Chapter 21 #2
The tension in the room amped up, sending a rash of goose bumps crawling over Jesse’s skin. It felt like lightning about to strike. Or the seconds before an earthquake.
“What have you done?” Tegan growled, her eyes shining with a hectic fury.
Parker cautiously reached out. “Babe.”
“What have you done?” Tegan screeched.
With an unholy scream, Tegan released the fury that had no doubt been boiling and churning inside her for years.
She leaped toward Jesse, wildly swinging her fists.
Thankfully, she was too angry to notice that Jesse wasn’t trying to fight back.
Instead, she rolled to the side, her fingers closing around the wooden knob.
Sending up a silent prayer that the oar wasn’t broken or so rotten it would crumble at her touch, Jesse jerked it up, managing to connect with Tegan’s vicious punch.
There was a loud crack as the wooden board hit Tegan’s upper arm with shocking force, followed by Tegan’s shrill cry of pain.
The sound was deafening in the cramped space, but the blow did nothing to faze the woman.
In fact, it just seemed to piss her off.
Aiming a kick at Jesse’s knee, she continued to throw wild punches, apparently unaware of the blood that was flowing from a cut on her arm, where a splinter had sliced open her skin.
Honestly, Jesse didn’t doubt she could stab her stepsister in the heart and the demented fool wouldn’t notice.
She looked like a rabid dog, with her eyes wide and her lips pulled back in a snarl.
She was even foaming at the mouth as she lost control.
Jesse struggled to get to her feet, unable to get a full swing while she was trapped on the cot. Unfortunately, Parker had followed Tegan forward, whether to calm her crazed attack or to help maul Jesse was impossible to guess, but his presence kept her trapped in place.
Twisting to the side, Jesse managed to stab the oar in Tegan’s direction, catching her in the gut even as her stepsister’s fist slammed against the side of her face.
Her ears rang, but with a shake of her head, she managed to give another jab.
She was managing to keep Tegan at bay, but she wasn’t gaining any ground.
A dangerous position, as Parker finally decided to tag team with his partner. Reaching out, he wrapped his fingers around Jesse’s throat. She pulled back as he tried to squeeze, but she was trapped by the cot behind her and Tegan in front of her.
Cursing at the irony of Parker Moreau discovering he had a spine at the worst possible moment, Jesse released a low growl. She might die, but she was getting in a few good whacks first.
With a surge of desperation, Jesse pretended to jab the oar at Tegan, only to twirl it downward and shove it between her legs.
Then, with a sharp jerk, she thrust it to the side, knocking the younger woman off-balance.
At the same time, she turned her head, meeting Parker’s terrified gaze before she headbutted him with enough force to send him stumbling backward.
She hadn’t really gained much advantage as her two attackers swiftly regained their balance, but she could at least breathe again. And she could finally lift the oar high enough for a good solid swing.
Spreading her feet and clenching her muscles as she prepared for a last moment of glory, Jesse barely noticed a shadow pass by the dusty window. It wasn’t until the door silently slid open that she realized she was no longer alone.
Noah stepped into the room, his face grim as he moved to grab Parker by the back of his shirt and casually threw him against the wall, with enough force to bust the window and send up a cloud of dust. Parker squealed as he flew through the air, his arms windmilling.
Then there was blessed silence as his skull connected with the window frame and his eyes rolled back in his head as he crumpled to the ground.
Jesse took a second to appreciate the sight of her former lover sprawled on the filthy floor, blood running from his nose, which she’d busted, before she turned back to her stepsister, who was backtracking as she belatedly came to her senses.
She’d been in complete control of the encounter; now she was trapped in a corner. But like any rat, she was scrambling for a way to escape.
“Jesse. We can work this out—”
“Shut up, bitch.”
Stepping toward the woman who’d gleefully plotted her murder, Jesse swung the oar with a practiced ease. It’d been years since she played softball, but she still had the skill to modify her angle as Tegan hastily ducked to the side.
With a sickening thud, the oar smashed against the woman’s cheek, the old wood once again cracking from the force of the blow. Tegan immediately dropped like a sack of potatoes, her face swelling from the force of the impact.
Did that mean she was still alive?
Jesse shrugged, dropping the oar as she walked straight into Noah’s waiting arms. Who cared what happened to her stepsister or her worthless ex-lover?
She’d survived.
Nothing else mattered.