Page 55 of Bound by Vengeance
I will not kill again!Not unlessit becomes necessary!She could get out of this withoutmurdering another, but she would end him if she had to.
Rolling her hips, she tried to knock himfree as he pulled his arm back and punched her in the face. Shedidn’t cry out when her nose broke with a crunch and the worldspun. No, it would take far more than that to make her scream.
Lifting her crooked arm, she threw it at hishead again before jerking herself to the side. She finally managedto knock him off and staggered to her feet. When the man leapt upand spun toward her, Vicky delivered a high sidekick to his chinthat snapped his head back. Before he could recover, she turned andslammed her other foot into his chest.
Blood sprayed from his mouth, and his breatherupted from him in a whoosh as he flew five feet back and into thekitchen. He smashed into the wall, forming a perfect man-sized dentin it. Plaster rained down, and for a few seconds, he remainedthree feet off the ground before falling.
Without her arms to help balance her, theforce of the kick staggered her into the wall behind her as theapartment door flew open. The impact of the door bashing off thewall caused the single lightbulb to sway back and forth over thegarish blood splattered across the carpet.
Nathan loomed in the doorway; the veins inhis forearms stood starkly out as his gaze flew around the roombefore settling on her. She found herself gazing at a man on theverge of losing all control.
Her adrenaline waning, Vicky slid to thefloor, and her head bowed as exhaustion swept her. Her hands felluselessly beside her. Her broken arm remained turned at an awkwardangle, the hand twisted grotesquely away.
Before her imprisonment, such a spectaclewould have had her screaming her head off and probably thrown herinto a state of shock. Vampire or not, she didn’t like grossthings, and she definitely didn’t like it if parts ofherwere disgusting. Her arm was nasty, but not the worst thing she’dever seen.
Nathan closed the door and rushed over toher. His knees smacked off the floor when he went down beside her.Grasping her chin, he lifted her head to study her swollen nose andthe blood trickling from it. The black bruise spreading across thebridge of her nose and encircling her eyes gave her a raccoonappearance. More dried blood flaked off her lips and cheeks.
The killing rage suffusing him caused hishand to tremble on her. If they were still alive, he’d destroywhoever did this to her. The red of her eyes faded to become theirbeautiful emerald color again when she met his gaze.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, torn betweendestroying something and pulling her into his arms to cradle herthere for the rest of his days.
“Yes,” she said, her voice distorted by herswollen lips.
Someone had punched her in the face. “Fuck,”Nathan snarled.
Turning, he hunched protectively in front ofher as his gaze went to the unconscious man in the kitchen.Nathan’s breath hissed in when he recognized the man. He had noidea if Jordan was alive or not, but Nathan hoped he was. No matterwhat happened, Nathan would make him pay for this.
“He was in the apartment when I entered, orat least I think he was, it all happened so fast,” Vicky said, hervoice slurred. “I think he’s a hunter.”
“He is.” Nathan rose to his feet.
“He said he'd seen us together.” She wishedher arm would heal so she could wipe the blood off her face, out ofher mouth, and she could tear out the stake. “He hates you and, ofcourse, me.”
Nathan stalked over to his supply ofweapons. Lifting the lid on the trunk, he pulled out two sets ofthe zip tie handcuffs stashed inside. Nathan strode over to Jordanand knelt in front of him. Before he could check for a pulse,Jordan groaned and his eyes fluttered behind his closed lids.Remorselessly, Nathan shoved Jordan over until he lay prone on theground. He yanked Jordan’s arms behind his back and tied them therebefore securing his ankles together.
When he shoved Jordan back against the wall,he studied the man. His swollen nose twisted to the side. Driedblood caked his face, the front of his shirt, and some of itstreaked his brown hair. Fresh blood continued to trickle from hisnostrils.
Vicky had done a number on him, but he knewshe’d held back. If she beat Jordan into this condition, then shecould have killed him.
“You should have killed him,” he stated.
“I won’t kill again if I don’t have to,” shereplied.
He rested his fingers on the floor as heturned to look at her. “When it comes to your safety, yourlife, you must do whatever is necessary to survive,Victoria,” he said.
“I know that, but it wasn’t necessary, yet.Besides, would you have understood it if I killed one ofyourmen?”
“If it meant you or him, if it meant keepingyouinmylife, then yes, I would be fine with youkilling him. I always will be.”
His words astonished her more than thatbastard’s attack had. Trying to maneuver herself into a betterposition, she used her feet to push herself up the wall and wincedwhen the motion shifted the stake.
Rising, Nathan stalked back to Vicky andknelt beside her again. “Easy,” he murmured as he touched hercheek. “This never should have happened to you. I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault, but I think you might havesome dissension in the ranks,” she muttered.
“There has been since I agreed to thealliance.” He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “But I neverexpected anything like this. Lean forward so I can take alook.”
Vicky kept her eyes on her attacker as shedid what Nathan instructed. “Maybe he’s a lone wolf.”
