I didn’t look and tried to scream again.
He gripped me harder, and he moved his other hand to my nose and cut off my air altogether. “Would you rather I kill you?”
My heartbeat was hard and pounding on the inside of my chest. My body was in the same survival mode as when Vulgaris had pushed me into the chasm. The last time I had been close to this scared was when I’d snuck up on that Knife, but this was worse.
He let me breathe through my nose again.
I tried to fight him off me, but he was heavy like a horse. All muscle and bone, a hundred pounds heavier than I was.
But I fought anyway. Tried to scream and buck him off.
He slapped me then cupped my mouth again. “Don’t make me hurt you.” He rolled me onto my stomach and put his entire weight on me, his length right against my ass, his hand still over my mouth.
I tried to throw my elbow back, but he gathered my hands behind my back. His strength was far superior to mine, and I didn’t have a weapon or a single resource.
But I couldn’t let this happen.
I pushed my tongue against his hand and licked it, giving him all of my spit as I continued to wiggle and writhe under him, trying to buck him off.
His palm eventually became so slick, it slipped from my mouth.
“Help!”
He slammed my head into the wall at the head of the bed and crushed his hand over my mouth again, but his finger slipped.
I bit it as hard as I could, digging deep into the bone.
“Fuck.” He yanked his hand away, and blood dripped into my hair and onto my bare ass.
My hands came free, and I got up in a panic, hitting him in the dark and knocking him over. I quickly crawled for the door, but he grabbed me by the ankle.
“Help! Help me!” The island was quiet and small, and there was no way no one would hear me. I turned over to force his grip to release my ankle, and I kicked him with my other foot, unsure what to aim for in the dark. But I hit something good because he grunted and released me.
I headed for where I assumed the door was, my hand slipping over the knob, but eventually, I pulled it open and ran so fast onto the path that I tripped and fell. Naked from the waist down but indifferent to my indecency, I continued to crawl away and call for help. “I need help!”
The doors to the cabins started to fly open, and people poured onto the path.
Allegra was the first one to see me. Her eyes snapped open in shock before she darted back inside. She returned with her blanket and threw it on top of me. “I’ve got you.”
Some of the guys must have gone after Krull because I heard a fight break out behind me. A body fell, and there was a grunt like someone had been punched in the face.
I turned around to see Krull swipe at one of the guys with his dagger, which was already stained from someone else’s blood.
One of the guys who tried to help me was on the ground, a nasty cut in his arm.
I wanted to help him, but he was too close to Krull—who looked like he was on a mission to kill everyone.
Then Morco appeared, running down the path, dressed for battle with his sword across his back, expecting an attack from an enemy—not an enemy from within his own people. His eyes absorbed the situation and found me on the ground with Allegra, the blanket covering my naked bottom. His eyes widened like he understood what had happened within a single glance. “Krull!” His shout was so powerful, it echoed off every cabin. It made the fire dim forty feet away. He unsheathed his blade and dropped it at my side before he rushed forward.
Krull gripped his knife and pointed it at Morco, shirtless in just his trousers, the same maniacal gleam in his eye that he’d shown me during our last encounter. He lunged forward and sliced the dagger across Morco’s throat.
But Morco was like the wind in a hurricane. He ducked then dodged, and then he slammed his fist so hard into Krull’s face there was asnapwhen his nose broke.
Krull gave a cry and came at Morco again, swiping his knife left and right, moving quickly and randomly, trying to land a hit.
But Morco was quicker, stepping back, ducking, blocking, avoiding the edge of the blade like he predicted exactly where it would be next. Then he got in another hit, striking Krull’s nose once more and making anothercrackring out.
Krull screamed, his nose horribly crooked now, blood pouring down his face in waves.
