Rushing through the open door, I barely felt the cold wrap around my naked skin. The invaders turned toward me and dropped their guns to the ground. I froze. I stared at their empty hands. Opening my clenched fists, I dropped my sais to the ground.
They ran at me in twos, but I knocked them down one by one. My fists crunched noses, broke arms, and snapped ribs. My knuckles bled, but they kept coming and I kept plowing them down.
A man came running at me. I stood my ground until he was only feet away … then as he reached to strike me, I dodged his fist and clutched his throat. Using the poison fueling my flesh, I roared and lifted him off the ground. Squeezing hard, I watched his eyes widen. I squeezed my hand tighter, hearing his breathing cut off. Blood drained from his face, and just before he took his last breath, I twisted my hand and snapped the invader’s neck.
Dropping his body to the ground, I whipped my head up at the sound of a van door opening. I braced when a man stepped forward. He was dressed like how Master dressed. The invaders swarmed around him, but his eyes focused on me.
“Knayz, he can’t be brought down. We need to kill him. He’s too far gone.”
The man stopped and growled, “No. We take him.”
“He can’t be stopped and we’re running out of time.”
“No!” the man snarled, but his eyes never left mine. He reached for his shirt and began unbuttoning the front. “I’ll take him.”
A man beside him stopped dead. “But you’re the knayz. The Pakhan ordered you not to fight.”
But the man kept coming, shedding his shirt to the ground, now only wearing a white vest showing his cut muscles. He approached me, fists clenched, his jaw tensed like mine.
I rushed forward and raised my fist to strike, but the man ducked and rammed his fist in my stomach. Pain sliced through me.
He was strong.
Gasping, I turned and swung, landing a hit on his lip. Blood immediately ran down his chin. But he came at me again. Grabbing my hair, I fought to get free. The man’s strength matched mine. He lifted his leg and sent his knee straight into my jaw.
Rage surged through me. I needed to kill … Klavs!
Storming toward him, I wrapped my arm around his waist and took him to the ground. His fists hammered into my ribs, but I pressed my forearm against his throat and pushed down. Face filled with anger, he reached up, hands gripping each side of my head. I pushed down harder, cutting off his breathing. His fingers clawed into my scalp, and with a strength I’d never encountered before, he began lowering my head. I fought back, pressed down harder against his throat. His face reddened from lack of air.
He would die. He would die.
His hands gripped tighter, and just when the fucker was running out of breath, he lifted his head and slammed it against mine. My arm slipped off his throat and he spun me on my back, wrapping my hands behind my back.
I fought to get free. My skin scorching from the poison in my veins. I couldn’t stand the feel of its heat.
“Now!” the man called. “In his neck, now!”
I thrashed against his hold, but I couldn’t break his grasp.
Klavs … Klavs … my mind ordered, Master’s words flooding my head. They wouldn’t stop, the words kept stabbing at my brain. The poison, the pain, the hold. I couldn’t fucking break free!
I heard footsteps beside me, then a pain suddenly stabbed in my neck. I roared and rammed my elbow into my captor’s ribs. I thrashed to get free. Rolling to the side, I jumped to my feet, but I couldn’t see straight. My skin was too hot and dripped with sweat. I tried to walk but my feet wouldn’t move.
The man who’d fought me got to his feet. I blinked away the blur in my eyes. My gaze went to the man. His face was pale as he stared at me. He was mouthing words, firing orders to his men, but only the sound of my own breathing filled my ears.
I tried to reach for the man, my mind telling me to fight, to kill, to create carnage. But as I stepped forward, my knees buckled and I hit the ground hard. Arms grabbed me and began dragging my limp body across the hard ground.