“Bowman…” I trailed off, trying to breathe through the waves of pain coursing through my head and side. “Mike. Listen to me, please.” But then Hagen spread one broad hand over the back of my head and shoved my nose between my knees.
“Orthus,faas!” The goblin’s fist slammed into the back of my head, then the weight of his arm lifted from my back. He stepped away from me, still pressing my head down with his free hand. He was trying to reach his gun without letting me go.
Hagen stretched a little farther, and I lurched into motion, rolling out from under his hand. My back hit the ground, my cuffed wrists pinned beneath me. Snow filtered around the cuffs and beneath the edges of my gloves, sending fresh chills through me.
“If he thinks you’re a threat, he’ll rip you to pieces,” I shouted, shifting to search out Bowman with my eyes. “But if you put the gun down, the dog won’t bother you. I swear.”
I hope, anyway.
Hagen dove for me, still empty handed. I rolled over again, and snow went up my nose, burning and freezing at once. He landed on his knees, a foot away. I tried to roll a third time, but he caught my bicep, halting my progress with a bruising grip. “Open your mouth again, and I’ll kick your fucking teeth out.”
But he couldn’t kick me without standing, which would give me another chance to roll away. “Bowman, drop the fucking gun!” I shouted, meeting the goblin’s gaze as I blatantly ignored his threat.
Hagen pulled his thick fist back, and I turned my head. His knuckles slammed into the side of my jaw rather than my teeth. It hurt like hell, but only fractured my pride.
“The dog tore that man’s head completely off his neck,” Bowman said, his gaze still trained on Orthus. “That makes this gun my new best friend.”
Damn, really? Orthus haddecapitatedBerg? I wasn’t sure how that was even possible, and before I could figure it out, Hagen hauled me up by one arm. He set me on my feet with no visible effort, which was just plain creepy coming from a man I towered over by several inches.
But creepier by far was the sight of Bowman holding my gun, aimed unsteadily at Orthus, who had indeed decapitated the unfortunate goblin. The hound had bitten all the way through Berg’s neck and spine, in fact, and was well on his way to actually burying his kill. Not just in snow, but in actual earth. Orthus stood in front of a fresh eighteen-inch-deep hole in the ground, growling viciously at the foreman, his lips curled back from sharp, bloody teeth. His muzzle was slick with blood, and more of it was frozen in his fur and matted to his pointy ears.
No wonder Bowman looked like he needed a fresh diaper.
“Okay, yes, the dog killed the…man.” At the last minute, I decided against revealing Berg’s species; there was a small chance that Bowman might recover from what he’d seen and go on to lead a fairly normal life. Unless I screwed that up for him with too much information. “But that was a very bad man. He would have killed us both—”
Hagen jerked me backward, and I nearly lost my balance. He was going for his gun again, and if he made it, Bowman and I were both dead. Not the quick and easy kind of dead, either. Oh, he’d probably shoot Bowman straight away, not out of courtesy for a human caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but because I’d be more than enough to deal with, now that his cohorts were stiff and cold.
But something told me that prolonged-and-painful was Hagen’s calling card, and that I was about to reap the benefits of his expertise.
My calling card was stubborn-and-sarcastic. Heavy on the stubborn. And I was just as willing to spread the wealth.
I tugged Hagen forward, digging my heels into the ground as best I could. My shoes slid on snow and a thin layer of ice, and he kept pulling against me. I leaned away from Hagen and took a deep breath. Using his grip on my left arm as my pivot point, I swung myself around to face him. I threw my right leg up and around as I spun. The toe of my boot slammed into the right side of his skull.
Hagen dropped my arm and swayed on his feet. Whirling, I took off toward the gantry. The goblin sloshed through the snow at my back. I was mere feet from the pit when his fingers snagged in my ponytail. He jerked down. My head snapped back. I wobbled, bringing one foot back for balance. It wasn’t enough. I fell to one knee.
His momentum unstoppable, Hagen skidded forward. I ducked into a ball on the ground. He tried to jump over me, and my elbow snagged his boot. He hit the snow in front of me, then scrambled to stand, facing the pit. Hagen turned as I leapt to my feet. I kicked him square in his broad chest.
The goblin staggered backward, waving his arms for balance. I followed him, swinging my foot around for another blow. My balance was compromised with my hands cuffed at my back, and my boot hit his arm instead of his chest. He staggered backward three more steps.
Hagen stood inches from the concrete lip around the pit, and he had no idea. One more kick, and Allen would have a new roommate—for eternity.
Desperately wishing for the use of my hands, I let my left leg fly again. My foot hit Hagen’s shoulder. It wasn’t a great kick, but it was good enough. He fell backward over the concrete lip, his ass dipping into the frigid darkness. One wide, powerful hand clutched the rim, the other clung to the edge of the metal disk.
Hagen’s eyes bulged. He glared up at me, lips pressed firmly together. He was too proud to beg for my help.
So be it.
I drew my foot back and kicked one last time, with every ounce of strength I had left. The steel toe of my boot smashed into his fingers, where they clutched at the concrete lip. Small bones cracked. He screamed and lost his grip.
Hagen slid further into the hole, his left hand now grasping for a better hold on the manhole cover. Instead, he lost his grip entirely.
I never heard the impact. I had no idea whether he hit earth or water, and I didn’t really give a damn, because either way, Hagen was gone. They wereallgone, and his was one less body I’d have to bury.
Hmmm. Maybe Bowman would help me toss the other two into the pit too…
Behind me, metal scraped metal. Then I heard a familiar click-slide-catch sound, but it seemed only distantly relevant to my state of mind at the moment, as I relished my victory.
“Alexandra!”
