Blindly, Jason swiped at her, the blade flashing. She blocked, but he retreated before she could disarm him. He stepped back, weapon between them. His eyes wild and fearful, he studied her, regret pouring from his mind.
“You made a mistake,” Ellyssa said, circling him as a predator would prey.
Jason jabbed the knife in the air. “Stay back.” He tried to move toward the only escape route.
As if he could outrun her.
Crouching, ready to spring, Ellyssa’s instincts to survive surging within her, she slid to the side. His back stayed facing the metal cabinets. He swiped the blade through the air again. A sloppy swing, poorly aimed.
Fear poured from him, scenting the air with a musky odor.
On the verge of attack, taking him down like an animal, another sound—one she recognized—stopped her. A shell chambered into a shotgun. Even she couldn’t outmaneuver a bullet.
“What’s going on here?” Candy demanded, her musical voice wavering, unsure.
With her back toward the new threat, Ellyssa didn’t respond, but the look on Jason’s face said a lot. Relief, followed by a sneer. Indecision churned in Ellyssa as she tried to decipher what Candy’s eyes had witnessed.
“Candy,” he said, his voice nasal from his broken nose.
“You, over there,” she said, indicating for Jason to move to the back.
The smile fell away. “She attacked me.”
“I said, get over there. Ellyssa, put your hands where I can see them and turn around.”
Ellyssa waited until Jason moved closer to the cots before she extended her arms. He still brandished the weapon, light reflected in the lustrous surface. She faced the fiery redhead. The double barrel pointed at her chest.
“I told you, she attacked me,” Jason said.
While the shotgun stayed trained on Ellyssa, Candy’s eyes darted toward Jason. “Why are you even here? I woke up and you were gone.”
Ellyssa waited to hear which lie would actually spout from his mouth; his mind was cluttered with all sorts of excuses.
When he didn’t answer, Ellyssa did. “He tried to rape me,” she said.
The muzzle of the gun dropped. “No.” Candy shook her head and her braids swung back and forth. “That’s not true. Jason?”
“Babe, she’s lying.” His voice was steady and calm.
“I am not lying. He came in here with a knife, and threatened me.”
“You lying bitch,” Jason screamed. “You know me better than that, Candy. I’ve never hurt anyone.”
In an instant, Ellyssa saw it all. What Ellyssa had glimpsed in Jason’s mind weeks before played out differently in Candy’s head. Jason had hurt her, and the shame of Jason’s actions had kept Candy quiet.
“That is a lie. Is it not, Candy?”
Candy’s lips pursed ever so slightly and her eyes widened. “Wh-what?” she stammered.
Ellyssa composed compassion on her face. “A few months ago, when you first started to…date, he hurt you. His touch was not gentle, as you had imagined, but rough as he took you in the storeroom. The bruises on your thigh took forever to fade.”
Candy shook her head. “Wh-…How?”
“Shut up, you bitch,” Jason screamed, stepping toward Ellyssa.
The gun pivoted from Ellyssa to him. “You stay put,” said Candy.
“Don’t listen to her,” Jason said. “She’s a freak.” His tinny voice took on a pleading note.
Ellyssa glanced behind her. Jason was staring at her, jaw locked, body trembling. Deciding he wasn’t going to attack, she faced Candy. The redhead had her targeted again.
“Candy, you do not have to do this.” She took a step forward.
“One more step, and I’ll blow your pretty face off,” Candy stated. Ellyssa hesitated. “I know what he did.”
“Shut up!” Candy screamed, pulling the butt of the gun firmly into her shoulder. “Ever since you got here…” She slammed her mouth shut.
Ellyssa felt the jealousy in her mind. The anger. The hurtful embarrassment of someone knowing her secret.
Candy’s finger twitched nervously against the trigger. “I want you to shut up. Shut up!” Her squeal tumbled through the room and out into the hall.
Ellyssa tensed, seeing the confusion, the hurt, in Candy’s mind. She readied herself, but before Candy could pull the trigger, a dull thunk sounded, and the armed woman’s fingers relaxed. The gun clattered to the floor as she crumpled. After kicking the dropped weapon into the passageway, Rein stepped over Candy. He swung the muzzle of his rifle up, targeting Jason.
“What’s going on?” Rein demanded.
Heart skipping a beat before accelerating into overdrive, Ellyssa stared at Rein, his hair even more disheveled than usual. She lacked the ability to fully comprehend what he’d just done. Done for her. His gaze darted toward her, green eyes questioning, but the words caught in her throat.
“She attacked me,” said Jason, the syllables of his words blunted by his wound. The blade of his knife pointed outward. He took a step.
“Is that true?” Rein directed the question at Ellyssa.
Ellyssa parted her lips, but before she said anything, she peered into his thoughts. He was unsure whom to believe; images flipped between her and Jason, as he tried to decipher the truth. What he had walked in on was two against one, but could it be that Ellyssa had initiated the confrontation?
Ellyssa read the uncertainty, the doubt, and how he felt for her. Then, he focused on the silvery surface of the knife, questioning why Jason had it. She pressed her lips together.
“Of course, it’s true.” Jason shuffled closer toward her; she felt him nearing, his mind working on contorting the facts. “The damn bitch almost killed me. If it wasn’t for Candy, she would’ve done it.”
Then, Ellyssa perceived his plan before he could launch it—Jason lunging at her, knife sinking into her chest, shutting her up, keeping his secret safe. She turned just as he pounced, ready for him, but the moment never came. A deafening shot rang out, and Jason tumbled off-course, screaming as he landed close to her, his leg stretched out before him. The knife skidded across the rocky floor, out of his reach.
Jason whimpered in pain, his eyes darting toward Rein, accusing him of betrayal. The thigh of his pants quickly turned from camo to dark crimson.
Adrenaline pumping, her body on high alert, Ellyssa turned, preparing for Rein as he moved forward, but he no longer carried the weapon. The rifle lay on the floor, a meter away from Candy.
She popped into his mind. He meant her no harm. He’d protected her.
“I did not need your help,” Ellyssa stated, as he came toward her.
“I know.” Rein hesitated for the briefest of seconds as he grabbed a cloth, then crossed the remaining distance. “I just wounded him. Would you have stopped?”
Knowing she wouldn’t have, she didn’t bother answering. Ellyssa glanced at Jason. Blood pooled under his leg.
“You should help him,” she stated as she turned around, looking straight into Rein’s eyes.
Startled to find he stood so close, Ellyssa stepped back. Rein moved closer, erasing the distance she’d made and more, his face centimeters from hers. The nearness unnerved her. His scent intoxicating, she remained still and gazed into his eyes. Golden flakes swam in the green and burst around his pupil, like rays of the sun. She couldn’t help but focus on them.
“Hold this to your wound,” he said, tossing the towel he’d grabbed to Jason. His gaze never left hers.
Jason mumbled under his breath, then hissed as he pressed the cloth against his leg.
Still connected to Rein’s mind, sensation overwhelmed her. Ellyssa didn’t fully comprehend what Rein was doing when he first rested his hands on her shoulders; then it hit her. Stunned, unmoving, her heart responded with a new beat. The hardwired senses jammed as her arms dangled at her sides like useless, dead attachments. He pulled her in closer, his scent thick, tantalizing, inebriating.