Stuck.
Silent.
I can’t breathe.
Trees.
“… brought him here …”
I can’t breathe.
Rain.
“… the kind of woman you are …”
I can’t breathe!
Cypress.
“… whore to a Hunter … should put you out of your misery …”
Something sharp pressed into my throat.
No sound. A bare flash of movement.
The hand ripped from my face, and I slid down the tree trunk to suck oxygen through my mouth. The man who’d silenced mepitched to his knees, clutching his neck. The knife he’d held to my throat dropped to the dry grass. Lucas stood behind him, bloody blade in hand.
His gaze touched my face for only a second before he turned on the others. Expression honed into that cold-blooded mask, he advanced on my attackers.
“Wait,” I said, trying to stand, but my voice was weak and breathless.
Adam appeared in my peripheral vision, breathing hard as if he’d sprinted to us. Salinas struggled against the giant’s hold.
Lucas canted his head like a cat, staring down the second man who’d held me against the tree.
“Sophia, get behind me,” he said, his tone nothing but ice.
I scrambled to my feet, but instead of hiding, I leapt in front of Lucas. “If you kill him, it will only make things worse.”
Lucas’s predacious stare homed in on the man, who now had his own weapon raised. “No one touches you and lives. I don’t need permission to protect you.”
I glanced at the soldier at our feet, now dead in a pool of his own blood. He’d threatened to kill me, and now he was dead. Everyone had been warned, and he attacked anyway.
Stepping closer to Lucas, I wrapped my hands around his wrist, trying to lower his weapon. “I’m okay, Lucas. Let’s just go back.”
The giant holding Salinas snorted. “Only a pussy-ass bitch takes orders from his woman.”
Adam moved closer to him, his combat knife at the ready.
Lucas flashed a glance the giant’s way. “You sound like a Hunter.”
The man’s expression melted into rage.
“Lucas, please,” I murmured. “Come on.”
His gaze dropped to mine. His free hand cupped my cheek.
I leaned into it. “Please.”
