Sex-Crazed Desperado #2
I pulled away slightly, peering into his twisted face. But he quickly captured my mouth again and dragged me harder into his body, almost as if he was afraid I’d run away.
It was an embrace that made me worry I’d never escape him or his touches ever again, but it also gave me hope that maybe I wasn’t the only one struggling to keep away.
Phillip’s touches grew more insistent. He yanked at my clothing and slipped hot hands under my shirt, scraping fingernails along my abdomen roughly enough to get a gasp. And for a second, I worried he might actually strip me down and take me right out there in public.
Next to this damn bush, even.
I managed to get my head together enough to pull away, but when I opened my mouth to say something, a sound reached my ears that stole my focus.
The whisper of an arrow.
I evaded just in time, Phillip dodging with me, and the head of the arrow sunk into a tree directly behind the place we’d just been making out.
Holy shit.
As quickly as the first, another cut through the air and Phillip swung out his sword and sliced it in half. Liquid sprayed from its thick base, scattering through the air like glimmering, round jewels.
Poison?
I watched it all in slow motion, vision catching everything faster than it moved. “What?”
“Climb,” Phillip instructed as purple light appeared, gliding across the ground in thick bands.
I did as he instructed. With my practiced agility, I scaled a nearby tree, eyes directed at the ground.
The purple light formed a unique symbol over a variety of spring colors decorating the floor.
Then it instantly burst, pulling up the earth and vegetation as we watched from the treetops.
It was like watching a slowed down action movie, destruction in perfect view from the height I obtained in milliseconds.
But I probably looked like a seriously confused heroine.
More symbols scattered across the ground and over the trunks of the trees we climbed. It was faster with each one, nearly twenty by my count, and I didn’t have to be a genius to figure they’d probably burst, too.
Phillip nodded his head the direction we needed to go in and jumped across to another tree.
Guess we’re pulling a full ninja.
Following, I took care to land only on trees not already marked by purple symbols. Trees came down slowly, barely moving because of my slow-motion vision. Within seconds, Phillip and I escaped the area targeted by whoever it was.
We nearly made it to the end of the forest we’d been squatting in for over a week after a few minutes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon across the treetops. I’d feel cooler about it if I wasn’t completely blindsided by the surprise attack with magic.
Phillip quickly descended the last tree before nothing but open air met our gaze. Like I’d learned to do, I followed his lead and climbed down the same tree, bemoaning a few stray branches my clothes got caught on along the way.
Scanning the area, my partner cursed. “We’ll need to use whatever ranged weapons we have. Whoever it is, they’re a magic-user. They’ve used a barrier to conceal themselves and getting close will be nearly impossible. They’ll lay traps. So, stay close.”
“Magic? Is it a goblin?” I removed my gun, not exactly excited to use it. I didn’t bring my crossbow because Phillip had his, and now I regretted it.
Phillip sneered, crossbow out and immediately aimed off to the left. “No. This one’s smart. Too many things it could be, but my guess is it’s after you, so don’t leave my side.”
“After me?”
Another assassin?
He didn’t answer. Probably figured I didn’t need him to, but I was desperate to know what sort of beastie we potentially fought. By the sound of it, Phillip wasn’t totally sure either.
After this, I’d pick his brain about what other things used magic and demand a full list of creatures, or at least a place to find literature on them.
“This little ball of fun will disrupt a magical barrier, but it only works for a few human seconds.” Phillip recovered something from his pocket, a tiny silver ball no bigger than my pinkie, and threw it.
An electric sensation exploded in the air, tickling across every bare expanse of my body. It was difficult to describe, but the sensation most closely resembled static electricity just before the shock.
Several arrows shot out of Phillip’s repeater crossbow when the electricity first entered the air. He’d apparently struck his mark, because I heard a soft grunt. The person had to be nearly a mile away for it to be so faint.
I couldn’t make out whether it was a male or female—or beast—we fought, but it hardly mattered. It planned to kill or capture me, so I only cared about where I’d find it.
Fighting with no visual was terrible. Even with enhanced vision, I couldn’t find the bastard. Phillip promised I’d get better with using my eyes like a scope on a rifle, but until then, I’d rely on the older Hunter to find our targets.
Not exactly ideal, but I was dealing.
Phillip shouldered his crossbow, light eyes flicking over to me. “They can’t match our speed. Magic’s dangerous, though. Be careful. Whoever it is, they have the serum.”
“Serum?” I nearly swallowed my tongue. “Doesn’t that mean…?”
Phillip nodded, his strong jaw clenching.
“Likely whoever first sent Anita and this new person is part of the Organization. I’m pretty confident the serum isn’t in the hands of anyone else.
” His face expressed grave frustration. “Narrowed to a few, but it’s likely whoever this magic-user is, they were hired by someone with the information. ”
Purple light landed on us, and I suddenly couldn’t move. It happened quicker than the ones that formed on the floor, so I hadn’t been able to react like I wanted to.
Phillip cursed angrily under his breath, looking at his pocket, but he was just as frozen as I was. “V,” he growled, eyes jerking over the other direction. The expression on his face was new for me. “Move,” he demanded.
“I can’t.” I tried to move my legs, but it was like they’d been wrapped tightly by something. “What is this?”
Phillip hissed, his broad shoulders shifting slightly. “A binding spell. Keep trying. It’ll break if you keep at it. Don’t stop trying, do you hear me? Keep fighting to get out.”
It was the first time I’d ever heard Phillip talk like he couldn’t calm down. It sounded desperate. Afraid. Not at all like him. And I was instantly worried.
But I did what he said.