Grace Goodwin - The Virgins - Complete Boxed Set

“You’re circling, Neron. Scared like you were as a kid. There’s no med center to run to this time.” I taunted him, for while the rage drove him, it also blinded him. He wasn’t clearheaded when his temper took over. I remembered he was quick to anger, even when we’d been little.

He narrowed his eyes, lifted his hands once again.

The true fight began. We punched and kicked, hitting targets that were off limits in the practice ring on Everis. But we were millions of miles away and there were no rules now. Kidney punches, low kicks to the knees, jabs at the throat and strikes to the groin, nothing was too brutal.

I had no idea how much time had passed, but years of aggression were fought with fists and feet until we were both bloody, both breathing hard. He’d fallen, I’d fallen. He’d landed a punch to the face and so had I. Kick for kick, punch for punch. Up to this point, it hadn’t been about killing the other, but an equal battle one last time.

But when I stumbled over a tree root and landed on my ass, it all changed. Neron took the opportunity to kick me, a swift roundhouse to the head. While I’d put my hand up as a shield, it had been ruthless. My head was knocked to the side and my vision blurred. I’d bit my tongue, the rusty taste of blood filling my mouth.

He followed that kick with another that struck me hard, the punishing power of his booted foot across my jaw. I fell onto my back and struggled to rise to my hands and knees, my head spinning as I fought to remain conscious. My body ached, my jaw throbbed, nearly dislocated. Little specks of black floated in my vision.

In the corner of my eye I saw Neron walk away from me to where he’d thrown his ion blaster. He picked it up and walked toward me as I struggled to my feet, but stumbled. This was to be my end.

I fisted rocks in both hands and prepared to make my last, desperate move. If I could get the dirt and sand into his face, perhaps I could leap from the ground, distract him before he had a chance to pull the trigger.

He stood two steps away, the blaster aimed directly at my head. We were both breathing hard. “Goodbye, Maddox. When you see Maddie on the other side, let her know your brother will be next.”

I spit blood from my mouth and lurched forward, throwing the rocks and dirt at his face as I rose to a crouch and rushed him. My arms wrapped around his waist as he shouted and fired his weapon. The discharge caused a large group of rocks to explode from the side of the canyon behind my back and fall to the ground.

Pushing with all my might, I drove him backward in an attempt to tackle him, get him off his feet. I was too addled to stand, but I still had a chance in a ground fight.

His fists came down on my spine. I roared with pain but kept pushing forward to tackle him.

A loud shot sounded, echoed and reverberated off the stone walls of the ravine. The woman screamed.

“Aaaaagh!” Neron jerked in my hold but I kept pushing until, seconds later, hot, wet liquid flowed over my right arm and shoulder.

A second shot and Neron’s legs went out from under him. Without any resistance from him, I fell forward and we both went down in a heap. I landed on top of him with a hard thud.

Tensing for a fight, I wrapped my arms around him, ready to resume the struggle, but his body was limp, his arms and legs slack, offering no resistance.

I lifted my head from his torso to look up at his face. His mouth was open, his eyes wide but empty.

He was dead.

Shock made me numb but I turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. A rush of adrenaline had me jumping to my feet, arms raised, only to see my mate marching toward me with her rifle pointed squarely at Neron’s head.

Cassie

Seeing Maddox fight Neron was an amazing sight. They were both so well skilled at it, so evenly matched, that it had been almost a dance at first. Even though I knew of their past, it was clear they’d done this before, knew each other’s abilities. In a sick tradition I did not understand, they appeared to be enjoying themselves. That was, until the serious fight had begun.

As I pulled my rifle from the saddlebag, I knew the instant the sparring turned to more. The intensity of the kicks changed, the anger behind the punches, the elbows, even the knee strikes. Maddox would have held his own if he hadn’t tripped. When I saw him fall, saw the first and second kick that Neron delivered to my mate’s head, I panicked.

Maddox’s eyes lacked the focus he’d had only seconds before. He was injured. If I could see it, then Neron could as well. This was where Neron would finish him. I couldn’t allow that to happen. So I’d cocked my gun as I approached, raised the weapon and fired. Neron had stood before him and only his upper body was exposed. If my aim was low, I’d shoot Maddox in the back of the head.

But I hadn’t missed. I was too good of a shot and had too good of a reason to aim true. I either had to take the risk, or lose Maddox forever.

And so I’d quickly settled my arms on a rock, aimed and fired. Once, twice. The kick of the shots was powerful, but familiar. I’d shot cans first with Charles, then rabbits. Eventually I’d moved onto bigger game to put on the dining table.

But this moment was defining for me. While Maddox had grown up fighting with Neron as friends, I’d learned how to shoot alongside Charles. With him. When he’d died, I’d become obsessed, practicing as often as possible as a way to escape my loss. My past was what had saved Maddox, had taken the life from Neron faster than the blood seeped from the wounds. I’d used my past to ensure my future.

Nothing, nothing would keep me from my mate.

“Cassie,” Maddox said, his voice full of pain and surprise. He stood, although he weaved and swayed on his feet, unsteady. I moved to stand before him, to stroke his cheek, but he angled his head. “Help her.”

I flicked my gaze to the woman who was tied to the rail. Rising, I went over to her and undid the leather about the rail, then the other one about her wrists. “Hi. I’m Cassie. We’re not going to hurt you. You’re safe now.”

Once the bindings were gone, she flew to her feet and dashed across the ground, grabbing the blaster that had fallen from Neron’s hand after I shot him.

“Cassie, come here. Now,” Maddox said, his voice low and even.

I didn’t say a word as I backed up toward him, all the while keeping my eye on the woman. She was taller than I by several inches, but near the same age. Her hair was dark auburn that made me instantly envious, her skin pale with just a few freckles covering her face. Her eyes were a soft brown and wide in her face as she held the alien weapon in one hand. The other hand she rubbed up and down her blue skirt as if her palm itched or burned. I recognized the motion as one I’d made myself before Maddox appeared.

Maddox’s arm went about my waist and he tugged me behind him. She’d been through an ordeal and I didn’t know what she’d do next.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Maddox told her, putting his hands out in front of him.

“He’s dead,” I added. “You’re safe now.”

She scoffed at my words and walked forward, holding the blaster pointed at Maddox’s chest. “I don’t believe you. I have eyes. I saw your palm.” She nudged Neron’s shoulder with the toe of her boot. “And his. I know what you are.”

I stepped from behind Maddox to face her, ignoring his order for me to return to safety behind him. “You do?”

She eyed me with more curiosity than menace and I relaxed, waiting for an explanation.