Page 81 of Into the Storm

Explosive bangs interspersed with bursts of automatic weapon fire underscored his words.

“Your SEALs are all dying. They’re no match for us.”

“If that’s true, then why are you here and not inside the lodge?” Her voice was a low rasp as he controlled her airflow.

“You. Our commander put a bounty on you. You are money.”

She gathered breath for one more scream, drawing it in slowly through her compressed airway, but before she could release it, his fingers closed tight on her neck, preventing the release.

She bucked again, trying to dislodge him as she scratched at the hand on her throat.

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t make a sound. His weight crushed her, prevented her from fighting.

No one would save her. They were facing their own nightmare in the lodge.

She’d been left behind because she was a liability. The stakes they faced were far bigger than a single woman’s life.

She felt hands at the waist of the hiking pants she’d stolen from Danielle Baldwin. She was near blacking out from lack of oxygen when she felt chill air on her bare butt. He was going to rape her as he strangled her.

Her vision tunneled to a pinpoint. Unconsciousness would be a relief of sorts.

All at once, she heard a roar, and the man at her back was lifted from her. She curled up in a ball, pulling her knees to her chest as she choked and cried, taking in painful, wheezing breaths.

“Run, Audrey!”

The sharp command from Xavier had her scrambling to her feet and yanking up her pants as she lunged forward, moving deeper into the woods before she could turn and see what was happening behind her.

Xavier and the merc rolled on the ground, exchanging blows. Her attacker was bleeding from a slash on his arm, and she spotted Xavier’s knife on the ground several feet away.

He’d gotten one good cut before being disarmed. Now they fought barehanded, with Xavier’s injured shoulder putting him at a disadvantage.

“I said, run!”

The merc landed a blow to Xavier’s wounded shoulder. He let out a grunt and fell back. He reached for his lost knife, just as the merc pulled a pistol from his holster.

Audrey didn’t hesitate and launched herself forward, throwing herself on the mercenary’s back.

Caught off guard, he dropped the gun as he tried to dislodge her. She wrapped an arm around his throat and squeezed, using her other hand to cinch her arm tight as she clung to his back with her legs wrapped around his hips.

She didn’t have the strength to bring him down, but as long as she was behind him and constricting his airflow, his ability to hurt her was limited.

Xavier claimed the dropped pistol, but with the merc’s body armor and Audrey on the merc’s back, she knew he didn’t have a shot.

An elbow to her side loosened her grip, and she let out a yelp. The merc tripped on a root or a rock and fell back, pinning her beneath him on the ground. She released his neck as she tried to scramble from beneath him.

He twisted to grab her, and Xavier struck. A swift stroke of a knife blade opened his throat. Blood spurted from the wound, hitting Audrey in the face.