One of them chuckled, and that was when hysteria set in. I remembered what Caterina had told me about the sons of Thamuz’s kidnapping involvement. They were pros at this. I never stopped struggling, but it seemed useless and I was tiring. I’d have to do more than physically fight them. I had to use my brain, too.
My self-defense instructors held me tightly, but it was always apparent that they didn’t want to hurt me. The sons of Thamuz had no reservations. I felt their fingers digging, bruising, scratching. When I fought, they fought—punching, smacking, kicking, yanking hair. They took pleasure in my sounds of pain. They never ceased smiling, their eyes shining with zeal.
When my struggling slowed, I was shoved face-first onto the bed, on my stomach, and both men held me down. My body was spent. I was sweating and whimpering, because even in my beat-up, nearly passed-out state, I still had enough sense to be scared for my life.
“What do you want?” I managed to ask between panting breaths.
“We’re taking you on a li’l trip, chica,” one of them said close to my ear.
They would bring me to the Dukes. Pharzuph would smell me. My instructors always warned me never to let myself be taken to the second location. My thrashing began anew as my brain flared with panic. All I needed was to get my hand to my other pocket. Just a few inches . . .
One of them grabbed my hair and shoved my face into the mattress so hard I couldn’t breath. The other beat me with a round of punches to my shoulders and back. I screamed into the mattress as his fist connected to my shoulder blade with a crack.
Dear God. I’d never felt anything like it. My whole body tensed with shock as searing pain lanced through my shoulder. I couldn’t take in a breath with my face smothered against the bed. I thought surely I was imagining it when my head was released and the weight from the man behind me suddenly lifted. I rolled, dazed, and pain bolted through my upper back.
For one fleeting moment I thought I was imagining the scene before me through clouded eyes.
A third man was in the room, and he was fighting the two Neph. He wore all black, including a face mask and black gloves. The way he moved, and the shape of his body were familiar to me.
Kopano. My head swam with gratitude.
I’d never seen him fully unleash his wrath until now. The sons of Thamuz stood no chance. He must have managed to sneak in and get the drop on them unexpectedly while they were in their bloodlust over me, because they both seemed disoriented, trying and failing to escape from his fists. Kope threw one of them to the floor and was whaling on him when the other reached into his pocket. I saw the flash of silver, and I was on my feet despite my body’s protests.
I grasped the stun gun protruding from my pocket and shoved it into the guy’s rib cage as I pressed the button. A high-pitched snarl escaped him as the jolt of electricity zapped through his nervous system. He fell to the ground as if paralyzed. I turned to Kope and nearly vomited at the sight of so much blood.
My sweet friend was lost to the beast of wrath.
“Stop!”
I stumbled to his side, trying to avoid the fast swing of his elbows. I didn’t want to say his name, because even if the other two had noticed his badge, they hadn’t seen his face.
“Stop it!” I grabbed the back of his neck from behind and stumbled forward, righting myself with my other hand on his big, moving shoulder. “Stop! We have to go!” I shook him hard.
The combination of my touch and my voice made him still. A strangled groan left his throat as he took in the sight of the bloodied man beneath him, barely alive. From the corner of my eye I saw his brother stirring, trying to sit up.
“Come on,” I whispered to Kope. My vision became spotty. He caught me just as I was about to fall. I blinked until the room came back into focus. “My bag. Let’s go.”
The two of us exited through the back sliding door. I pointed to my car, which was blessedly right outside the door, and he led me to the passenger side. He then got behind the wheel, squealed tires out of the parking lot, and ripped the mask from his face.
“Thank you,” I whispered once we were miles away. I worked hard to focus and not pass out. I leaned against the door because when my shoulder touched the seat I wanted to cry in agony.
“I am sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
“You were being suffocated. And then when I saw him hitting you . . .”
“You did good. I’m so thankful you came. I should have never tried to do it alone.” I winced when we hit a bump in the road.
“Do you need a doctor?”
“No.” Even if something were broken, going to a doctor was too risky in numerous ways. I hated taking medicine, because something as simple as aspirin made my body long for more. In this case I’d have to make an exception. “I need ibuprofen.”
Kope stopped at a drugstore in the next town. We used napkins and wet wipes from my car to clean his hands. He fed me four painkillers every half hour as we drove north. He also got bandages for the cuts on his hands, though they healed fast.
“What happened with Marek?” Kope asked.
I closed my eyes and rehashed the story.
“Do you think he set you up?”
“No. I don’t know. Why would he have bothered to tell me he couldn’t meet me alone? He could have just sent them to ambush me unexpectedly in the first place.”
“But how did the sons of Thamuz know you were there? Perhaps they are using Marek to earn your trust and deceive you.”