by Keta Kendric
For the next hour, I was forced to spill more details about my situation and Patrena didn’t let up, going in on me like a determined shrink.
We had showered and had been thoroughly oiled and massaged. The only time Patrena wasn’t questioning me and picking my brain apart was when we had been placed in separate treatment rooms. Now, with our relaxed bodies tucked into our fresh fluffy pastel robes, we strutted towards the next area for our facials.
She took my hand as we walked, staring particularly at my fingers. “Why didn’t you let the technician do your nails? At least change your polish. You didn’t even want the woman to touch your hands.” Her expectant glare dared me to feed her a lie.
A quick glance at my nails had me fighting a smile at the memory of my last manicure and who had helped.
I turned my head away for a second, aiming to tell Patrena some lie and…bam!
I walked into a wall, a slab of masculinity so firm, it could have only been one man. His scent hit me immediately, as his hands wrapped around the outside of my shoulders to keep the momentum of the collision from sending me to the floor.
“Khane?” His name came out on a breathless whisper as I glared up at him. “What are you doing back here?” I questioned, glancing around for whoever was supposed to stop him from entering the women’s area and the back of the spa.
“Desiree, I need you to come with me now,” he demanded, not raising his voice, but very much in command. His firm hand and the seriousness in his expression left me speechless. He was wearing his contact lens.
When he walked off with his strong hand gripping my left arm, Patrena gripped my right arm to keep him from taking me.
A level of earnestness I’d never seen expressed on her face was aimed at Khane, who towered above us, casting us in shadow.
“I don’t care who the hell you are. She doesn’t have to go anywhere with you.” Patrena had her arm snaked around mine now, and was staring down a man that could kill us with his bare hands.
What was going on? Why the hell was Khane attempting to drag me out of a spa in nothing but my robe?
Khane glared back, though his firm grip kept me moving while dragging Patrena along behind me. His abrupt stop caused me to crash into his strong back and Patrena to crash into mine.
“It’s my job to protect her.” He aimed his words at Patrena. “Right now, she is in danger. Unless you want to come, you need to let her go.” His tone was calm and level, but deadly intent roared in his warning.
We all stood in place, Khane gripping one arm and Patrena not loosening her hold on my other. If it were just me, I’d have gone with Khane without question, but I had Patrena to worry about. We were wasting time, although Khane was right, I didn’t want Patrena involved in any of the Vallin-Evans mess that was brewing.
When a loud commotion and heated shouts from the front of the spa sounded, horrific images of death flashed in my head.
Khane pointed towards the front as his glare landed on mine. “That’s danger, and it’s coming for you.” His gaze scanned Patrena. “Both of you, let’s go.”
Neither of us hesitated to follow Khane this time as the yelling out front intensified. The flimsy slippers the spa offered with their robes weren’t allowing us to keep up with Khane’s brisk pace, so I walked mine off, and Patrena kicked hers off after they’d almost tripped her.
When we turned into the opening that would lead us to the back door, we were stopped in our tracks. A gun longer than my leg was aimed at us, and Patrena choked on the words, “Oh. Shit.”
I stood frozen with wide, unblinking eyes as my heart beat out the deathly drum notes that sounded before a war. Khane shoved us behind him with one sweep of his big arm, willing to use his body as our shield of protection.
“Toss your fucking weapon, now!” the man shouted, his pinpointed glare as deadly as the sound of his warning. I expected him to open fire on us any second. Out gunned, Khane tossed the gun I had just noticed in his hand, sending it flying to the right of us before it slid to a clinking stop.
“Give us the girl, and this ends peacefully,” the man stated. Khane raised a hand in surrender, as his other remained wrapped around us, holding us close to the back of his body. I stiffened when he took steps towards the man who had been advancing with a machine gun aimed at us.
The man was no less than twenty feet from us at this point, close enough that I could hear the rush of his breaths. If he shot any of us at such a close distance, it would be instant death and closed-casket funerals.
My grip tightened around Khane’s arm, attempting to keep him in place. What the hell was he doing? Scared shitless, I was a big lump of shaking nerves, but I would be damned if I was letting go of Khane. There had to be an order in place that kept the man from firing at us. Killing a Vallin in cold blood, I presumed, would set off some type of criminal war.
We kept advancing on the gun-pointing man. Any flick of his finger, war or not, and Khane was dead. However, Khane remained fearless as we edged closer to the man as a group.
“What the fuck is he doing? Is he going to give you up?” Patrena questioned, her words spitting into my ear. “No,” I answered. “He has a plan,” I assured her, hoping like hell I wasn’t wrong, and my faith in Khane wasn’t about to wither and die along with us.
“That’s far a fucking ‘nuff!” the man shouted. The commotion out front continued, and thankfully so. We didn’t need any extra bad guys to contend with.
How the hell was Khane going to get us past this big gun-pointing killer without getting us killed?
20
Desiree
The man lifted his gun higher, aiming more accurately now. “I’m going to be fucking famous for killing you.” The man smirked at Khane. There went my theory that there was a non-death order out on Khane’s life.
“You’re a fucking legend. Khane ‘The Kannibal’ Vallin.” The man kept the gun in one hand with the butt pressed deep into his shoulder as he reached towards us. Peeking around Khane’s sturdy shoulder, I found the man’s eyes falling on me.
“We didn’t want any trouble. We had only come for the Evans’ woman. But, your people aimed and fired on us first. Now, you can give me the woman first, then I kill you, or you can risk her getting shot from me going through you to take her. Your fucking choice,” the man stated, his Spanish accent strong but sure.
Who the hell was he? Why the hell did he want me? I don’t believe he was an enemy of my father’s. The man Khane had tortured in his basement wasn’t Hispanic, but this man was. What did it mean? Were there two different groups after me now?
The gun. The hand Khane had used to shove me behind him had been edging around me during our standoff. He had taken ahold of my hand and splayed it across a chunk of thick metal, but it was only now that I understood what he was conveying.
The gun was right in front of me and stuffed down the back of his pants. Mecca had ensured I went to the shooting range with her, but I had never been in a position where I’d had to shoot someone. However, for Khane, I would do what was necessary.
I tightened my hold around the pistol grip before I eased it from his pants. The weight of it made me question what I was doing, but I couldn’t let Khane get shot because unknown adversaries wanted me for a reason only God knew.
I peeked at the man under Khane’s raised arm before I lifted the weapon with shaky hands. The barrel edged past his muscular side, and I aimed at what I prayed was the man’s chest. Hunched behind a living wall, this was nothing like the straight line of sight of aiming and firing at paper targets.
When I was confident of my aim, my finger put pressure on the trigger, but…
“Toss the gun, Ms. Evans, unless you want me to shoot him in the fucking face.” The man’s tone rang deadly, serious enough to make my hands shake with weakness. I had been too slow, and he’d caught me in the act of attempting to kill him.
Patrena seemed to forget the danger in front of us and peeked around my shoulder. Her mouth formed
a wide O as she took in the weapon in my hand and pieced together what had just happened.
My actions in the face of fear weren’t fast enough, but my mistake had thankfully drawn the man’s attention away from Khane long enough for Khane to rush at him.
The long gun went skyward from the impact of Khane’s raging charge but didn’t fall. The weapon I held hung heavily in my hand as I stood in place, glaring at Khane and the man tussling for control of the weapon until it was knocked away and skittered across the floor.
“Run, Desiree now. Back door!” Khane didn’t have to tell me twice. A fight between him and the man ensued, a barrage of hard, pounding fists connecting with maximum force. I gripped Patrena’s arm in my shaky hand, and we ran like hell in the opposite direction.
Our escape attempt was stalled when two men appeared in front of us. They stood large and imposing and blocked our view of the emergency exit door that opened to the back of the building. The red letters above the door that spelled exit, beckoned as the men crowded us, their guns and menacing faces speaking for them.
By the time I attempted to use the gun in my hand, it was too late. The hard blow to the back of my hand sent the gun clinking to the floor and sliding into a corner. The man snatched my arm in a bruising grip that caused me to cry out in pain.
The second man had a tight grip on Patrena who fought, flailing and yelling as she attempted to escape. We were no match for them. All the while we tried to resist, I could hear Khane in the background fighting with the third man.
The squirming paid off when my right arm broke free, and I sucker punched the man in his face, my knuckles crying in pain at my attempt. The furious glare he flashed revealed that I had done nothing but piss him off.
He jerked my arm, twirling me in a half circle. His open palm struck my face so fast and hard, that I didn’t have time to prepare myself for the blow. The hard slap knocked me silly, my jaw liquefying as my eyes fought to stay in their sockets.
The sound of a thundering roar ripped through the air and pierced the ringing in my ears. It sounded like someone was yelling the word, No! Although I remained in the man’s tight grip, my noodled-legs fought to hold my wavering body upright. Adjusting my eyes, I attempted to focus on the view in front of me.
The shiny blade gleamed in the air when it was lifted, and the downward thrust was lightning fast as it connected with body parts, neck, chest, chest, neck, chest. Blood squirted from arteries in the frantic man’s neck as the top of his shirt was becoming wet like he had been dipped in a vat of red Kool-Aid.
Khane had stabbed the man he’d been tussling with, using sharp jabs that left gaping holes big enough for his soul to crawl through. The act had been so brutally vicious that it had paused the men holding Patrena and me, even as they aimed their weapons at Khane and the struggling man. Thankfully, they didn’t have a clear shot of Khane.
The one that held me with one hand, aimed and yelled for Khane’s surrender, but Khane stood facing us, standing behind the man he had put at least ten soul-ripping holes in.
When Khane let the man go, his lifeless body sailed through the air before hitting the floor with a resounding thud. I gawked, getting another up close view of what Khane did for a living.
My captor had a clear-line-of-sight shot at Khane who appeared oblivious that death was aimed at him. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to knock the man’s gun away, since he was ignoring me to focus on Khane.
Patrena was giving the other guy such a good tussle, he had tossed her over his shoulder in an attempt to get her under control. However, she found a way to make it to the floor where he attempted to subdue her.
Khane made his approach as the one that held me attempted to keep me under control while reaching towards his lower leg, for another weapon I assumed. A loud gun blast froze me as my gaze searched for the outcome.
The man who had finally gotten control of Patrena was on the floor, his body jerking from the shot that had taken a sizeable chunk from the top of his head. Patrena stood frozen, staring at Khane like the devil had vacated his flaming seat in hell and appeared in front of her.
Khane shot the man while he still held Patrena in his tight grip. With her being in such close proximity to the man when he was shot, she was likely in shock.
By the time Khane was within arm’s length of me, my captor had extracted his back-up gun. He lifted it, aiming to shoot, but it was too late. Death had gotten to him first.
I was snatched from the man’s hold, the sheer strength and force sent me stumbling in Patrena’s direction. She and I gripped each other, clinging for dear life as the quake in our distressed bodies mingled. Our robes had come apart, but modesty wasn’t something we were concerned with at that moment.
By the time I turned back in Khane’s direction, the loud pounding continued to connect with the bloody sight of the man’s rearranged face. The butt of Khane’s gun was the source of the vicious licks.
The man’s attempt to fight back was useless, although he was as tall and bulkier than Khane. His big, beaten, and battered body jerked with every blow that was pounded into him. Khane bent and sent his shoulder into the man’s chest. He reached around the man’s body before he lifted and slammed the big man on the floor. He proceeded to place the heel of his heavy black boot against the man’s windpipe before he reached out for me.
“Come here. Are you okay?”
Since common sense and words had escaped me, a shaky nod was all I was capable of in the moment. I moved closer to Khane’s outstretched hand, dragging Patrena along because we refused to let each other go.
My wide-eyed gaze kept dropping to the man under Khane’s boot as his terror was playing out in his desperate gaze and frantic body movement. He fought, beating against Khane’s muscled leg but failed to get the pressure of the boot lifted from his neck.
Once I was within reach, Khane caressed my cheek. “Does it hurt?” His fingers traced delicately over the area where the man had slapped me. I could feel my head shaking robotically, but my eyes were glued on Khane’s. The initial pain from the slap had long been forgotten, and although I couldn’t see it, I knew that the man had left a bruise.
“This motherfucker put his hands on you,” he stated. It seemed it almost pained him to say the words. His thumb traced tenderly across my bruised cheek a second time, momentarily taking my mind out of the chaos unfolding. His eyes rested on mine. The ease in them calming and showing me his caring side even as the man under his feet continued to struggle for his life.
Patrena’s grip around my forearm tightened, reminding me that she was there. The tail of Khane’s shirt at his waist was gripped tight in my free hand. I could feel the jerks in Khane’s body from the man’s frantic attempts to break free.
“He put…” The sound of a sickening crunch drew my attention to the struggling man. His groans sounded like there was dirt in his throat. “…His fucking…” Another crunch of bone sounded more prominent as the vibration from the breaks breezed over the surface of my cheek through Khane’s fingertips.
Patrena’s body had gone still at the sight of what Khane was doing. Each time he added words, he would press his boot harder into the man’s neck, crushing bones and siphoning his life piece by piece like he needed to prolong the process.
“…Hands on you.” Khane finished his statement. His body jolted, but his fingers remained steady on my cheek when his boot heel sank into the man’s throat and crushed what was left of his windpipe.
The final hard crush of bone sounded and sent an icy chill racing through me. I sensed the man’s life evaporating from him, getting as far away from Khane as possible.
The dreadful sight had frozen me; my cheek still pressed against Khane’s tender caress, but my eyes were aimed down on the man under his boot. Wide, haunted eyes stared as the light in them dimmed until there was none left.
The man’s vacant expression was as empty as the devil’s heart, giving me a glimpse of what one must look like when they were sta
ring into the face of Death. The look was filled with spine-curling horror and pain, and it had etched itself so deeply in my head, it would haunt me forever.
A question tipped past the nightmares that were filing themselves away in my mind. What version of Death had the man seen staring at him, the dead one or the living one—Khane?
“Are you guys, okay?” Khane questioned, snapping out of whatever murderous trance he had been in. Patrena stood slightly behind me, glaring around my shoulder at Khane. I was receiving a live visual and understanding of why they called him ‘The Kannibal,’ as it appeared a dark part of his personality fed on the man’s death.
“We have to go,” he urged, finally stepping off the man’s broken neck. I believed he wanted me to experience the man’s death, while he was viciously killing him in my honor.
Khane turned, preparing to lead us to the back door we had failed to reach twice already. A hard shove came out of nowhere, sending me behind Khane and colliding into Patrena.
“What?”
My question was cut short when two more guys walked in, both with their weapons aimed at Khane.
What the hell were we going to do now?
21
Desiree
These were the guys who we heard arguing up front. I prayed they hadn’t killed the spa owners as a series of gun blasts had been exchanged while we were in the heat of our own battle in the back.
The sight of their friends so brutally displayed over the floor put vengeance in their eyes and had rage pouring into their bloodstream. The shorter, stocky one bared his teeth as his finger tightened on the trigger.
Khane swung his big body around, shoving Patrena and me hard enough to send us to the floor. A gun blast ripped through the air, but it was the pounding impact the bullet made when it struck Khane’s body that shook me before ripping apart my heart. He stumbled back but didn’t fall.
