Page 84 of His Saving Grace

Mason hit the ground with a thud, the mud doing nothing to cushion the fall. The air whooshed out of his lungs, his head bouncing off the ground. Stars winked behind his eyes.

David capitalized on Mason’s moment of immobility. He sat up to straddle Mason, pulling his arm back to let loose a punch. Mason blinked, realized what was happening, and slammed David in the face with the heel of his hand.

The flesh under his palm gave way with a satisfying snap.

David howled, his hands covering what should be a broken nose. Mason used the distraction to throw the man off of him. David smacked into the mud a whimper and rolled away. Mason staggered to his feet, his bad leg aching in protest. He stomped across the clearing to where David lay, intent on ending this now.

“You’ve got nowhere to go.” Mason shouted over the roar of the water below. “You might as well give up. I know these woods like the back of my hand.” Well, I used to, anyway. Mason ate up the distance between the two of them.

“Don’t come any closer,” David said, pulling a big ass hunting knife out of a sheath hidden under his jacket. He staggered to his feet.

Mason froze, just steps away from the bastard. The guy was unhinged and there was no telling what he might do. Getting stabbed wouldn’t accomplish anything.

“David…” Mason used his name, although it galled him. “Come back to the house. We’ll work this out, come to an understanding. We just have to make sure that Grace—”

“No.” David spat the word, waving the knife around. “Don’t you say her name, you bastard. You touched her, tainted her. She’s mine and you had her. I will kill you.” He lunged forward.

Mason was expecting it and dodged out of the way. Not quick enough. The blade sliced through his shirt and the skin of his arm. The adrenaline coursing through him distracted him from the pain. Without missing a step, he rushed forward, hoping to throw David off by heading toward him. It had the desired effect, because David leaped back.

The ground under Mason’s feet trembled, rumbled in protest. Dread clawed through his insides. A deafening roar reverberated off the trees in the grove and then the ground gave way. The soft earth whisked everything in its path down the slope: mud, rocks, trees, brush, and the two men.