Fingers grasped the medic pack strapped to my shoulders, jerking me backward. I fell to the pavement. A blade jabbed into my left leg.
A scream ripped from my throat. I lashed out with my remaining weapon.
“Shit!” The Hunter backed away just in time.
His partner had almost reached us when he leapt on me, his upper body pinning my legs to the ground.
Don’t spread your legs.
On my back, I struggled with him. He seized my wrist in a bruising grip to stay my weapon while his blade sank over and over into my left leg. Excruciating fire licked up my thigh with each stab. He wormed his way up my body, managing to insert one knee between my legs before his buddy arrived.
Think about where your knee is, Sophia.
I jerked my right leg up into his groin, and he released an animalistic groan, falling to my side.
Go for places that bleed fast.
He faced away from me, clutching his groin. His knife clattered out of my reach. I no longer had a weapon that could dig deep, so I took my knuckles to the vulnerable area behind his knee like Lucas taught me.
The other man grabbed me by my hair. “You bitch.”
I swiped the knuckles at him, slashing his arm, but it didn’t slow him. He wrenched me onto my side hard enough that asphalt eroded the skin of my arm. Blind anger twisted his expression. He raised his hand and slammed a knife through my left thigh.
My vision went black.
Oh, god.
The pain.
Agony sheared through every cell. It shredded my throat with another scream.
But if he was playing with me to prolong the torture, that single decision saved my life.
As he retreated, reaching for another weapon, I went for his throat. I couldn’t give him the chance to jerk away, so I threw my arm around his neck in a deadly embrace. It buried him deeper on the blade. His weight hurled me onto my back once more, and he fell on top of me. Hot blood poured over me like bathwater.
When he went limp, I pushed him off me. His partner groaned, weak hands trying to stop the gush from the wound I inflicted. He lay in a puddle of blood, his skin ghostly white in the dark. He paid me no mind as I stumbled away, yanking the knife from my leg. It clattered to the glittering cement of the sidewalk.
Blood pulsed from the wound.
Too fast. Too much.
I limped. Fire burned through every inch of my body, and blood seeped down my leg, soaking my clothes. I clenched the knuckles in my hand so tight it hurt.
Once the man’s groans faded behind me, I took stock of my surroundings. I stood on a dark street corner, and I had little time. Dizziness fought my pounding heart as it tried to compensate for the hemorrhage.
Where was I? Where could I go?
I glanced at the closest street sign. Twenty-fifth and Columbia. Seven blocks from headquarters. Fourteen from the rally point.
I wouldn’t make it that far. I turned my head, staring down the street that led to Evanston, only three blocks away. He wouldn’t be there, but he had supplies. I could make a tourniquet…
I tripped along, trying to keep to the grass to hide the blood trail as my left leg screamed in pain. When I reached the familiar steps to the house, I fell forward, knocking my shins hard onto cement. I had to crawl to the porch, smearing every surface I touched in blood.
Sparkles threatened my vision, obscuring the doorknob. Still, my hand wrapped around it.
Locked.
Numb fingers pawed at my pockets, and I dropped the knuckles on the porch in favor of gripping the key I always carried. Metal slipped into the slot, and the tumblers gave way.
