“Aw, guess you’re gonna make us do this the hard way…” the nasal one drawled, his tone only mildly annoyed.
Then came the clomp-crunch of their boots. Closer and closer. Too close.
Oh, God…
The snow wasn’t deep, but it was just enough to slow me down. My breath burned in my chest, and the icy air stung my eyes, blurring my vision. I didn’t dare look back.
Some primal instinct screamed at me to turn right, so I veered off the path and plunged into the forest. The shadowed depths might swallow me whole, but that felt safer than being run down in the open.
However, the open re-found me when I burst through a copse of trees into a snow-covered meadow overlooking a frozen lake. It would have been beautiful beneath the half-moon if not for the whole running-for-my-life situation—speaking of which…
A heavy weight slammed into me from behind. My phone flew out of my hand, and my leg twisted under me with a sickening CRACK as I hit the ground hard. Pain—blinding, excruciating pain—exploded up my thigh.
I screamed.
“Told ya not to run,” the nasal-voiced biker said, flipping me over with a jerk that wrung another shriek of pain from me. He just laughed as he climbed to his feet. “That’s what you get for making us do this the hard way.”
The half moon and the phone’s pitiful flashlight cast his face in harsh relief. A sharp widow’s peak and a thin, smirking mouth made him look like a cartoon villain brought to life.
“It’s gonna be a hell of a painful ride for her back to the clubhouse with that leg,” the other biker said somewhere beyond my sightline, his voice more amused than sorry. “Maybe one of us should bite her.”
Bite me?Pain and confusion swirled together in my brain, blurring his words.
“Fuck no,” Widow’s Peak growled. “I’m not risking a bond bite on club meat.”
Club meat?That didn’t sound good.
I propped myself up just enough to see the damage—and instantly regretted it. Even that small movement sent a sharp jab of pain screaming up my leg, and the sight of my limb bent at an unnatural angle turned my stomach.
Pain and nausea wrestled for control. My head swam, my throat tightening as I fought the urge to throw up.
“See? Look at the way her eyes are rolling,” the biker above me said with grim satisfaction. “All we gotta do is wait. She’ll pass out. Then we’ll strap her onto the back of my bike. By the time she comes to, you, me, and the rest of the club will already be having fun. I was getting tired of hookers anyway.”
The thought of being strapped to the back of a motorcycle like some kind of trophy kill sent a fresh spike of terror through me. And whatever “fun” he was implying… My stomach cramped nearly as much as my leg throbbed.
No!I wanted to scream, but pain locked the sound in my throat. All I could do was gasp silently as I clung to consciousness.
And then it happened.
A roar shattered the still night air. Deep, primal, bone-rattling.
“Who’s that—” Widow’s Peak started to ask.
Before he could finish, something black and massive streaked into my periphery. And suddenly, Widow’s Peak was gone. Yanked out of my line of sight. The disturbing gurgle that followed was paired with wet, squelching sounds I couldn’t place.
Not until something landed beside me with a flatthunk. Like a ball. But… my breath hitched.
It wasn’t a ball. It was a head.
The metallic scent of blood filled my nose as I stared into Widow’s Peak’s lifeless, wide eyes. His face was twisted into the same smug expression he’d worn seconds ago, frozen in death.
Seconds. That was all it had taken for the thing—whatever it was—to eviscerate him and rip his head clean off.
“Oh, fuck, you killed our vice prez!” the second biker screamed, his voice pitching high with panic. “The Iron Claw’s gonna make you pay for this, Horse!” Horse?
Was that thing a horse? Beneath the terror and searing pain, my muddled brain struggled to piece together what was happening beyond my field of vision.
A male scream tore through the air, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps—fast and frantic. The second biker had clearly decided he wasn’t sticking around to keep fighting whatever had just decapitated his buddy.
