circling, forcing Ken to continue to give ground. His smile never wavered, a small, evil grin, his gaze hard as he compelled Ken to back a few more feet. Ken was aware that he was close to the crumbling edge of the bluff. He shifted on the balls of his feet-waiting.

Sean feigned an attack. Ken didn't respond. The smirk faded just a little. "She was always meant for me. Whitney promised her to me."

"In return for betrayal? Did you report the women's conversations? Their plans for escape? You were the one who told him Mari was going to try to talk to the senator about Whitney's disgusting baby factory. He was really angry over that one, wasn't he? He gave you the heavier dose of Zenith, and you injected it in her like the good little toad you are."

Sean hissed a breath out, feigning another attack, moving forward with incredible speed and striking with a flowing roundhouse punch Ken just managed to jerk his head out of the way and pull in his belly enough to avoid the slice of the knife.

"I had no idea it would kill her. He said if she got hurt it would heal her. I wouldn't ever let him harm Mari."

"No, you'd just let a perverted doctor touch her and take pictures to plaster all over his wall so he could jack off at night." Ken glided forward, a blurring figure, his wrist flicking several times, as he moved on past Sean. He was on now only a few feet from the edge of the bluff. "You'd just beat her bloody and rape her. You sick, twisted fuck."

Sean stared down at the blood dripping from his arm, belly, and chest. Thin lines stretched across his skin. He swore and lunged again, this time, blade up, going for the softer parts of the body. At the last second Ken pivoted, allowing Sean's forward momentum to carry him past, the wrist flicking again. This time Sean's left cheek, neck, hip, and thigh sported long wicked-looking cuts.

Sean screamed, fury burning in his eyes. He danced in, a big man, light on his feet, snapping a quick thrust and following it with a hard forward snap kick to Ken's thigh. The second kick took Ken in exactly the same spot, deadening his leg. Before Sean could retract the leg. Ken drove the point of his knife deep into the man's calf, twisted, and jumped back, precariously near the edge of the cliff.

It was a particularly brutal injury. Blood sprayed in wide arcs, and Sean yelled obscenities, desperation creeping into his eyes. "You fucking freak. You really think Mari could want a man like you? Maybe if you wear a mask to cover the horror of your face." He spat at Ken. reached down as if to pull the knife from his calf, but snapped upright, throwing his own knife at Ken's chest.

Ken moved with blurring speed, tucking his shoulder and rolling to the side to avoid the weapon. It burned across his right bicep, shaving skin. Sean followed the knife, rushing Ken, certain his heavier body would send Ken over the edge. Ken gripped Sean with two hands, one at his throat, the other on his upper arm, superhuman strength, a vise steadily closing, crushing. Sheer terror swept through Sean. He had been counting on his own enhanced strength and his hatred of this man, but he never expected the enormous strength in Ken's body.

Sean fought like a wild animal, desperately attempting to knock the legs out from under Ken, twice more finding the spot on the thigh he'd kicked. Ken seemed inhuman, a monster!

Nothing affected him, that grip relentlessly tightening. Choking, coughing, Sean flung himself backward with all his weight, his feet scraping for a purchase as the earth crumbled and gave way beneath him.

The weight of Sean's body suddenly was a deadweight on the end of Ken's arm. His grip on Sean's throat was the only thing preventing the man from falling. They stared at each other, Ken on his knees, trying to find a way to dig his toes into the soft dirt for a purchase, to prevent himself from going over the edge with his enemy. Sean gripped Ken's arm, determined that if he went crashing to the rocks below, he would take Ken with him. Blood made his grip slippery, but desperation gave him added strength. He dug his fingers into Ken's skin. The edge crumbled more, sent dirt skittering down the cliff face. Ken opened his hand to allow Sean to fall, but the man clamped on his wrist with both hands.

"I go, you go," he snarled. "Pull me up, damn you."

"Not in this lifetime, you son of bitch. You're out of her life forever."

"So are you then." Sean's teeth clenched, his grip tightening like a vise.

The edge was giving way, more dirt and rock tumbling down, Ken sliding with the weight of Sean's body pulling him. He had no leverage to fight, nothing to hang onto, and the earth around him was shifting and sliding.

Don't move . Jack's voice was utterly calm.

Hell . Ken swore at his brother, trying to stay absolutely still. He was moving, sliding down the cliff while Sean hung on like a terrier.

A hole blossomed suddenly in the middle of Sean's forehead, and then Ken heard the crack of the shot. The bullet had passed close to the top of his head, shaving off a few hairs as it whistled past. Sean's grip loosened abruptly, his fingers sliding away as the body fell to the rocks below.

Ken threw his body backward, rolled over, and stared up at the blue sky, his arm feeling as though it had been torn out of its socket. He was drenched in perspiration, and his leg, where Sean had landed several kicks, felt as if a sledgehammer had been taken to it. He dragged air into his lungs and waited there, knowing Jack would come.

Clouds spun across the sky, casting shadows over the ground. Ken closed his eyes and felt exhaustion roll over him. He was sick inside, his body and mind fatigued. His scars throbbed painfully, too tight for his skin, reminding him that Sean was right. He could no longer hide what he was from the world. Man knew. Mari saw him for what he was. He couldn't hide behind a handsome face anymore.

And she would always have the contrast staring at her every morning if she did stay. How could she look at Jack and not be ashamed to be with Ken? Even so. it didn't matter. He was as pathetic as Sean. He wanted her to stay. To love him. He needed her, when he'd never allowed himself to need anything or anyone. Ken reached out to brush his mind against hers, needing the touch almost more than he needed the air he was fighting for.

Mari. It's over.

I know. Jack sent word to Briony . There was a small hesitation. You know I can't stay. You know I can't .

He had known, but he couldn't accept it. His heart nearly stopped. Don't. Don't do this. I'm coming to you now. baby .

I don't want you to . And then there was only a black void. Emptiness. No soft intimate brush, no echo of laughter or companionship. Simply emptiness. She was gone, shutting him out of her life. No more happiness. No more feeling alive. It was all gone.

His gut clenched, and he rolled to his knees, sick with the idea of losing her. He retched over and over, knowing absolutely that she left. He couldn't blame her. It was the only smart thing to do, and Mari was smart. He smashed his fist into the ground. Once. Twice.

"Ken." Jack was there, kneeling beside him. "I thought I'd lost you."

He looked up at Jack, not really seeing him. Ken realized he was lost-he'd been lost for a long time. Mari had brought him back to life. "She's gone." His gaze jumped to Jack's face; he saw a hint of guilt creep into his eyes and fade. "You knew?"