Page 2 of Marked By His Touch
I don’t know how they find us so fast, but they are.
I nod, my fingers fiddling with the fabric of my jeans. We’ve bought new things on our way across the country, trying to blend in and disappear. Jeans, baseball caps, oversized sunglasses. We’ve changed cars, ditched phones, and still. Someone knows where we are. Someone knowswhowe are.
The Raven’s men.
A sudden chill sweeps over me. I draw the curtains, shutting out the faint light filtering in. The room plunges into deeper darkness.
“I guess we need to move?” I say, looking at Alexander.
He nods and goes into the bathroom to make a phone call. I know he wants to protect me, but his secrecy is making it worse. He’s always watching, always on guard. It has gotten worse since Michelle's death.
I start packing, my fingers trembling slightly as I tuck away the clothes we’d bought, trying to find a semblance of order. I can hear Alexander’s mumbled voice from the bathroom, the sound of running water, but his words are lost.
Is he hiding something from me?
I hear a noise at the door, a muffled thump, then a click. My breath catches in my throat, a tight, constricted sound. Adrenaline pulses in my veins, a wild, exhilarating current. I know that sound. Someone is trying to get in.
“Alexander,” I shout, my voice strained, hoping he can hear me in the bathroom.
Fear claws at my throat, my heart pounding in my chest.
Where is my gun?
Before I know it, the door swings open, revealing a silhouetted figure against the light. It’s a man, and he moves quickly; a weapon is in his hand.
I can’t see his face, but his build is imposing—a wiry, muscular frame. He wears a leather jacket with the collar pulled up.
Alexander exits the bathroom just as the man raises his gun, pointing it at Alexander.
“Get down!” I scream a primal instinct that overrides my fear.
Alexander reacts instantly instead of listening to me, a trained reflex honed by years of violence. He surges forward, his hand a blur as he draws his gun.
The intruder explodes from the doorway like a wild-eyed beast. His eyes are burning embers, and his face a mask ofhatred. I flinch as he lunges. He roars a primal sound that sends an icy shiver through me.
A shape in his hand glints as he lunges with his gun. The intruder fires, the loud blast rattling my bones. I smell gunpowder as I dive for cover, my heart pounding in my ears. The bullet ricochets off the wall, a spray of plaster falling around me.
Alexander ducks, the bullet whistling past him, the metallic scent of blood filling my nostrils.
Is he hurt?My pulse throbs in my temples:no, no, no.
The sharp click of Alexander’s Glock cuts through the room. The roar of the second shot, this time from Alexander’s gun, vibrates through the floorboards and into my bones. I can almost feel the heat of the bullet as it tears through the air, but the intruder doesn’t even flinch.
He catches Alexander’s jacket, tearing a jagged rip. Alexander retaliates with a brutal jab, his knuckles connecting with the intruder’s jaw with a sickening thud that makes my teeth clench. The intruder stumbles back, a grunt escaping his lips, but his eyes are still burning with rage.
My eyes dart to the guns, both lying on the floor across the room. I want to grab one, but the fight is too close, too chaotic. I’m trapped, paralyzed by fear.
I hate being like this, so weak, so useless. Damn it!
The man throws a wild punch, connecting with Alexander’s shoulder, sending him reeling back. He throws a counterpunch, connecting with the man’s nose, and his head snaps back.
Still, the intruder presses forward, his movements erratic.One of the Raven’s men, for sure.Alexander throws another punch, but the intruder grabs his fist, his grip like a steel vise, and slams Alexander against the wall, the impact knocking the air out of his lungs.
I scramble forward, my heart pounding. I want to help, to do anything, but I’m frozen. Alexander, however, is not. He uses the momentum of the impact to twist and drive his elbow into the intruder’s face. The man in the leather jacket cries out in pain, his grip on Alexander’s fist loosening.
Alexander takes advantage of the opening. He delivers a powerful right hook, connecting with the man’s jaw. The intruder crashes to the ground, his hand flying to his jaw, his body clattering onto the floor. He doesn’t get up.
He’s out; his eyes are turned white, but he’s still breathing.
