He’s dead.
I’m all alone.
Daniel kicked me again.
His boot crunched against my belly, sending white-hot agony up my chest.
Agony.
And with agony came life.
You’re not alone.
Vaughn. My father. I still had family who mattered. People I couldn’t abandon.
I’m not dead.
I don’t have the luxury of giving up.
Jethro and Kes had been murdered by men who’d polluted the world for long enough. I’d made a promise to my ancestors to end this. I now made a promise to them.
I will kill your family.
I will end this once and for all.
My eyes shot wide. Energy zapped into my limbs. Agony made me reckless, granting false courage. I was stronger than this. Hadn’t I proven as much with what I’d lived through? Each debt I’d endured, I’d evolved from naïve little girl into a woman.
I’m braver than this.
Scrambling backward, I put as much distance between Daniel’s next kick and myself as I could.
He placed his hands on his hips, laughing coldly. “Finally decided to play, huh? Took you long enough.”
Coughing, I held my bruised belly and forced myself to stand.
He didn’t approach me, giving me time to regroup. He enjoyed me fighting—he wanted me alive and screaming.
Bastard.
“I’ll kill you,” I whispered, wincing with every breath.
He chuckled, moving toward me. “What did you say?”
Standing taller, I locked eyes with him. My ribs bellowed from his kick, but steel entered my tone. “I saidI’ll kill you.”
He ran a hand through his dark hair, smiling. The evil tainting his soul suffocated him—he wasn’t attractive even though outwardly he had good bones and sex appeal. To me, he was a troll, a stinking pile of excrement.
“I’d like to see you try.” He closed the distance between us one boot at a time.
I parried backward. “You won’t see it coming.”
“You won’t be able to get close enough to do it.” He winked smugly. “You’re nothing compared to me.”
I bared my teeth. “It’ll happen when you least expect it.”
“It will never happen.” He flexed his muscles. “I’m invincible.”
“You’re human.”
