Resistance (8 page)

Thankfully the snow was nice and fluffy and she didn’t make
a sound as she gritted her teeth and tiptoed through the icy snow toward the smokeless,
tiny fire.

Grabbing her boots, Reena dared another glance at Blade who
snored softly. She couldn’t help but smile at her luck.

Cripes, what a couple of nimrods, falling asleep on the job.
She didn’t bother to survey Blade for weapons. Cade would have taken care of
them. She should search Cade’s knapsack, though, but it was too close to him
for comfort. She debated whether sitting on the log beside a sleeping Blade in
order to put her boots on was a good idea. With her luck, he’d wake and break
her neck. She wished she could hang around and ask him if he really would have
killed her, but hey, she had better things to do with her time.

She held her boots and crept silently through the snow and
away from camp. Behind some nearby bushes, she put on her socks and boots and
ignored the shivers racing up her spine. Then she started walking again.

About a hundred yards away, Reena broke into an awkward run
through the snow drifts. She covered the rugged terrain at mind-boggling speed
despite the deep snow tangling her feet and threatening to trip her. She
stumbled over hidden rocks and stumps and wove a serpentine path around gullies.

The whole time she ran, she imagined Cade and Blade waking
up any second and giving chase. Her arms prickled as she fantasized being
grabbed by one of them and tackled to the ground.

She ran faster.

Her breaths sawed in and out in painful gasps as the icy air
burned deep into her lungs. Even though she knew better than to panic, she
couldn’t stop the claws of fear from grabbing hold. With every step, her feet
continued to get colder and her teeth just kept on chattering.

Suddenly, she wished for the scrunch of footsteps chomping
through the snow behind her. Wished Cade and Blade were following her. They
would warm her up.

Oh God, what the hell was she thinking? She shouldn’t expect
a rescue from them. They wouldn’t follow her in this nasty weather. The snowflakes
swirled so thickly, she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. The storm had
intensified and she didn’t recognize any of the landmarks. In her panic, she
must have gone the wrong way.

Frig! They’d find her frozen stiff. A corpse. Cold forever!

Oh God! Get a grip!

But how could she stay calm? She didn’t have the foggiest
idea where she was heading. Despite spending her teenage years exploring these
woods, nothing seemed familiar. Back then she’d loved the silence. Enjoyed the
magnificent scenery—the snow-drenched trees, the tart bite of winter air
splashing against her cheeks. But now the crisp air clawed past her clothing
and bit into her skin like sharp teeth, making her shiver even harder.

Was she at death’s door? Her hopes and dreams of freeing all
women began to slip away. She’d wanted to give back what had been too easily
taken. Return the freedom their forefathers had fought so hard for. Everything
would be lost if she didn’t find her way out of these godforsaken woods.

The snow flurries began to ease and a couple of feet ahead
of her the landscape became visible. As she stumbled through the drifts, she
thought the slight echo of men’s voices brushed against the trees. But that was
ridiculous. If Cade and Blade were stupid and came out in this nightmare
weather, they would hunt her in silence. They would sneak up on her.

She had to be hallucinating or dreaming. Or hoping too much for
rescue. Or…

Icy shivers skewered her. Blade had mentioned hunters.

A big shadow appeared out of the swirling snow and the
instant a face materialized through the storm terror twisted like a knife in
her belly. This person wasn’t Cade or Blade. Or anyone she knew.

Oh God. No.

“Well, well, well. A woman. A fucking woman,” the man
growled.

His face was concealed in hair, the whiskers tinged with
frost. His hat and shoulders were covered in snow. He leered at her in a very
ungentlemanly manner that made Reena’s stomach roll with sickness.

“Over here! I’ve found one! Over here!” he shouted.

Oh sweet Lord.

Renewed strength zapped into her limbs. Limbs she’d thought
would never work again.

Spinning around, she struggled through the heavy snow,
following her previous footsteps. With every step, she picked up speed, and
then she ran.

Suddenly a burst of pain exploded in the back of her head. Everything
went black.

Chapter Five

Reena didn’t know how long she’d been out, but an agonized
moan ripped her from the dark world of hibernation. The pathetic sound had come
from her.

Pain throbbed through her temples and her entire body was
sore. A chill of foreboding swept through her. Had the man raped her? She took a
mental inventory and aside from muscle aches, hurting cold feet and a really
bad headache, there didn’t appear to be anything wrong. But that didn’t mean…

Icy goose bumps shivered through her and slammed into her
empty belly as she tried to move. The unmistakable sting of a rope bit into her
already raw wrists, compliments of Cade’s cuffs. Her ankles were bound and she
couldn’t move her legs.

Thankfully she was fully clothed and lay beneath a thick
pelt of blankets. The blankets stank of pee and sweat, but were warm. Drifting
all around her was the raspy breathing of men, the snap and crackle of burning wood,
the tart scent of wood smoke and foul body odor.

The clatter and clank of metal against metal split the air.
They were eating, and the unmistakable odor of salsa had her mouth watering
despite her fear. Not that it mattered. She doubted she could keep anything
down. They wouldn’t give her food anyway. Starvation was one of the torture techniques
men used against a captive woman to get her to submit to them.

Okay she wouldn’t go there either. She needed to escape. And
fast.

She forced her eyelids open. For a split second, sheer
terror slammed into her as she encountered complete darkness, but a slight turn
of her head let in some cold air. They’d covered her head with the blankets.

She’d best not move. If the pain pounding in her temples was
any indication she’d taken a bad hit.

Okay so escape wasn’t exactly an option at the moment. She
needed to get out of these ropes first. Cripes! How come she kept getting into
these situations?

“You sure you didn’t kill her when you bonked her on the
head? She should have come to by now.” A gruff male voice with a slight
southern accent shot through the air, too close for comfort. The guy was sitting
right beside her.

Reena froze.

“Don’t worry. She’s just playing dead.” Another man chuckled.

She didn’t recognize either of the voices as the guy who’d knocked
her out. That meant there were three of them. At least.

Her heart lurched in her chest. How could she escape three
of them?

Shit.
These men would be on edge. Desperate for female
companionship. They’d most likely been without a woman for years. Once they got
started with her, they would continue for days…

A burst of panic made her catch her breath. Her inhalation
sounded like a bullet slicing through the air. She cried out in shock as the
blankets were ripped off and cold air slammed into her bare hands and feet. The
bastards had removed her socks and boots!

“You’re awake, pretty thing.”

He was the man who’d caught her. He leered down at her and
the sight of him brought a roll of nausea to her gut. Grabbing her by the
knotted rope around her wrists, he dragged her to her feet as easily as if she
were a rag doll.

Her toes sank into the snow beside the blankets and the icy
shock made her grimace.

“Hold her still, Bud, while I untie her ankles. Then we
party!”

A round of hoots and hollers ripped through the air, making
her tense. She wanted to run, to get away from their leers, but she forced
herself to remain still. She wouldn’t be able to get far in bare feet. There
were eight of them. All sizing her up as if she were a prized possession.

Another man stood and held the rope around her wrists. He
seemed around forty-five or fifty. Pockmarked face. Rotten teeth. Bad breath.

“What’s your name, miss?” he asked as he stared at her. She
recognized the hunger in his eyes. The need for release. It made her ill.

“None of your fucking business, asshole.”

She’d learned long ago being nice to these types of men got her
nowhere. They should know right away she wouldn’t be pushed or taken easily.
The man’s smile dropped into a cold hard glare.

“Didn’t anyone tell you it’s impolite for a lady to swear?”
he growled and yanked on the rope, pulling her closer. Close enough for her
breasts to touch his chest. She tried to wiggle away, but he held her fast.

“Didn’t anyone tell you it isn’t polite being rough with a
lady?” Reena snapped back.

The other men who sat around the campfire hooted and
hollered again. The rope around her ankles gave way and she held her ground as
the man holding her wrists came in for a kiss. At the last minute, she turned
her head and he kissed her hair.

“Fucking bitch!” he complained and grabbed for her chin. She
wrenched her head away and he missed. Another violent curse followed. More
laughter from the others.

Oh shit. Here we go.

She would go down fighting like a wild cat. She knew as the
bite of panic began to burn through her.

She’d go down fighting.

* * * * *

A high-pitched female scream sliced through Cade Outlaw like
a knife sinking into his gut. It was followed by silence. Thick. Oppressive.
Horrible silence.

“At least she’s still alive.” Blade’s cool voice came from
immediately in front of him.

Yeah but for how long?

Cade’s throat grew dry and his palms began to sweat in his
gloves as he imagined why Reena would scream like that.

“Hurry up, would you?” he prodded as a sense of urgency
overrode his common sense to remain cautious.

They’d been following her trail for the better part of a
day. The trek hadn’t been easy. Far from it. Most of her footprints had been
covered by the snow storm. Luckily though, here and there, in places where the
wind hadn’t been able to reach, they found her tracks.

About two hours ago, his blood had run cold when Blade
pointed out her tracks had met up with another set, which had mingled with
several more. He’d been hoping against hope she’d come into contact with other
members of the Resistance. Prayed she’d be safe and sound. But the scream had
shattered his illusions.

Deep down in his gut, he’d sensed trouble. Blade knew it
too. Upon seeing the merging trails, he hadn’t suggested stopping for a meal.

Cade should have killed Blade back at camp. That would have
been the best way to protect Red from the assassin. But he might need the man
if Reena was in trouble. If anything, Blade was known for his excellent
tracking abilities, and Cade had to admit, it would have taken him a lot longer
to find clues as to where Reena had gone.

Sex-crazed men could do a lot of nasty things to a woman. Spiritually,
physically and emotionally. He’d seen a lot of men behaving ungentlemanly
during the Wars. By the haunted way Reena had sometimes peered at him across
the fire they’d shared yesterday evening, she’d experienced something bad too.
Hell, he didn’t want any more bad things to happen to her.

“If I’m going to help get her out of this mess she’s gotten
herself into, I’m going to need my weapons back,” Blade tossed over his
shoulder.

Cade ignored his request. “Keep going. When the time comes
to decide if you need a weapon, I’ll make my decision then.”

Blade grunted his dissatisfaction and continued trudging
ahead through the snow. But by the way he held his shoulders tense and his
gloved hands clenched, the guy was angry. Bloody pissed off.

Good. That made two of them.

* * * * *

If ever there was a time Will Blade was grateful for his
ability to keep calm under extreme pressure, this was it. Sure, Red’s scream
shot mega jolts of adrenaline through his system, but rushing blindly into the
hunters’ camp was suicide. There were eight men. Big burly men dressed in heavy
coats. Hunters, just like he thought. And they certainly had their prey.

The men laughed while they roughly pushed Red from one man
to the next. A ploy used to keep their victims off balance and to prevent them
from running.

It was working.

Red stumbled and fell several times before being hauled to
her feet and pushed toward the next man. He shuddered at their crudeness, having
her feet bare. Out in this cold weather, her feet sinking into the icy cold
snow would be brutal. Bastards. He’d enjoy killing them.

He tried to ignore the cold sweat running down his back
while he studied each man. He committed their movements and features to memory,
trying like hell to ignore Red’s tired pants as she fought the laughing men.

Shit!
Didn’t she know not to breathe through her
mouth when stressed?

Okay focus, Blade. Focus on how to get her out.

Beside him, Cade shifted uneasily. His anger sparked through
the air between them as he readied himself to pounce blindly into the fray.

“You go in there without a plan and we’re both dead,” Blade
warned as Cade shifted again.

Muscles spasmed and jerked in Cade’s cheek.

Blade held his breath as one of the men back-handed Red
across the face. The smack of flesh hitting flesh ripped through him like a
cleaver. He fought the impulse to shout at them to stop.

He expected Cade to rush out and was surprised when he stood
his ground. Hell, they might survive this after all if the guy kept his temper.

Not good odds if Red was fast enough to help. Crap odds if
she hadn’t sunk deep into herself in order to protect her mind.

“I’ll take the four on the left,” Blade said.

“Just make sure you don’t hit her. If you do, I’ll kill
you,” Cade warned.

Unfortunately when the shooting started, Red would be in the
crossfire. Chances were likely she would get hit and, although Blade had been
about to shoot her yesterday, he couldn’t stomach killing her today, especially
with his protective instincts clouding his judgment. He was in one hell of a
situation, wasn’t he?

Another sharp slap of flesh hitting flesh jolted him and the
familiar burn of anger raged through him. He used it to stoke his adrenaline.

“Give me my fucking—”

His gun appeared in front of his face.

Hell, truth was all three of them probably wouldn’t make it
out alive. He really had nothing to lose if he accidentally shot Red. Maybe
that’s why Cade had finally given him a weapon.

Either way, it was a really bad day to die.

* * * * *

One minute Reena was being shoved to the next leering man
and the next she fell over his prone body, her bare hands plunging into red
snow.

She blinked at the color in confusion. Okay, so she’d lost
her mind?

Gunshots split the air and she screamed in surprise. All
around her, the hunters were grabbing their pistols and returning fire. For the
longest time, she lay on top of the dead man, fearing any movement would bring
a bullet into her head.

Paralyzing terror gripped her as the gunshots continued. She
struggled to get her bearings and finally managed to snap out of her stupor and
quickly searched the dead body for a weapon.

Whoever was shooting at them was either a friend or foe of
hers. If they were friends…well…too bad. If they got in her way while she was
taking out the hunters, she’d deal with the guilt afterward. But if only she
could find this guy’s damned gun!

Frigid air sawed into her lungs like fire. Ice-cold sweat
pooled at the base of her neck and she continued to search the lifeless body,
hoping to hell the other men were too busy firing their guns to pay her any
mind. Acrid gunpowder smoke slammed into her nostrils, making her gag, and her
ears rang from the zings of shots spiraling around her. She’d just about given
up finding a weapon when she touched smooth cold metal at the small of his
back.

Yes!

Self-control whipped through her like an explosion as she
palmed the weapon. She rolled off the man and onto her tummy. Releasing the
safety, she used the lifeless body as a shield, took aim and prayed the gun was
loaded. She fired at the first man, the son of a bitch who’d conked her on the
head. He cried out, dropped into the snow and lay still.

More gunshots rang out. She took aim at another man who
turned toward her and pulled the trigger of his gun. The bullet slammed into
the dead man’s back. She plugged the asshole two times for good measure. He
clutched his chest, dropped and remained motionless.

She fired at another figure hunched down behind a fallen
log. Shards of snow flew up in the air like a white tornado. She’d missed.
Thankfully he didn’t return fire and it was then she figured the guy was dead.

Great!
Shooting blindly. Wasted bullets. She needed
to chill and get her head into focus mode!

Her breath caught as another bullet tore through the upper
back of the dead man she lay behind. A nauseating wave of lightheadedness
almost toppled her as another man, his face bloody, took aim at her. He was the
guy she’d shot earlier. The one who’d conked her over the head.

He stood about twenty feet away. Wobbly, but standing nonetheless,
he aimed right at her head.

Oh God!

Frantically she tried to ignore the image of the bullet
tearing into her brains as his finger tightened on the trigger. She held her
breath as he stepped forward.

If she lifted her gun and aimed at him, he’d plug her dead.
But she really didn’t have much choice. He would kill her either way.

He took another step forward, a horribly smug sneer on his
face.

She’d have to raise her gun. At least then he would kill her
before he raped her. She blinked wildly as he dropped to his knees, fell face first
into the snow and lay deathly still.

A huge knife protruded from the man’s back. Cade stumbled
toward her. Falling. Clutching his right arm.

Her tummy hollowed out. He was injured and he’d come to her
rescue. Again.

She rolled onto her knees, wanting to put as much distance
between all the dead men and herself as possible. Wanting to help Cade.