Page 49 of Mountain Shadow

None of this makes sense!

Her shoulders still smarted from the way the man had wrenched them back on the stairs, but she wasn’t an idiot. She knew things could get a lot worse very quickly.

“He had something of ours. And you know where it is.”

Jens shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The stocky man swiped his arm across the table. A plate and two glasses smashed onto the floor. Sarah stifled a cry as a small shard of glass hit her leg.

“Sit down,” he ordered, waiting until both she and Jens were sitting before bringing out a crumpled map.

“Now, show me exactly where you found him.”

“I can do that,” Jens agreed easily, “but first, let her go.”

“You’re in no position to negotiate,” the man growled, his voice still hoarse.

Sarah stiffened as the taller man came up behind her, his arm winding around her neck. He was so close she could smell his fetid breath with every exhale.

“She’s staying right here, and she’ll suffer if you don’t cooperate.”

Jens chewed on his lower lip for a second, an almost thoughtful expression on his face. He leaned forward towards the map.

“I’m going to need my hands for this,” he said easily.

“Not happening.” The man brought a pencil and stabbed the map viciously. “Right here, this is where the plane was found.”

“Except your cousin wasn’t inside the wreck. He was huddling underneath a nearby rock. Move your finger left. Stop. Back up a bit. That’s it, right there.”

Both men leaned in to look at the spot on the map, as if whatever they were looking for could materialize out of the paper.

Faster than she could blink, Jens flew out of the chair and across the dining table—it took her a moment to realize his hands were no longer cuffed behind his back.

How did he do that?

Jens grabbed the pencil from the table and rammed it into the man’s thigh. It went deep into his leg, making a thick, squishy sound. The man howled, his hands going down to clutch at his leg. Jens raised his elbow and rammed it into the man’s face, right at his already ruined nose. He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Jens turned towards the other man, who was crawling under the table, looking for something.

“Get out of here, Sarah!” Jens shouted.

Sarah hesitated.

He wouldn’t leave you.

Jens grabbed the man’s leg and pulled—hard—bringing him out from under the table. Jens straddled him and hit him on the face, the ribs, the throat. Sarah’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the warrior in action. He only stopped hitting him once the body went limp beneath him.

Sarah turned her head to see the taller man limping towards Jens, the pencil still sticking out of his thigh grotesquely. In his hand was a small dark object, pointed at Jens.

“Careful, Jens!” she shouted, already knowing her warning came too late. The man pressed the stun gun to Jens’s neck and pressed the trigger. There was a loud pop, and Jens’s body fell to the floor, his muscles contorting wildly. The man followed, his hand still on the trigger button. Jens’s body continued to shake.

He’s going to die.

“Stop!” Sarah screeched.

She turned, looking for a weapon—any weapon—and caught sight of the heavy, horse-shaped bookend. Without stopping to think of the consequences, she grabbed it from the shelf and swung it like a discus, straight to the back of the man’s head. It connected with a thunk.

The stun gun dropped from his hand and his body wavered, but still he didn’t fall. As his body started to turn towards her in slow motion, Sarah hit him again, in the temple this time.