19. JAX #2
An elbow came swinging toward my face when, suddenly, we were airborne.
For a second, I thought the whole world had tipped upside down.
When we came crashing back down, it was like being thrown out of a moving car.
I hit the deck and rolled all the way down the cargo hold, grappling at anything I could.
My head was roaring as I tried to make sense of it.
I looked up, dazed. Everything was sideways.
I shook my head like trying to clear an etch-a-sketch, then winced. Nope. Don’t do that.
Then the plane rocked and angled hard to the other side, and I slid with it.
My body slammed into the opposite wall. Pain rocketed through my back.
My spine is fucking broken, I thought. But I could still move my arms and legs, so when the aircraft levelled out, I pushed up and staggered drunkenly to my feet.
A tinny voice broke through the growling engine: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are experiencing some mild turbulence. The seatbelt sign has been turned on.”
Mild? Yeah fucking right.
I looked around, searching for the slithery fuck amongst the maze of cargo containers. I barely caught my breath when the plane swung again and I scrambled to brace myself on a railing.
But this time, there was a loud, metallic snap.
Before I could identify what it was, something sharp sliced into my side. I glanced down just in time to watch the gimlet blade pull out of my torso.
I turned with a snarl. “You fucking prick.” Blood spilled hot and warm down my ribs. “What happened to that so-called honor?”
The Viper held up his bloody gimlet knife with a vicious smile. “There is no honor amongst thieves, Jax.”
I launched at him, just as gravity decided to disappear again. We were thrown into the air like a tossed fucking salad. I thrust out my arms just in time to avoid faceplanting into a pile of luggage.
Groaning, I rolled onto my side. A shadow fell over me, and I tensed automatically, fists curling, ready to strike.
“Idiot.”
Madoc knelt over me, his features demonic in the flashing emergency lights. His eyes were dark and glistening, full of deadly intent. He was breathing hard.
I sat up, searching for my Viper. With any luck, he’d be impaled on something.
“He stabbed you.” Madoc’s hand pressed to my bleeding side. I took him in just as urgently—the blood on his nose, the cut above his eyebrow, the missing buttons on his shirt.
“I’m fine,” I said, knocking him away. But I spoke too soon.
Twisting around, I threw up into someone’s open luggage. Then I sat back onto my knees and stared at the open suitcase just beside it.
No fucking way.
Madoc, who’d been hovering over my shoulder, hummed in pure sadistic delight.
He reached in and took a whip, which had sharp metal tassels that could strip skin. Jesus fuck. There were also strap-ons, ball gags and butt plugs—everything one needed for a business trip to Zurich.
They wanted to fight dirty. We’d fight fucking dirty.
I picked up a leather corded whip and a thick, twelve-inch metallic dildo. Madoc chuckled beside me as he stood. I heaved myself to my feet and searched out my prey.
“You know how to use that?” he asked me.
I curled my fingers around the thick metallic base. “For this? Sure.” I glanced at him. “You?”
Madoc met my eyes, bloody brow twitching. The sly look on his face made my mouth run dry.
Holy shit.
My mind blanked, and then he was gone, armed with his torture whip. I grinned, the hungry beast inside me pawing after him.
Not the time.
I scanned the cargo hold again. It didn’t take long before I caught movement in the corner of my eye.
I turned, snarling, as my Viper launched at me.
Predictable. The knife whipped toward my head, but I twisted, so it only nicked my ear.
Then I caught his outstretched arm and used his momentum against him to pin him to the floor beneath me.
“Say goodnight, motherfucker.”
His eyes widened as I swung my dildo down on his face. He wriggled and twisted just enough to avoid a dildo-shaped crater in his skull. I hit the floor with a loud BANG as he tried to buck me off.
I gripped his hair, yanking his head back, so I could wrap the whip around his neck.
“Should we flip a fucking coin?” I snarled in his ear. “Are you feeling lucky, snake?” I tightened the noose as his body thrashed underneath me.
Even mostly incapacitated, he was still fighting for his life. He thrust the gimlet knife into the side of my thigh, just above my knee. The pain was so sudden that I almost lost my grip on the whip. I howled, but didn’t let go. I pulled and pulled, while he twisted and twisted.
Fuck!
I gritted my teeth and bit my tongue, iron filling my mouth as I fought not to release him. One of us would give in first. One of us…
A deep, groaning sound reverberated throughout the cargo hold. We both turned toward the sound.
A fucking container was heading straight for us, released from its shackles. A whole ton of hard-cornered metal. We had mere seconds before it crushed us.
Cursing, I released the whip and threw myself to the side, just as the container whizzed past me and slammed into the wall, leaving a car-sized dent.
Jesus, that was close.
Unfortunately, the Viper had disappeared. Again.
I spotted my dildo rolling away and went after it, scooping it up. Some men wielded swords. I had Cockzilla.
I limped forward, eyes searching. I wiped absently at the blood dripping down my brow. I’d slipped into that no-pain state of mind. That disconnect between my logical brain and my baser, primal instincts.
My life was threatened. My girl was threatened. My Madoc—
“JAX!”
I snapped around, alarmed by her voice. Olivia was holding onto a railing, her face white with panic. She pointed toward the external cargo hold door.
No fucking way.
My Viper had hitched on a backpack and was swiping an ID badge across the keypad. Noticing my attention, his bloodied face creased into that unnerving smile. Then he lifted his other hand and waved.
Not at me.
At Olivia.
Movement to my left caught my attention. Madoc was sprinting toward me, his face hard with determination. I was confused for all of three seconds before I understood his intentions.
He tackled me to the floor just as the keypad light blinked green and the cargo bay doors cracked open.
Then the plane exploded around us.