Chapter 4

• Shuffling closer to him, like I was scared by his words, I waited for him to turn his attention back the two men. When he did, I dropped the chain and straightened up, raising my hands together. I’d never done a double elbow move before, but I couldn’t get enough momentum with my arms attached. He turned the second I was dropping them. “Hey! Over here.” I screamed at the same moment my elbows connected with his face.
• “Son of…” He growled and lunged for me.
• I backed up and tripped when the chains got hung up. Keeping an eye on the sword in his hand, I waited until he bent over to grab me and kicked up with both my feet into his face. I heard the sword hit the ground beside me as he dropped to his knees. Scrambling to my feet I got up and picked up the weapon. It took both of my hands to lift it. I pointed it at him. He was too busy holding his face to move.
• I glanced in the direction the other one had gone and heard the clang of metal on metal before I saw him. He was fighting one of the men from the horses, and the other one was running toward me. I looked back to blondie, he was still hunched over holding his face.
• The man slowed when he was a few feet away, he also had a sword half the size of my body. He held out his other hand, showing it was empty, the sword pointed at the man on the ground and not me.
• “It’s okay.” He said softly. “I’m here for him.” He sheathed the sword on his back without hesitation and held his other hand out.
• My arms were starting to shake with the weight of the sword.
• “Leone.” The other man barked. “He’s over here.” The man in front of me said without taking his eyes off me.
• The second man came running toward us, then slowed a few feet away. I glanced from the first one to him to see him put his weapon away. He held his hands out from his body. “You’re safe now.” He said softly.
• I jerked the sword toward blondie. “He said you’d toss me in the cells.”
• Blondie moaned and then coughed.
• The second man shook his head slowly, a sneer on his face. “That’s his fate, not yours.” He moved another step in my direction.
• I had to turn my whole upper body to aim the sword toward him. I wasn’t going to be able to hold it up much longer.
• “Leone, grab him.” He said calmly, still moving in my direction.
• Leone nodded and stepped away from me and grabbed blondie by the back of his jacket. “Oh shit, Michael, she messed up his face good.”
• Michael nodded, his eyes not leaving me. “Other one was recently patched up too.” He jerked his head in the direction they’d come from. “Get him out of here. Call Arius and tell him the doc is needed at the intake cells.”
• Leone dragged blondie away.
• I tried to widen my stance to support the weight of the sword, but the chain ran out. “I just want to go home.” I told him.
• He nodded. “We’ll get you there.”
• I looked at him, trying to see in the low light. “Are you a cop?”
• “Yeah. You’re safe now.” His tone was calm, soothing.
• I jerked my chin toward the swords sticking up on his back. “Since when do cops carry hardware like that?”
• He smirked, “fight fire with fire.” He looked at the sword I held. “I can stand here all night until you decide to trust me, but I can see how fatigued your arms are getting and how your body is shaking from the shock and cool air.” He held out his hand slowly, palm up. “Let me help you. We’ll get those chains off you and patch you up.”
• I went to bite my lip and weigh his words, then winced when my teeth connected with the swollen flesh. “Don’t touch me.” I warned him.
• Michael nodded slowly. “I won’t.” He stepped closer, his hand nearer to the weapon. “Let me take that.”
• I looked at my hands and the way my arms were shaking and let the weight of the sword drop my hands toward the ground.
• He grabbed the handle and tugged it from my grasp.
• Leone came back toward us slowly. “Arius says he’s looking forward to meeting the woman that laid a beat-down on those two.” He stopped and looked from Michael to me. “You’re safe.” He pointed to Michael. “My brother and I will take you back and get those chains off you.”
• I straightened up, but wasn’t about to relax and let my guard down. I tasted blood and realized my lip was busted open, probably from my fall. Raising my chained hands together I wiped at it.
• “Go get the horses.” Michael told him. “Porting her right now isn’t going to help her trust us.” He held out the sword to him.
• Grabbing it, Leone nodded and spun on his heel.
• “Porting?” I frowned, then glanced around. “Where the hell are we?”
• He stood, his eyes moving slowly over my face. “That’s hard to explain.”
• I looked around again and it hit me, there were no lights from the city and the air was the freshest I’d ever smelled. “But I get to go home?”
• He nodded. “If you want to.” He pulled out his phone. “Are you injured anywhere else?” He motioned to my face.
• I shook my head. “Few bruises. They got a couple bumbling shots in yesterday.”
• His brows creased, then he looked to his phone. Tapping it, he raised it to his ear. “Yeah. Not yet. We’re going to need keys or someone that can get shackles off.” His eyes never left my face. “No. Just one.” His mouth quirked like he wanted to smile. “Wasn’t from us.” He shook his head. “We’ll take the horses back to the guard house, I’m not sure she’ll cope well with transporting. Bring Paisley or Bethany, I think we’re going to need the female touch.” He nodded, “see you shortly.” Tucking his phone in, he motioned to my feet. “You’re going to have to ride with us, unless you can sit side-saddle.”
• “Side what?” I gave him a wide-eyed look. “On a horse?”
• He nodded. “Can you ride?”
• I turned to see Leone leading two horses back. I didn’t see blondie and his friend. There must have been more men out here then and I had seen. “I’ve never even seen a horse up close.”
• Michael held up his hand and Leone came over and put a strap in his hand.
• I gawked at the beast on the other end of the thin strap. It was massive and beautiful at the same time.
• “He won’t hurt you.” Michael said in that soft tone again. Motioning with his head for me to come closer, he reached up and grabbed the harness on the horse’s head. “This is Hachi.” He rubbed his hand along the animal’s large jaw. “Hachiman.”
• I bent down and picked up the chain, so I could move. “Like the Japanese god of war.”
• Michael gave me a surprised look. “Yes, well, god of warriors.”
• I nodded, “my mentor used to tell me stories.” I stepped closer, not sure if I wanted to be close to the man or the beast. Dropping the chain, I raised my hands up toward the animal’s nose. It sniffed at me, then its large lips nuzzled my hands.
• “He likes you—what is your name?” Michael made no move toward me.
• I smiled up at the horse. I was touching a horse. “Autumn.” I said quietly not wanting to spook the animal that could crush me without effort.
• “Autumn, you’re going to have to ride in front of Leone or I. With those chains on you’ll bounce off the back.”