Page 31 of The Stolen Dagger

I needed to stay on course. Get Pearl away from them. Adrian would get what’s coming to him.

I reminded myself of that truth as I begrudgingly handed him the dagger. He took it, ignorant of the future that awaited him.

“Finally,” Adrian said, wonder and arrogance choking the word. He lifted the dagger and turned it in his hands, inspecting it. “Amazing how one little thing can hold such power.”

The thought of him using said power made my stomach churn.

“I knew you’d come through for me, Em.” Adrian stepped closer with the dagger raised.

I stiffened but stayed perfectly still as he lightly caressed the tip of the dagger along my cheek. He leaned forward until his mouth hovered right next to my ear. His masculine cologne slithered up my nose, but I didn’t dare move.

“You always do,” he whispered.

Before the bile in my stomach could make an unwanted appearance, Adrian pulled back and examined the dagger like it held all the answers .

With his attention effectively off me, I looked to Pearl, now in Hunter’s clutches a few feet away. Her hands were bound, and tape covered her mouth, but the exhausted look in her eyes concerned me the most.

She was an old woman and shouldn’t have been subjected to this kind of danger.

With Adrian distracted, I looked down at the phone in my hand.

7:05PM . Almost there.

Drew and my father were already on their way. I had to get Pearl and get the hell out of here before they arrived and everything went to shit.

With one part of the plan completed, I stepped toward Pearl. I was so focused on her that I didn’t see the danger in front of me until it was too late.

“Not so fast, mi princesa .” Adrian stepped between us with the end of the dagger pointed only inches from my face, effectively halting me mid-step.

“What are you doing?” I shifted where I stood and felt the metal of my father’s gun dig at my back. “You got what you wanted. Now let Pearl and me go. That was the deal.”

Hunter laughed, and the unease in my gut intensified.

“Yes, that was the plan,” Adrian nodded, “but I’m still very upset with you. I think you need to be punished.” He looked over at Hunter and dipped his head in some kind of signal.

Frantic, my gaze shifted. “No, don’t?—”

Hunter swung the back of his hand across Pearl’s temple. Her head twisted upon impact, and her frail body slumped to the dirt as he let go of her.

“No!” I dove and crouched beside her. No one stopped me. “Pearl! Pearl, are you okay?”

I shook her, but she didn’t wake. She was still breathing but unresponsive. My anger flared inside me in an all- consuming blaze. Still crouched beside Pearl, I glared at Adrian over my shoulder.

“Why did you do that?” I yelled. “I gave you what you wanted! I did what you asked. Now let us go.”

“I lied.” Adrian shrugged, not one bit affected by my tone.

“You need to be taught a lesson after everything you’ve done.

” He stepped closer. The crazed look in his eyes returned as his temper rose with each word he spat at me.

“You disobeyed me. You ran from me. You hid from me for a year. All of that can’t go unpunished. ”

I stared into the eyes of my abuser and tried to think of what to do next. I tried to think of a way out of this.

But I was stuck.

Trapped.

The sun had finally descended over the horizon. Dusk turned to night and swathed the area in darkness, save for the lone streetlight illuminating the backside of the warehouses and the full moon overhead.

My time was up.

My father would be coming down the dirt road any minute now, and I hadn’t done what I should have. My plan had failed. Adrian had the dagger. There was nothing else I could leverage to get Pearl and me out of here safely.

Twisting back to Pearl, the gun in the waistband of my jeans shifted.

There was still one last card I could play.

In a single, swift motion, I stood and enclosed my fist around the cold metal of the gun. I raised and aimed it at Adrian but a harsh grip encircled my wrist out of nowhere.

Hunter .

He was closer than I thought he was.

Hunter bent and twisted my wrist at an unnatural angle. I cried out at the sharp pain as he forced me to drop my only weapon against them .

“Nice try, bitch,” Hunter grumbled. He twisted my right hand behind my back.

“Were you going to use this on me?” Adrian asked, amused, as he picked the gun up from the ground and waved it at me, the dagger still firmly clutched at his side. “After everything we’ve been through? I have to say I’m hurt.”

I twisted in Hunter’s hold but immediately winced at the pain his strong grip had on my wrist. One wrong move and the bone would snap.

Before I could think of any kind of defensive move to get out of his hold, Adrian’s heavy palm connected with my cheek.

Slap!

A stinging pain exploded across my face as my head twisted to the side. My ear rang, and my head buzzed. Tears pricked my eyes, and my vision blurred.

Hunter loosened his grip on my wrist, pulled me back against his front, and looped his arm through mine behind my back, effectively restraining me against him. His tight hold forced me to raise my head to Adrian.

“You really thought you could pull one over on me like that,” Adrian snarled and leaned closer.

“Baby, I know your every move. I know what you’re going to do before you do it.

You can’t win against me. I’ll always be one step ahead.

You might as well surrender now before you really get yourself hurt. ”

The old me would have submitted to him then and there with my head lowered in defeat. The old me would have taken whatever punishment Adrian had planned because that was the only option available to me. Because I was trapped with no other chance for escape.

But I wasn’t that girl anymore. I refused to be.

The coppery tang of blood on my tongue cemented my decision to fight like hell even more. Still tightly bound against Hunter, I spit directly into Adrian’s face.

He flinched back, and fury morphed his features, but before he could do anything in response, I thrust my hips back against Hunter, forcing him to step back, and slipped my arm out of the cage he’d made.

With enough space between us, I threw my elbow back into his ribs and then up, connecting with his nose.

Hunter cried out in pain, and I twisted just in time to see his hands cover his broken nose. Blood gushed through the gaps in his fingers.

Pride filled me, but just as I thought I’d escaped one man’s clutches, Adrian’s arm encircled my stomach and yanked me back against him. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp too when I felt the sharp blade of the dagger at my throat.

Immediately, I froze against him. My chest rose and fell with each heavy breath I took.

“See,” Adrian seethed in my ear. “I’m always one step ahead.”

“You fucking bitch,” Hunter spat, blood trickling down his chin.

“Is that the only name you can come up with?” I questioned, feeling brave despite my situation. “I mean, really, it’s getting old.”

Hunter ground his teeth in anger and stepped forward, trusting a thick finger at my face. “You’ll wish you were dead by the time I’m done with you.”

“That’s enough,” Adrian practically growled in my ear, then addressed a seething Hunter over my shoulder. “Restrain her this time and put her in the car.” I struggled against him, but he banded his other arm around my middle. “Leave the old lady. We don’t need her anymore.”

He stepped us toward the SUV when a pair of headlights about a half a mile down the road crested in the distance .

“Who the fuck is that?” Adrian bellowed in my ear, pressing the dagger more firmly to my throat and forcing my head to tilt to the right. “What did you do? Who the FUCK is that?”

I smiled, and the motion made the pain in my cheek flare to life again, but it was worth it as fear spread across Adrian’s face.

“The Reaper.”