42. Frankie
42
FRANKIE
I tried to grab Auclair and throw him off balance, but in the dark, it was too hard.
He rammed into me again, and we hit the wall. I felt a sharp pain as something dug into my side.
I grabbed his hair and yanked hard. He cursed in French.
I brought my knee up, but he deflected it, and we whirled.
“It’s no use,” he said. “I’m stronger, and you will die here.”
Arrogant asshole. Judo had taught me that getting the right leverage allowed a smaller, weaker person to overcome a bigger, stronger opponent.
This time, I managed to get a decent grip on his sleeve. I yanked and got him off balance.
We whirled again, and I shoved. He fell back on the floor, and I heard him grunt.
The door . I needed to find the door. I ran my hands along the wall as I hurried toward the front of the tomb.
Come on, come on.
There was no light anywhere. I knew if I didn’t get out, Auclair wouldn’t stop until he’d killed me.
A hand clenched on the back of my shirt. With a cry, I was yanked back.
He threw me to the floor, and I rolled. I hit my head against something hard and bit my lip. I felt blood in my hair, but I ignored it.
“You can’t escape me.” Auclair’s footsteps echoed in the darkness. “I’m going to choke the life out of you.”
No. My throat closed. I didn’t want to die.
I was going to tell Reath I was falling in love with him.
And that he did have a heart, and I wanted it.
I wanted to cook bad food for him, and sing in the shower as he smiled at me, and I wanted to wake up snuggled beside him every day.
I scrambled forward.
A heavy weight hit me on my back, and the air rushed out of me.
“There you are.” Auclair flipped me over.
His weight came down on top of me, and hands closed around my throat.
I bucked and clawed at his hands.
Dammit, it was so unfair that men were stronger than women.
He laughed. A creepy sound that echoed through the crypt.
It hurt. I felt the pressure on my throat and I couldn’t breathe.
Hell, no . A huge burst of energy fueled by fear, rage, and love hit me.
I was seeing Reath again. Whatever it took.
I tried to find some calm. Think, Frankie. My judo training came back to me.
I had to break his hold.
With one of my legs, I shoved at one of his, curling mine around it. I pushed until I could slide my arm around his to get a decent grip.
Then I shoved.
Auclair cursed, overbalancing to the side. The grip on my neck loosened, and I gasped for air.
“You’ll be dead before Fury finds you,” Auclair gritted out.
“Fuck you!”
A loud crash echoed through the crypt, then suddenly, Auclair was yanked off me.
A flashlight hit the floor and rolled.
I sat up touching my neck. The beam of light illuminated two men rolling on the floor.
I sucked in a breath.
Reath .
Reath pinned Auclair and jabbed a punch into his gut. Auclair twisted and rammed an elbow into Reath’s chest. They rolled again, arms jabbing too fast for me to see what was going on.
“You should never have touched her,” Reath clipped out.
With a lithe roll, Reath pinned Auclair to the floor and punched him in the face. He followed with more blows. Hard, relentless punches.
“You don’t get to take her, you don’t get to hurt her.” Reath growled.
Auclair’s face was covered in blood.
I crawled closer. Reath’s face looked savage in the dim light.
“Reath,” I said.
His head jerked up.
“Enough,” I murmured.
His hand clenched on Auclair’s shirt for a second, then he dropped the man and moved toward me.
Then I was in his arms.
“Thank God.” He pulled me closer, his arms tight.
I clung to him and buried my face in his neck.
“ Frankie .” His voice cracked. He dropped to the floor, holding me close. Then he rocked me, one hand pushing my tangled hair off my face.
“I’m okay,” I said shakily.
“I was afraid I’d be too late.”
“I knew you’d be searching for me. I held on.” I glanced at the groaning man nearby. “And I got a few of my own hits in.”
“I found your pin.”
I smiled. “I tried to leave you some clues.”
Suddenly, I saw movement behind Reath in the darkness. Auclair reared up and staggered to his feet.
“Reath!”
Reath swiveled, snapped an arm out. I didn’t see where the gun had come from.
Bam. Bam.
Auclair dropped.
“It’s over?” I whispered.
Reath kept the gun trained on Auclair. “It is.”
I looked up at him. There was enough light for me to see his familiar features. When Auclair didn’t move, Reath lowered the gun. His other hand touched the blood in my hair, then moved to my neck.
“He choked you.” Rage vibrated in his voice.
“It’s over.”
With a nod, he pressed his lips to mine.
The sound of running footsteps came from outside. I looked up, just as the Fury brothers appeared in the doorway of the crypt.
“Everyone okay?” Dante asked.
“We’re all right,” Reath said.
“Auclair, not so much,” I added.
“Good,” Beauden grunted.
Then Reath kissed me again, and he was all I could think about.